Lake Bunyonyi
Lake Bunyonyi is in south-western Uganda between Kisoro and Kabale, close to the border with Rwanda. The lake appeared from 2004 to 2009 on the USh note under the title "Lake Bunyonyi and terraces". Scientific "literature" generally quotes a maximum depth of, but some tourist guides and locals insist that it is much deeper, about, which would make it the second-deepest lake in Africa.
Towns on its shores include Kyevu and Muko, while its 29 islands include Punishment Island and Bushara Island.
Geography
Lake Bunyonyi is a body of water in Kabale District and about west of Kabale town. It is the largest and highest of the three small lakes in the Kigezi highlands that are part of the Nile basin.The lake was formed about 18,000 years ago by a volcanic eruption blocking a valley in the Rukiga mountains near the present day village of Muko on the north-west tip of the lake. The lake's current outlet is a small stream also in Muko which flows into the Ruvuma swamp. The lake is about 22 km long and 6 km at its widest and at a height of about 1973 m. It is surrounded by mountains that reach heights of 600 m above the lake.
Main islands
Akampene (Punishment Island)
The Bakiga used to leave unmarried pregnant girls on this small island - to die of hunger or while trying to swim to the mainland. This was to intimidate the rest, to show them not to do the same. A man without cows to pay the bride price could go to the island and pick up a girl. The practice got abandoned in the first half of the 20th century.Bwama and Njuyeera (Sharp's Island)
In 1921, English missionary Leonard Sharp came to this part of Uganda and in 1931 established a leprosy treatment centre on the then uninhabited Bwama island. A church, patient quarters, and a medical facility were built, while Sharp settled on Njuyeera Island. The rationale of the leprosy colony was that of "voluntary segregation'", where the provision of a happy community to live in would attract leprosy sufferers, so removing them from the communities where they might infect others.Ecology
Except for water birds, few aquatic animal species are naturally present in this isolated highland lake. Its water is highly stratified with the oxygen limit placed at a depth of about.Native vertebrates include the De Witte's clawed frog, Lake Victoria clawed frog, African clawless otter and spotted-necked otter, but only the first frog is still common in the lake. Four endemic species of Caridina shrimp are found in the lake; there are indications that they might also occur in Lake Mutanda. Originally, there were no fish or crayfish in the lake, but the catfish Clarias liocephalus, Nile tilapia, Singida tilapia, haplochromine cichlids of Lake Victoria origin and red swamp crayfish have been introduced.
Aquatic vegetation is locally abundant and include species such as papyrus, swamp sawgrass and blue lotus.