Lake Victoria

Lake Victoria is the world's second largest fresh-water lake, at some 68,000 sq km. The lake lies at an altitude of 1133m and is widely accepted to be the main source of the Nile.

Rivers from large areas of Western Kenya, Northern Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda gather in this shallow lake and begin, as Victoria Nile, their 6000km journey to the Mediterranean Sea. The lake's high rate of evaporation due to its location on the Equator makes this immense body of water a major factor in the local climate.

In the morning the area is usually cloudy, but during the day the sky clears up. The northern, Ugandan shore is characterised by countless small and larger islands and long, finger-like peninsulas. In between, swampy bays reach deep into the mainland, their Papyrus-swamps providing a preferred habitat for the elusive Sitatunga Antelope.