The lake
Lake Burera and its twin, Lake Ruhondo, sit in the folds below the Virunga volcanoes north-east of Musanze — deep, irregular, fringed with steep cultivated slopes and dotted with islands. On a clear morning the volcano wall stands directly behind the water, and the crossing alone justifies the trip.
The island visit
A motorboat or a dugout canoe takes you across to one of the islands. What you find there is a farming community living with a specific set of constraints: everything arrives and leaves by boat, the school serves children who cross the water to reach it, and health care means a trip to the mainland. Islanders will talk you through how they manage it, and the visit typically includes the school.
Take a packed lunch. There is nowhere to buy one, and eating on the shore is half the point.
Where it fits
This is the best non-trekking day in the north. It works as a full or half day from Musanze — including on a day you have a permit-free gap between gorilla trekking and a Bisoke climb. The drive out passes through some of the most photographed terraced hillside in Rwanda.