Fifteen years after the horrific genocide, Rwanda is a peaceful, welcoming land. Courteous and friendly, Rwandans take pride in visitors' enjoyment of their beautiful country. This warm welcome, the wonderfully diverse scenery and a national strategy of promoting high quality, sustainable tourism have made Rwanda's magnificent scenery the destination of choice for a steadily increasing number of African travellers.
Kigali
Rwanda’s capital is a charming, bustling, African city, thronged with people and shoals of motorbike taxis whose drivers offer the pillion passenger a shiny green crash helmet before weaving unnervingly through the traffic.
Cosmopolitan hotels and restaurants, government buildings, tin-roofed shanties, tiny shops, modern malls and leafy suburbs sprawl across a tumble of green hills. The streets are clean and safe, the security situation throughout the country excellent.
Situated at the geographic centre of tiny Rwanda, the city is an easy half-day’s drive from its furthest borders, making all the country’s astonishing variety readily accessible.
Volcanoes National Park
The Virunga mountains soar to nearly 15000 feet on the border with Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Climb with your guide to the rim of an inactive volcano, perhaps camping overnight, or just enjoy the magnificent scenery and abundant wildlife.
Best of all - see the rare and elusive mountain gorillas in their forest habitat. To be fixed by the gaze of a great silverback just yards away is a heartstopping experience. Visitor passes cost US$500 and are strictly limited. It’s a stiff trek up the mountain, culminating in up to an hour with a gorilla group, but guides allocate visitors to parties to match their age and fitness. The income goes primarily to wildlife conservation in the reserve, and educating and supporting the people living around its boundaries, any surplus to central government funds.
The park is about 3 hours drive north west of Kigali and comfortable accommodation is available at the Kinigi Guesthouse just 5 minutes walk from the Park Headquarters, or in hotels in nearby Ruhengeri.
Nyungwe National Park
Nyungwe’s montane forest is notable even in Africa for its rich biodiversity. Forested hills, riven by steep valleys, rushing streams and plunging waterfalls, rise from a carpet of rolling, bright green tea plantations. Trek with your guide through breathtaking scenery to see chimpanzees, white colobus and other primates, and enjoy Nyungwe’s wonderful variety of plant, animal, bird and insect life.
About 5 hours drive southwest of Kigali, Nyungwe offers simple but clean accommodation in the Gisakura guesthouse on the Park’s western boundary, or camping at the Uwinka site on the main forest road.
Akagera National Park
On Rwanda’s eastern border with Tanzania, Akagera’s 420 square miles of rolling grassland sweeps down to a labyrinth of marshes and lakes harbouring hippos and crocodiles.
This is safari country. Zebra and impala, eland and oribi abound; giraffe and buffalo graze among the acacias; the lucky visitor may also see elephants, lions, or even a leopard. The birdlife is spectacular.
The game may be less plentiful than in other better known African parks, but Akagera escapes the pressure of visitors and commercialisation.
Booking.com
The park entrance is about 3 hours drive east of Kigali. Stay in the luxurious Akagera Game Lodge or camp beneath a canopy of stars in the vastness of Africa.
Climate
Rwanda enjoys a pleasant tropical highland temperature, with average year round temperatures of around 70 degrees Fahrenheit in Kigali. Off-road travel may be difficult in the rainy seasons between October and May.
Author Sunil S.
Kigali
Rwanda’s capital is a charming, bustling, African city, thronged with people and shoals of motorbike taxis whose drivers offer the pillion passenger a shiny green crash helmet before weaving unnervingly through the traffic.
Cosmopolitan hotels and restaurants, government buildings, tin-roofed shanties, tiny shops, modern malls and leafy suburbs sprawl across a tumble of green hills. The streets are clean and safe, the security situation throughout the country excellent.
Situated at the geographic centre of tiny Rwanda, the city is an easy half-day’s drive from its furthest borders, making all the country’s astonishing variety readily accessible.
Volcanoes National Park
The Virunga mountains soar to nearly 15000 feet on the border with Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Climb with your guide to the rim of an inactive volcano, perhaps camping overnight, or just enjoy the magnificent scenery and abundant wildlife.
Best of all - see the rare and elusive mountain gorillas in their forest habitat. To be fixed by the gaze of a great silverback just yards away is a heartstopping experience. Visitor passes cost US$500 and are strictly limited. It’s a stiff trek up the mountain, culminating in up to an hour with a gorilla group, but guides allocate visitors to parties to match their age and fitness. The income goes primarily to wildlife conservation in the reserve, and educating and supporting the people living around its boundaries, any surplus to central government funds.
The park is about 3 hours drive north west of Kigali and comfortable accommodation is available at the Kinigi Guesthouse just 5 minutes walk from the Park Headquarters, or in hotels in nearby Ruhengeri.
Nyungwe National Park
Nyungwe’s montane forest is notable even in Africa for its rich biodiversity. Forested hills, riven by steep valleys, rushing streams and plunging waterfalls, rise from a carpet of rolling, bright green tea plantations. Trek with your guide through breathtaking scenery to see chimpanzees, white colobus and other primates, and enjoy Nyungwe’s wonderful variety of plant, animal, bird and insect life.
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About 5 hours drive southwest of Kigali, Nyungwe offers simple but clean accommodation in the Gisakura guesthouse on the Park’s western boundary, or camping at the Uwinka site on the main forest road.
Akagera National Park
On Rwanda’s eastern border with Tanzania, Akagera’s 420 square miles of rolling grassland sweeps down to a labyrinth of marshes and lakes harbouring hippos and crocodiles.
This is safari country. Zebra and impala, eland and oribi abound; giraffe and buffalo graze among the acacias; the lucky visitor may also see elephants, lions, or even a leopard. The birdlife is spectacular.
The game may be less plentiful than in other better known African parks, but Akagera escapes the pressure of visitors and commercialisation.
Booking.com
The park entrance is about 3 hours drive east of Kigali. Stay in the luxurious Akagera Game Lodge or camp beneath a canopy of stars in the vastness of Africa.
Climate
Rwanda enjoys a pleasant tropical highland temperature, with average year round temperatures of around 70 degrees Fahrenheit in Kigali. Off-road travel may be difficult in the rainy seasons between October and May.
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Author Sunil S.
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