Lake Kivu Coffee Plantation Tour

Kinunu Guest House is home to the Lake Kivu coffee plantation washing station and the site of the Boneza Coffee brand.

I first heard about a mysterious coffee plantation island and wanted to add it to our Lake Kivu boat tour. Although there wasn’t much about it online, our boat operator was aware of it and included it in our tour. Beyond just taking us to the island, which we didn’t get off at in the interest of time, our guide arranged for us to visit the coffee washing station on shore (right across from the coffee plantation island).

Kinunu Guest House operates as the base for the coffee plantation and Lake Kivu coffee washing station tours. It is the largest washing station around and buys beans from small-scale coffee farmers. A former Rwandan senator who wanted to provide jobs for his community members started up the plantation, washing station, and guest house.

We had an excellent coffee tour and tasting with a guide. It took about 1.5 hours to get a history of coffee in Rwanda and learn about the different stages. Even in the off-season (July) we were able to see the beans.

The Basics

The coffee tour takes 1.5 hours.
Cost RWF 30,000 per person, cash only.
You can buy coffee beans (so bring more cash).
Lunch is available, bring cash (RWF 20,000).
The best months for the coffee washing station experience are September – December and February – May.
Contact Kinunu Guest House directly or organize the visit through a guide.

How can you visit Kinunu Guest House and Coffee Plantation/Washing Station?

You can add on the coffee tour experience while on a Lake Kivu boat tour.
Hike or bike with a tour guide along the Congo Nile River and spend the night at Kinunu Guest House.
Use Kinunu Guest House as your base to explore Lake Kivu for 2 nights while using my 10-day Rwanda Itinerary.

The tour starts off at Kinunu Guest House and you’ll get a guide. Our guide for the afternoon was Kevine. She was very knowledgeable about everything from coffee beans to production and more. The tour will take 1.5-hours and includes a tasting at the end.

Boneza Coffee is a single origin premium quality 100 % Arabica coffee. The Lake Kivu coffee facility roasts the coffee from beans grown around the Kinunu region. Rwanda only produces a small amount of coffee for domestic purposes and Boneza coffee is one of the leading brands. Additionally, you can find it at the airport on your way back home.

The beginning

We started off the Lake Kivu coffee tour by learning about beans and the history of coffee in Rwanda. There are four grades of coffee:

Grade 4 is used for non-consumption purposes like the coffee you’ll see in body scrubs.
Grade 3 coffee makes up instant coffee brands like Nescafe.
Grade 2 is “premium” and has some imperfect beans.
Grade 1 is “specialty,” and has the very best beans from harvest to roasting.

Not all the beans washed and dried here are from Kinunu Guest House. Small-scale farmers can come and sell their beans to the washing station.

The middle

Then, we moved outside to see the coffee plantation. Coffee from the flowering stage to the red bean-harvesting stage takes 7 months.

The washing station separates the beans into different grades. The best beans rise to the top. It’ll also start to remove the red peel of the coffee bean. You’ll get so much more information about each stage of the washing process on the tour. The complicated process requires a lot more explanation than I can provide. The guides at Kininu do just that!

Even though it was “off-season” when we visited in July 2022, beans were being dried. Moreover, we were able to see each of the 4 grades and check out their differences. In the unroasted stage, it’s easy to see which beans are grade 4 vs grade 1. The major differences I noted were the weight of the beans and their look. Some of the grade 4 coffee has evidence of small insects and imperfections from the machines used to wash and separate the beans.

On the next stop of the tour, we saw the final stage of the coffee production system: a big machine that does additional sorting of beans and removes a thin parchment-like layer off the bean.

From here, the green beans are packed and shipped off all around the world! When you buy Rwandan beans you’re not usually getting a Rwandan roast as well. That is because green coffee beans are roasted by companies that buy the beans. Human eye check the beans to make sure it’s being sorted correctly.

The end

The coffee that remains is used for the Boneza Coffee brand roasted on-site. As I mentioned, Rwanda isn’t a huge coffee-drinking nation so not a lot is produced.

We visited the roasting and packaging area for Boneza Coffee. Coffee is roasted at 160° C and the machine uses a mixture of gas and electricity. The differences between light, medium and dark roast are just a minute longer in the machine! The light roast is just 13 minutes, the medium roast is 14 minutes, and the dark is 15 minutes.

Also, we bought two bags of coffee at the facility.

From here, we went back to Kinunu Guest House. With Kevine’s assistance, we roasted our own beans in a traditional clay pot.

If you visit during the coffee roasting seasons, the machinery and washing processes will also be active. You also be able to see farmers come and weigh their beans that will be bought up by the washing station. I bet it’s a lot of fun to see this all in action. Though, if you visit in the off-season as we did, you will still learn a lot and have a great experience.

If you’re on the boat tour for the day, you’ll want to have lunch here. We had sambaza in a tomato sauce and a fish skewer. Both were delish.

Accommodation Tip: The rooms at Kinunu Guest House look comfortable and it’s a great option to stay at while you’re in the area.

Got any questions about this Lake Kivu Coffee Plantation visit? Let me know in the comments.

Rwanda Guide