Goma

Goma sits where the Virunga volcanoes meet Lake Kivu, and the ground it stands on records that: the 2002 eruption of Nyiragongo sent lava through the middle of the city, and whole districts were rebuilt on top of the flow, which is still visible as black rock in yards, walls and road cuttings. The lakefront is the pleasant side of the city, with a line of hotels and restaurants looking south across the water, and Nyiragongo stands about twenty kilometres north, visibly steaming on a clear day.

History

The name comes from ngoma, "drum", said to recall the drum-like sounds of a volcanic eruption that destroyed the original village and scattered its people into three new villages, Ngoma, Matcha (now Sake) and Munti. Ngoma was a port for lake traffic and a crossroads of trade routes between Central Africa and the Indian Ocean, and in 1894 the explorer Gustav Adolf von Götzen passed through on his way to Rwanda and recorded it as Goma. In 1906 the Congo Free State set up a post here opposite Gisenyi to oversee traffic on Lake Kivu, around 1930 the area held camps for workers on the eastern railway, and by the mid-20th century Goma was a hub at the end of the road network and a port for goods to and from Bukavu. It had some 8,600 inhabitants in 1945, and in 1951 it became the administrative capital of North Kivu (Wikipedia, Goma).

What's there

• The lava field - the 2002 flow through the city, still exposed in yards, walls and roadsides.
• The lakefront - hotels and restaurants along the northern shore of Lake Kivu.
• The volcano - Nyiragongo on the skyline north of the city, steaming in clear weather.
• The lake traffic - boats working between Goma, Bukavu and the Rwandan shore.

When to go

June to September and December to February are the drier windows and the best for views of the volcano. The rainy periods make the unsealed roads difficult. Mornings are usually clearest.

Good to know

Goma has been rebuilt repeatedly and much of it is unsealed and dusty, with poor road surfaces on the lava. Infrastructure is limited and power supply intermittent. Movement in and around the city is arranged locally rather than improvised.

Nearby

Nyiragongo is north of the city, Tchegera Island is out on the lake, and Bukavu is at the far end of Kivu.

Key facts