| Kapitel | Titel | Seite |
|---|---|---|
| Summary, Résumé, Zusammenfassung | 5 | |
| Acknowledgements / Remerciments | 6 | |
| 1 | Introduction / Introduction | 7 |
| 2 | The caves of Rwanda / Les grottes du Rwanda | 7 |
| 2.1 | General remarks / Remarques générales | 7 |
| 3 | Supplementary list of caves of Rwanda / Liste supplémentaire des grottes du Rwanda | 11 |
| 3.1 | Byumba province / Préfecture de Byumba | 11 |
| 3.2 | Gisenyi province / Préfecture de Gisenyi | 11 |
| 3.3 | Ruhengeri province / Préfecture de Ruhengeri | 38 |
| 4 | Recommendations / Recommandations | 54 |
| 5 | Useful addresses / Adresses utiles | 57 |
| 6 | References / Références | 57 |
| Annex 1: | List of caves surveyed during the 2003 speleological project in Rwanda / Liste des grottes topographiques pendant l’expédition spéléologique 2003 au Rwanda | |
| Annex 2: | List of caves surveyed during the 2004 speleological project in Rwanda / Liste des grottes topographiques pendant l’expédition spéléologique 2004 au Rwanda | |
| Annex 3: | List of the longest and deepest caves of Rwanda (as at 31.12.2004) / Listes des grottes les plus longues et plus profondes du Rwanda (dernière mise á jour le 31.12.2004) | |
| Annex 4: | Photo tables / Index des photos |
During a Rwandan–Swiss–German speleological project in 2003, nearly 10 km of cave passages were surveyed in 42 caves of the Ruhengeri province of northwestern Rwanda. In 2004, a second international speleological expedition of cavers from the Netherlands, USA, Kuwait and Germany resulted in the exploration of 20 more caves with a total passage length of about 9.1 km both in the Ruhengeri and Gisenyi province. This volume is intended to supplement the 2003 project report.
All of the caves are exclusively developed in Cenozoic volcanic rocks. The most significant findings in 2004 were lava tube caves such as Ubuvumo Manjari deux (Mutobo district, Ruhengeri province) at 1,660 m, which is currently the second longest cave of Rwanda, and Ubuvumo Cyamazera (Mutura district, Gisenyi province, 1,484 m). Ubuvumo Nyiragihima (Mutobo district, Ruhengeri province) was explored to 1,116 m and is currently the eighth longest cave of the country.
Many caves in NW Rwanda still await exploration and the potential for further discoveries is as excellent as the co–operation with the local authorities proved to be.