Guide to planning a safari in Rwanda located in Eastern Africa, the best place to see mountain gorillas in Africa. Find things to see, do, travel tips, when to go etc.
Rwanda is located in central and eastern Africa. Located a few degrees south of Equator, it shares its borders with Uganda to the north, Tanzania to the east, Burundi to the south, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west.
Rwanda, a small landlocked country with so many beautiful hills! has various / several tourist attractions to any one traveling to Africa may be for tourism, visiting, exploring, studying and research purposes and for many more other reasons. Among Rwanda’s beauty, you will be able to enjoy her endangered mountain gorillas, wildlife (chimpanzees, golden monkeys and Colobus monkeys, etc.) birding, relaxing and chilling out places, cultural visits to the indigenous local tribes of Rwanda, (where you can see how different African cultures do survive in their world), as well as the Historical sites and information that is especially good for the explorers, i.e. The 1994Genocide between the Hutu and Tutsi tribal groups of Rwanda. In its tourism services, Rwanda can offer / provide you with volcanoes mountain climbing, hiking and biking, wildlife adventure for the wild (chimpanzees, mountain and lowland gorillas’ trekking, colobus and golden monkeys’ tour, and so much more.
Kigali, Rwanda’s Capital City
Kigali is the capital city of Rwanda that became the capital of free Rwanda in 1962. It is an important economic, cultural, and transport hub of the country. It’s the most densely populated area of the country with most of its population rising from the misplaced peoples by the 1994 genocide. Since then, (1994), Kigali has been slowly rebuilt and income from tourism especially mountain gorilla trekking together with the numerous aid works and volunteering organizations have all helped spark off her economy.
It is a relatively safe and sophisticated small city that has developed in quite a short while. It is a beautiful city sprawling over several hills, with nice avenues (full of flowering trees) as well as the green mountains surrounding the city. While in Kigali, one thing you should not be afraid of is communication since a few international languages are used there that is; Kinyarwanda, English, French and even German etc. Kigali is usually the arrival spot for many county’s visitors.
It has some interesting sites that are easily reached even by taxi such as the Kigali Genocide Memorial Center (a permanent exhibition of the genocide remains), Caplaki (market shops where shopping can be done on items like wood carvings, drums, baskets ceramics etc), community nature walks can also be enjoyed here especially a the dancing pots where you will find the Batwa pottery and also learn more about the Twa people. With all this going on in Kigali, it is evident that the capital can provide you with such a wonderful city tour.
Rwanda Safari Guide
What to do in Rwanda
There are lots of things to do in Rwanda. Here are the some of the most popular adventures you can engage while on holiday in Rwanda;
- Gorilla Trekking: This is the most popular tourist activity that pulls travelers to Rwanda. The Volcanoes National Park in the northern part of the country is the favorite to travelers looking for gorilla trekking tours in Africa. Trips from short day tours to 2-7 days gorilla treks can be booked from listed local tour operators.
- Golden Monkey tracking – The Volcanoes National Park hosts some of the rare primates; the endangered golden monkeys. You can track these elusive monkeys on your next trip in Rwanda.
- Genocide Memorial tours – There are several genocide memorial sites including the Kigali Genocide Memorial, Nyamata, Ntarama, Gisozi and more.
- Chimpanzee Tracking – an adventure carried out in the Nyungwe Forest National Park.
- City tours – there are two major cities; Butare and Kigali. There are several attractions in these cities including museums, art galleries and natural monuments.
- Bird watching
- Boat cruise
- Game Viewing in the Akagera National Park, the only savanna national park in Rwanda.
Destinations – Where to go in Rwanda
Top Paces to Visit in Rwanda include
- Virunga National Park – Home to the Mountains for gorilla tracking/Trekking in Parc Des Volcans
- Genocide Memorials sites,
- Dian Fossey’s Remains -Karisoke Research Center,
- Akagera National Park
- Nyungwe forest National Park
- Lake Kivu
Top Cities
- Gisenyi city
- Kinigi City
- Ruhengeri / Musanze Town
- Kigali city
- Gisenyi
When to visit Rwanda
The country can be visited at any time of year. The dry season stretches from mid-May to mid-October and this season is easier for tracking the mountain gorillas. Peak season for safaris in Rwanda is July – September as well as December – February. However traveling outside this time means it is easier to arrange a gorilla permit.