Travel Guide Lac Tanganyika

Discovered in 1858 by the English explorers Burton and Speke, this lake, 60 km wide on average, is the longest in the world (680 km, giving it a surface area of around 32,000 km²), and the second deepest (1,435 m) after Lake Baikal (1,740 m). Its bottom is 655 m below sea level and its surface 770 m above sea level. It was formed around 20 million years ago, when the continental and eastern plates of the African continent separated, and continues to widen by a few centimetres every year. More poetically, local legend has it that the lake was originally a vast, bottomless well, rich in fish, belonging to a couple who were not to reveal its secret under any circumstances. But the woman told her lover. The spirit of the well was unleashed, causing the water to overflow and form a lake that drowned all the inhabitants of the region.The lake owes much of its beauty to its enclosure (like Lake Nyasa): the surrounding mountains are over 2,600 m high. Real storms occur here from time to time. Four countries share its waters: Tanzania on the eastern shore, the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, Burundi at the northern end and Zambia at the southern end, which has just 7% of the lake's surface area. On the Congolese side, at Kalemie (capital of North Katanga), the Lukuga River carries the lake's waters to the Congo River, which flows into the Atlantic (the Great Rift Mountains to the east are too great an obstacle to the Indian Ocean). Although surface temperatures sometimes reach 25°C, the lake's depth keeps the water relatively cool and healthy. Winds blowing from the surrounding mountains ensure that the water does not stagnate, preventing the spread of bilharzia. You can therefore swim in Lake Tanganyika, but you should avoid the river mouth deltas because of the crocodiles, hippos and water cobras, an endemic species that fish during the day and spend the night in the rocks along the shore.