Rwanda

Rwanda: The land of a Thousand Hills

Every country has been blessed with a few unique features that distinguish it from others and collects masses from all over the world to have sights of the glorious features. Rwanda also known as the cleanest country in Africa is among the few countries that provide rare excitement from views of the prestige mountain gorillas but on top of that, tourists can engage with the only canopy walk found in East Africa and a lot more safaris while in the country as explained in the article.

Popular tourist attractions in Rwanda

Gorilla trekking

Gorilla trekking tops the itineraries of most tourists in all the countries that harbor the glorious creatures Rwanda being one of them. Travels hike through thick slapping branches of trees, tough meadows and impassable routes while tracking the humble human like apes. The worthwhile activity comes with a charge of $1500 to chance watching one of the 14 habituated family groups and after they are met with, travelers are permitted one hour to take a clear glimpse of a day in life of these gigantic creatures in their natural habitat which basically involves feeding habits, looking after young ones, socializing with others among others.

Volcanoes hiking

The volcanoes straddle among Rwanda, DR Congo and Uganda but considering that these fascinating high raised molds are largely established in the cleanest country, hiking safaris on the volcanoes are memorable in Rwanda. The country offers hiking trails on four Virunga summits with the most demanding being mountain Karisimbi since it’s a two day climb and includes an exciting night at the middle of the spacious mountain before continuing to the top of the summit. Interesting hike can also be taken on other magnificent mountains like Bisoke, Muhabura and the least hiked being Mountain Gahinga as it’s the shortest of them all and would offer life changing experiences to first time hikers for starters.

Chimpanzee trekking

Similar to their kith and kins the mountain gorillas, chimpanzees offer another exciting safari that is less strenuous. Tourists should forget about holding hiking sticks and hitting the thick bushes to the mountains in search of gorillas because these enticing creatures can make a safari easy peasy while they are sighted scrambling at tree branches high up as though in the sky and grabbing at another to get a grip before they rest on the ground. These arboreal go ahead to making nests like birds up in thick tree branches therefore before tracking them, a group of trackers move ahead the tourists’ groups and keep updating the guides on where they sight these playful tree loving creatures. Tourists should come prepared and ready of the boundless time that is offered to them on sighting the chimps watch them closely as they feed, play, look after the young ones all on their habitants.

Dian Fossey grave hike

In the ragged sharp ravine between mountain Bisoke and mountain Karisimbi lies the commencement of the Dian Fossey grave hike. This less arduous hike offers tourists with beautiful natural sceneries from lush green vegetation like the rare orchids, views of the glorious mountains and odds of sighting the magnificent gorillas. Flagging the trial from the base of mount Bisoke, visitors find their way with a trained guide as their lead to the resting home of Dian Fossey and her famous research station Karisoke to have a feel and appreciate the heavy duty works she offered while protecting the lives of these extinct creatures against the ape massacre.

Kigali genocide memorial site

The haunting massacre that left quite a large population of the people in Rwanda dead left a deep mark with the individuals of the country hence establishing a museum that takes tourists back to the bad old days through horrific photos, artifacts and other information that brings life to the suffering that befell the country in 1994. It shows great sign of humanity for all the tourists who visit the country and enroute to the museum to have a moment of silence for all the innocent people who fell victims in the ruthless killing that happened to the country.

Culture of Rwanda

The diversity of ethnic groups in Rwanda is minimal but that is not a barrier to the single but yet rich cultural heritage that is found in the country. In times past the country had three ethnic groups where the Tutsi were proud cattle keepers, Hutu with their vast land were comfortable with farming and the Twa who were forest enthusiasts and hunting basically made their day. However, this is all in memory because Rwandese now share cultural values, unity, patriotism and preferably love being grouped as Rwandese and are still in the process of healing from the trauma that came along with the genocide of 1994, with Kinyarwanda being the commonest language spoken in the country.  Kiswahili, French and English can all be heard around the corners of the country since they are official languages.

Food in Rwanda

Different countries have unique types of food that take them to cloud nine when they dine and eat them especially the locally produced types of foods. Rwanda comes along with its amazing types of dishes that are prepared in the country. Rwandese prefer mixing different kinds of food stuffs hence inventing amazing dishes that are for Rwanda only like Umutsima a mixture of cassava and corns, Isombe is all about cassava leaves, eggplants and spinach. They prefer having fruits between meals and supper should be as heavy as nothing had throughout the day. While dining, asking questions related to ethnicity is can call for food rejection and refusing food or drinks offered is also a kind of insult to the individual offering. It’s also in Rwanda where individuals first sip on foods and drinks offered to their guests as a proof that the food is generally good for consumption.

Rwanda’s geography

Typically known as the land of a thousand hills, Rwanda considered to be one of the smallest countries in Africa is circular in nature due to the presence of various undulating hills in the country and mountains such as the Virunga mountains. This tiny landlocked country neighbors Tanzania in the east, Burundi in the south, DR Congo in the west and Uganda in the north. The Nile and River Congo as one of the greatest rivers in Africa flow through the country.

Community tours in Rwanda

Community tours provide travelers to engage in a lot of the over joying cultural experiences in the country like participating in cultural dances, listening to ancient folktales, sharing traditional meals with the locals among other new encounters. The tourists can engage with village walks whose trails lead them through the community sighting various tea and coffee plantations, music, beer processing from bananas among others.

Tourists also get to explore arts and crats stalls and can make their safaris memorable by purchasing a souvenir, visiting local farms, Ibyiwacu village, local homesteads and heritage cultural trips are the vast options that tourist can engage with while on community tours in the country.

Big five safaris in Akagera National Park

Hunters usually get hold of a lion’s heart while doing what they best know, but lions, buffaloes, leopards, hippopotamus and elephants seemingly weren’t those easy to catch and thus were named the big five animals. It’s on rare instances to catch a glimpse of all the big five in one destination but Akagera in Rwanda does it for its visitors on a wildlife safari in Rwanda.

Leopards in Akagera

A game drive through the pristine environments of the park offers luck to tourists to sight one of these big animals called leopards but rarely can they be seen during day therefore tourists need to embark on a night game drive to be up close with the creatures as its shyness is covered up by the darkness that befalls the night.

The African Savannah elephants

The saying as big as an elephant is just what this enormous creature proves all the time as they are considered to be the heaviest and largest of all animals across the world perimeters because its weight can shoot up to 6048 kgs. There are over 100 elephants in the park and tourists cannot fail to spot on one while on a game drive in the park.

Rhinos in Akagera

With the last rhino being spotted in the park around 2007, this park couldn’t know as the big five park but thanks to the joints efforts that were undertaken to trans-locate 18 black eastern rhinos from South Africa to Akagera. A safari to Akagera is made fruitful with a game drive that offers the tourists with the opportunity to watch these immense creatures grazing.

Lions

All the stories about great worries have been attributed to the lion heart and that renders it one of the big five animals. Words like king of the jungle best explain this fearless and brave shaggy makes strong animals. Visitors get to sight these risk-taking creatures on game drives both during day and night but its paramount for the tourists to know exactly where to find them during day since they are not a type that would sit around and pose for pictures as though they don’t have preys to hunt for.

Best time to visit the park

The country can be flocked in throughout the year depending on the safari that one is destined to undertake because the dry months of June to September highlight out the best of safaris like mountain gorilla trekking and preferably chimps trekking is best done during the wet season.

National Parks in Rwanda

Just like any other country with pristine nature, Rwanda is also made up of National parks. These quartets offer a lot of beautiful scenery to nature lovers and have a lot of history and complexion hidden inside them.

Nyungwe forest National Park

The western part of Rwanda is blessed with spectacular Views of Nyungwe with its wonderful plentiful forests that are considered the oldest rainforests in Africa. The heaves of the area collaborate with the thickets to provide a welcoming environment for various wildlife like duikers, bush backs, elephants, buffaloes, golden cats, bushpigs, mongoose, birds some of which are endemic to the Albertine region, endangered chimpanzees, other various primates like the L’Hoest’s monkey that is endemic to the Albertine region as well. Canopy walks, nature walks, various primate tracking are all entailed in a safari to this park.

Gishwati mukura National Park

The park was named after a merger of two forests that presently inhabit the park, attached located in the north-western region of Rwanda. The least visited park in the country but offers breath taking experiences from activities such as waterfall hiking, golden monkey tracking, nature walks, chimpanzees trekking therefore tourists only need a passport to get into the country and embark on a life changing itinerary.

Akagera National Park

2- 3 hours’ drive from Kigali to the eastern part of the country destines one to Akagera that became a big five National Park for its flourishing creatures kept in the park include the rhinos, elephants, buffaloes, lions, leopards, giraffes, zebras and not leaving out the numerous bird species in the park.  The only Savannah National Park in the country was named after the Kagera river whose meandering flows fees Lake Ihema and other rivers in and around the park. Tourists should come ready to engage in sport fishing, boat cruises, birding while on a safari in this park.

Volcanoes National Park

The northwestern region of Rwanda offers beauty that is topped by the beautiful scenery met with while in this park considering that it protects 5 of the 8 pleasing slopes of the volcanoes. The park unleashes not only the thick lush green of the forests barked by the beautiful undulating hills but also beautiful golden colors from the golden monkeys that are chanced jumping up and down in the forests.

Not leaving out creatures that dominate the hills, the mountain gorillas and also worth noting that visitors can enjoy caving from historical caves like Musanze while getting a glimpse of memory lane from individuals that have the history of the area on their fingertips.