Rwanda the land of a thousand hills well known for its gorilla tours encounters. When you decide to explore Rwanda, you will look at cultural tours, primate tours wildlife tours as well as beach tours. This will take you places like Kigali, Volcanoes National Park, Nyungwe Forest National Park, Akagera National Park as well as lake Kivu.
The Kigali city tour takes you for an amazing discovery of Rwanda’s capital. Kigali is the commercial centre of Rwanda with most of the important political offices in the country. Kigali is also one of the cleanest and safest cities in Africa. The roads and general transport system is one of the best in Africa. A walk around the city center will lead to impressive 5-star Rwanda hotels, high-end restaurants, bars and nightclubs.
Visit the Kigali Convention Centre one of the prominent places in Kigali. It was built in the shape of a beehive with beautiful lights that look amazing in the night. It is said that the architect was inspired by the King’s palace in Nyanza, which has a similar design.
Visit Nyamirambo Women’s Centre found in suburb in Kigali. This centre and workshop were opened in 2007 by a group of local Rwandan women who were victims of gender violence in the past.
As a non-governmental organization, the Nyamirambo Women’s Center helps fight gender-based violence while also organizing English language trainings and computer literacy classes for the victims. The two-hour walking tours involves stops at the Natural History Museum, State House Museum, local shops, local homes, hair salons and the local markets.
Visiting the Kigali Genocide Memorial. visiting this memorial centre will give you an insight of what transpired while also helping you appreciate the current achievements of the. From the exhibitions, you will learn about the overall history of Rwanda, her colonization and other factors that set the stage for the horrific slaughter.
You will see images of young children slaughtered mercilessly by the Interahamwe. The Kigali Genocide Memorial goes beyond Rwanda to make you understand the other great atrocities committed by mankind around the world.
Visit the Museum of Natural History the best museum in Kigali and was built with the purpose of documenting the beauty of Rwanda. The northern wing of the museum showcases Rwanda’s animal and bird life as well as the beautiful volcanoes. The Southern Wing on the other hand dwells on the country’s mineral riches.
The gorilla tour will take you to volcanoes national park where you will be able to see gorillas, golden monkeys, touring the lakes Ruhondo and Burera, hike the Dian Fossey tomb, go for one of the volcano hikes as well as Musanze cave hike and IbyI’wacu cultural walk.
For gorillas, you will have to book the permit (costs $1500 per person) in advance since they are competitive and limited to a particular number, once its finished, you may miss out the safari.
Gorilla trekking activity starts at 7 am with briefing at Kinigi park headquarters, thereafter visitors get assigned to gorilla family and start a guided hike in search for the gorillas. Trekking may take 2-5 hours depending on the family being tracked and walking speed of the participants. Once they find gorillas, visitors get to spend a period of 1 hour with these endangered species observing their behaviours, learning about them and taking photos.
Take time after lunch to visit the twin lakes of Ruhondo and Burera. A hike to the twin lakes Burera and Ruhondo is an amazing experience for any traveler on a Rwanda tour. If you are looking for something to do after your gorilla trekking tour in Volcanoes national park, nature walk to visit these beautiful lakes will be perfect for you. The trail will start in Musanze town, taking you down to Mukwangwa River where you will walk through the rural setting as you learn about the day-to-day lifestyle of Rwandans.
Take another day to trek golden monkeys, the rare species of monkeys that is endangered. Golden monkey tracking is less strenuous than gorilla trekking since monkeys feed around the lower slopes of the mountain where they can be easily be trekked. It can be done alongside Gorilla trekking and it’s cheaper than gorilla tracking, costing USD 100 to buy the permit.
In the afternoon, you can visit IbyI’wacu cultural village and learn how to prepare local meals, how traditional marriage in Rwanda and local beer, learn the traditional medicine and end with the cultural entertainment. Visiting this cultural village after your golden monkey trek in Volcanoes National Park is too entertaining as you learn and participate in the cultural traditions of Rwanda.
On a new fresh day, take your time hiking to see Dian Fossey’s grave that is located between Bisoke and Karisimbi volcanoes near the Karisoke research center that she started. Dian Fossey arrived in 1967 and carried out research about mountain gorillas for about two decades until she was murdered by poachers in 1985. She was buried near her favourite gorilla called Digit. When you visit her grave, you will still see Digit’s tomb and other graves of gorillas that were killed. The hike to and from Dian Fossey’s tomb takes about 6hours. You will learn about her life, her research and the legacy she left behind.
In the afternoon, explore Musanze caves located at the mountain slopes of Volcanoes national park, there are many bats in the cave and these caves are in a shape of a house with many passages. There are many path ways leading in and out of the caves and an entrance 2 km wide. You will learn about the history and formation of these caves when you visit Volcanoes national park. The caves have great scenery and are good for photography.
Hike mount Bisoke, Karisimbi, Sabyinyo, Gahinga and Muhabura. These offer great trekking trails experience with magnificent views of the surrounding. Hiking to the top of any one of these mountains gives spectacular views of the vegetation, birds, wildlife and the landscape of the park. There are different hikes to all the above volcanic mountains with each hike being so rewarding in its own way.
The primate tour will take you to Nyungwe national park the oldest rain forest where chimpanzees and other 12 primates call home. The main activity in the park is chimpanzee trekking where by you have to book in advance since it is competitive with its permits costing $100.
The trekking experience starts at 5am which implies that you should be up earlier. Each trekking group can only have a maximum of 8 members. Nyungwe Forest is a rain forest with a slippery terrain that will require sturdy hiking shoes, a rain poncho in the likely event of a downpour, long sleeved thick shirts for the cold weather, long trousers to protect you from the long creeping undergrowth if you happen to go off the beaten path and binoculars for a better view of the chimps should you find them high up in the trees.
Go for a canopy walk, a 2-hour stroll on a 200meters long trail 50 meters above the forest cover and one of the most exhilarating activities to do at Nyungwe Forest National Park. The view at the top gives you the eagle’s eye experience; panoramic views that a hike on ground would not offer. For safety reasons, children below the age of 6 years are not allowed to participate in the canopy walk.
You can also take part in the Agro tourism activities in Nyungwe. This will take you to visit the tea plantations which is the main source income for the Rwandan government. You will take part in the harvesting activities as well as planting activities. You will continue up to the factory to witness the processing of the tea until it is the cup for you to taste.
The wildlife tours will give you the opportunity to see the big five in Akagera national park. It boasts a biodiversity of mammals and bird species.
Take on a game drive during the day, you get to be driven along the tracks, through the green savannah plains, past wide-leaved woodlands and into the habitat of bountiful mammal species in the Akagera National Park. Your tour guide knows the areas where most animals usually spend their day and will endeavour to drive by. Some of the animals to look out for while on a day game drive include; The Defassa Water buck, Topis, Bohor Reed bucks, Oribis, Semi-Aquatic Sitatunga, Eland, Giraffes, Buffaloes, Elephants, Lions and the recently reintroduced Rhinos are some of the mammals found in the park.
It is only in Akagera national park that you take night game drive, an experience in which you step into the wild to view the nocturnal animals especially the wide-eyed bush babies, serval cats, civets, leopards. You will be guided by your flashlight and an experienced ranger.
You can also take a boat safari; it is a relaxing yet rewarding way to view wildlife. It is an even more rewarding experience when on the lake. Lake Ihema is the second largest lake in Rwanda known for its abundant hippo population and crocodile dotted shores. On the boat cruise, the chance are very high for you to maximize the views of these water animals.
The boat safari on Lake Ihema offers the opportunity to take up-close photos of these animals. As other animals come to the lake for a drink or bath, you can take a look at those that you may have missed while out on a game drive in the wild.
On the beach tour in Rwanda, you will head to lake Kivu. This will mainly work best for you after the jungle where by you will be able to relax and refresh from the hikes done in first tour activities in the different parks.
The lake provides the ideal place for rest and recuperation while on your safari in Rwanda. Some of the activities on the lake include, sunbathing, swimming, and water sports like Kayaking, wind surfing & canoeing.
You can choose to take a boat ride in the traditional dugout canoes and listen to the ‘sea stories” of the fishermen and even participate in the fishing. The place is teaming with water birds like pelicans sailing, Grey crowned cranes, pied and malachite kingfishers above the shore waiting to catch their next meal.
