Lake Edward in Queen Elizabeth National Park
Lake Edward is the smallest rift valley lake that compliments the Queen Elizabeth national park in Kasese district. It borders Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo with Congo taking the biggest share of the lake. It is in the western side of the East African rift valley. The lake has a few inlets like Kazinga channel, River Ntugwe, River Ishasha, River Rutshuru, River Rwindi, River Lubulia and River Semliki being the major inlet. The lake has a remarkable view of Mt.Rwenzori, savanna plains and the rest of the park.
WILDLIFE AT LAKE EDWARD
The shore of the lake is a home for quite a number of animals like the buffaloes, crocodiles, hippopotami. It is also a spot for quite a number of birds. The lake itself is a habitat to many fish species like the Oreo chromil, leocosticus, haplochromis and many others.
ORIGIN OF LAKE EDWARD
The lake has had its fair share of names overtime like Mwitanzigye, Rutangizye, Nyanza before being called Edward by Henry Stanley, an explorer from Europe. However later during Idi Amin Dada’s reign the lake was named after him which only lasted through his regime. The lake was then renamed Edward after the son of the Queen of England, Edward the 7th.
In Congo, the lake is bordered by Virunga national park, Semliki River in the north west with swamps like rwindi, rutshuru in the north west.
