Lake Albert

Lake Albert

Lake Albert – is located in East Africa, on the border of two states – Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda. In Uganda it is called Lake Nyanza, in Congo (Zaire) in 1973-1997 it was named Mobutu-Sese-Seko in honor of President-Dictator Mobutu. It was discovered by the English explorer Baker in 1864 and named after Queen Victoria’s husband.

General Information

The lake has an area of 5,600 square kilometers and is up to 58 meters deep. Together with other lakes and rivers, Alber is part of the upper Nile reservoir system. One river, the Albert Nile, flows out of the lake, passing into the White Nile in the north, and two rivers, the Victoria Nile and the Semliki (drains of Lakes Victoria and Edward respectively), flow into the lake.

The outflowing Nile is quite wide (1.5 kilometers), calm, excellent for navigation. Lake Albert serves as a water storehouse, because the mass of water flowing into it is balanced by the runoff, the difference fluctuates only slightly (water inflow due to rivers and precipitation is approximately equal to evaporation and runoff, the average annual figure fluctuates around 29.5 cubic kilometers). The shores of Lake Albert are steep, the bottom is gentle; this is due to the fact that it lies in a tectonic depression at an altitude of 617 meters above sea level.

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The southern part of the lake, where the Semlika River flows into the lake, is a marshy area that passes into the Ruwenzori Range; the Blue Mountains rise above the northwestern shore. The best place to see this stunning place is Butiaba, which is the road that connects Kampala and the lakes region. It is from this road that you can see most of the water area and the horizon outlined by the Blue Mountains.

The water temperature on the surface of the lake reaches up to 30 degrees, so it is rich in different species of fish (over 40 species), such as tiger fish, Nile perch and others. Every day, fishermen lay out their rich catch between the boats, turning the shoreline into a busy shopping area, as it is the main income of most locals in the surrounding villages. As for shipping, two major ports are worth noting: these are Kasenyi (Congo) and Butiaba (Uganda).

The coastal rises of the Western Rift descend to Lake Albert in ledges, sometimes almost sheer, but dissected by deep cracks, in some places passing into gorges covered with dense jungle. In some places hot mineral springs flow from the ledges. There are also areas of grassy savannah with freestanding umbrella-type trees and local shrub thickets on the banks of the Alberta River. There are also flat segments. These are characterized primarily by swampy deltas at the confluence of the Victoria Nile and Semliki rivers into the Albert. Here, in the reed thickets, there is an untold number of waterfowl, crocodiles and hippos are often found. Further from the shore, in the coastal impenetrable jungle, the surroundings of Lake Albert can present the richest collection of African fauna.