Best Four Places to Visit in Rwanda: Rwanda crowned “The Land of a Thousand Hills” is ranked among the most popular tourist destinations in Africa, this beautiful country dominated by a thousands of hills has got so much to explore through the country offering travelers the best African Safari experience.
These are the Best Four Places to Visit in Rwanda, these are some of the most sought after destinations that tourists from around the world look to explore during their safari visit to Rwanda.
Kigali City
Kigali City – the capital of Rwanda is the cleanest city in Africa, popular for her rich history, rich culture, architecture and numerous exciting attractions. The city has a combination of the cutting edge and conventional setting, it is popular for being one of Africa’s cleanest safest, well maintained and green cities compared to other African cities.
Kigali City has a rich historical background originating from the pre and post – colonial times as well as the 1994 Rwandan Genocide that holds more water to-date.
Attractions in Kigali City
Kigali Museums and Genocide Memorial
The Kigali Genocide Memorial is the center of all memorial sites and documents the 1994 mass killings in Rwanda, associated with the country’s civil war. The city’s Crafts Adventure Village Cooperative (CAVICO) has stalls selling traditional handicrafts including wood carvings and woven baskets.
Kigali Genocide Memorial is the city’s best known landmark popular for its very insightful standing amid beautiful rose gardens and fountains. The site sets out the history leading up to the genocide in Rwanda and also explains genocides around the world, it includes poignant display’s victim’s life.
The Presidential Palace Museum
The former Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana’s home offers an intimate look at the actors and space that gave rise to the 1994 Rwanda Genocide. The president’s assassination is said to have sparked the killing spree and the remains of his private plane which was shot down over his home are still on display outside the museum walls.
Other places of interest in Kigali City include The Kigali Cultural Village, Rwanda Art Museum and Ethnographic Museum.
Volcanoes National Park
Volcanoes National Park is one of the most popular destinations in Rwanda and the best place in Africa to see both mountain gorillas and golden monkeys which are the main attractions bringing tourists in Rwanda.
Volcanoes National Park is part of the Great Virunga Conservation Area or Virunga Mountains Chain which runs in Uganda, DR Congo and Rwanda. On the Rwanda side, the ecologically rich Virunga Mountains region is home to about half of the world’s endangered mountain gorillas, the park protects 12 human – habituated gorilla family groups available for tourism and others reserved for research.
Volcanoes National Park is strategically situated in the northern territory of Rwanda in Musanze Area, only 2 hours’ drive from Kigali City.
Gorilla trekking experience, golden monkey trekking and volcano climbing like the most famous Mount Bisoke and Mount Karisimbi and Hiking Dian Fossey burial place and bird watching are the fascinating Rwanda safari activities to do in Volcanoes National Park.
Mountain Gorilla Trekking: an encounter with mountain gorillas on what is termed as gorilla trekking experience is the main Rwanda Safari activity in the park offering visitors a chance to see mountain gorillas in their natural habitat. Visitors are allowed to spend one hour interacting with a specific gorilla family assigned to them.
Nyungwe Forest National Park
Nyungwe Forest National Park – home to primates is a popular destination in Rwanda to see several species of primates including chimpanzees Silver monkey, Golden monkey, Owl-faced monkey/ Hamlyn’s monkey, Grey-cheeked mangabey, Red-tailed monkey, L’Hoest’s monkey, Vervet monkey, Olive baboon, Dent’s Mona Monkey, Blue Monkey and Angolan Colobus Monkeys.
In addition to the 13 species of primates, Nyungwe Forest National Park is home to 75 different species of mammals including small and nocturnal species. Though chimpanzees are the main attraction in Nyungwe Forest National Park , the forest hosts troops of over 300 colobus monkeys among others.
Nyungwe Forest National Park is found in western Rwanda, the forest is one of the world’s most beautiful and pristine rainforests and it is dominated by a series of mountains originating in Northern Uganda and Congo, running south through the Rwenzori Mountains, western Rwanda and Burundi to the shoes of Lake Tanganyika.
Things to do by travelers on a Rwanda Safari in Nyungwe Forest National Park include chimpanzee tracking, canopy walks, colobus monkey trekking, guided nature walks in the tropical and montane rainforests and canopy walk.
Akagera National Park
Akagera National Park is the only savannah park in Rwanda and home to the enormous Big Five – lions, leopards, rhinos, cape buffaloes and elephants thriving in its undulating quiet savannah plains and quiet wild with uncommon normal magnificence.
Akagera National Park is found in eastern Rwanda covering an area of 2500 square kilometers, the park is named after Akagera River that flows along Rwanda’s eastern boundary with Tanzania. The river feeds into Lake Ihema and other smaller lakes in and around the park.
Akagera National Park protects an African landscape of acacia and bush with patches of open grassland and a dozen swamp lakes, it has exceptional levels of biodiversity and forms a large protected wetland in Africa.
The park is home to a variety of wildlife which include elephant, buffaloes, giraffes, zebras, hyenas, lions and several antelopes like bushbucks, Topis, Oribis, water-buck, roan antelope and duiker, klipspringer, impala and world largest antelope – the Cape eland.
Game viewing is the main Rwanda Safari activity in Akagera National Park done in safari vehicles in search for animals as they go on with day, the best time for game drives is during the early morning offering opportunity to see early risers such as lions, leopards, hyenas among others.
Lake Kivu
The beautiful Lake Kivu is part of Africa’s Great Rift Valley in the west of Rwanda, the lake is surrounded by magnificent mountains and has deep emerald green waters covering a surface area of 2,700 square kilometers making it largest lake in Rwanda and the sixth largest in Africa.
Lake Kivu is well known for offering fantastic Rwanda beach holiday, features a rocky coast and various island with Idjwi being the biggest of all. The lake is originally part of a bigger body of water that covered a trough in the Earth’s structure, however as a result of volcanic activity, a barrier along its northern coast formed, partitioning Kivu from Lake Edward. The barrier blocked Kivu’s northern outflow and channeled its drained to the south into Lake Tanganyika through the Ruzizi (Rusizi) River.
Lake Kivu offers a number of beach activities such as kayaking, paddle boarding, boat ride, island hopping, coffee tours, cultural and community tours, hiking and cycling, bird watching, sport fishing, beach games and swimming among others.
