In colonial times, Rwanda was dubbed the Land of a Thousand Hills, a reference to the thrilling beauty of its rolling mountainous landscapes.

After independence, this small Central African nation leaped to fame as the adopted home of Dian Fossey : the Land of Gorillas in the Mist, the rare mountain gorillas whose range is restricted to the slopes of the Virunga Volcanoes

Today, Rwanda is remembered simply as the Land of the Genocide — the site of a senseless massacre which dominated world headlines over the latter part of 1994.

The genocide is history. Recent history, perhaps, but history all the same. Peace was restored in 1995, and over subsequent years Rwanda has blossomed in an atmosphere of renewed political stability and steady economic growth. Meanwhile, the thousand hills are still there —every last one of them— and so, too, are the mountain gorillas, those gentle giants of the Virungas, living tranquilly in their misty mountain home.

Hôtel des mille collines.

Yet there is so much more to Rwanda than gorillas. Take Akagera National Park, for instance, a mesmerising tract of untrammelled African wilderness, where elephants still have the right of way, and vast numbers of hippo and crocodile languish along tree-lined lakes. Or Nyungwe Natural Forest, the largest extant tract of montane forest in East or Central Africa, home to chimpanzees, troops of 400-plus colobus monkeys, and hundreds of rare forest birds. Then there is Lake Kivu, an ocean-like freshwater expanse hemmed in by the dramatic mountains of the Rift Valley ; the dramatic volcanic cones of the Virungas ; the secret delights of myriad forest-fringed waterfalls…

Best-known for its wealth of primates, Rwanda is also one of Africa’s top birding countries, where an incredible 670 different species have been recorded within an area intermediate to that of Wales and Belgium. For amateur botanists, the gorgeous wildflowers of the forests and mountains are capped by more than 100 orchid species in Nyungwe alone, as well as the other-worldly giant lobelia, a floral refugee from a science-fiction film set.

Rwanda, in a nutshell, is a nature-lover’s paradise. It is also one of the friendliest of nations : the warm welcome complemented by comfortable facilities, fine food, and a rich cultural heritage.

Rwanda, we know, is a country with a past. More important than that, however, it is a nation renascent, a country looking to its future — one in which it will surely claim its rightful place as one of the world’s finest ecotourism destinations.

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Geography

Rwanda is a small landlocked republic in Equatorial Africa. It lies on the eastern rim of the Albertine Rift, a western arm of the Great Rift Valley, and the watershed between Africa’s two largest river systems : the Nile and the Congo. Much of the country’s 26,338km2 is dramaticaly mountainous, the highest peak being Karisimbi (4,507m), part of the volcanic Virunga chain in the northwest. Rwanda is the most densely populated country in Africa, and heavily cultivated, with even the steepest hills outside of conservation areas being tightly terraced from base to peak. The largest body of water is Lake Kivu in the Albertine Rift. Numérous other lakes are dotted around the country, notably Burera, Ruhondo, Muhazi and Mugasera, all of which have erratic shapes following the contours of the steep mountains which enclose them.

Climate

A combination of tropical location and high altitude ensures that most of Rwanda has a temperate year-round climate ; temperatures rarely stray above 30 degrees Celsius by day or below 15 degrees Celsius at night. The exceptions are the chilly upper slopes of the Virunga Mountains, and the hot low-lying Tanzania border area protected in Akagera National Park. Throughout the country, seasonal variations in temperature are relatively insignificant.

By African standards, Rwanda has a moist climate, with most parts of the country receiving in excess of 1,000mm of precipitation annually (higher in the forested mountains). The driest months are July to September, when rain is very unusual. The wettest are February to May, when most parts of the country typically receive around 150-200mm per month.

History

Until about 2000 years ago, Rwanda was the domain of hunter-gatherers, gradually displaced by agricultural and pastoral societies which migrated to Central Africa from elsewhere in the continent. A centralised state emerged in the fifteenth century with the formation of a feudal monarchy which shared similar roots and customs with the Buganda and Bunyoro Empires of neighbouring Uganda. Rwanda was colonised by Germany in 1890, and together with neighbouring Burundi it was mandated to Belgium following the defeat of Germany in the First World War. Rwanda was granted independence in 1962, under Prime Minister Grégoire Kayibanda. Ten years later, Kayibanda was ousted by Major General Juvénal Habyarimana, whose death in a mysterious plane crash in 1994 is widely regarded as having been the spark that ignited on already planned genocide in which up to one million Rwandans died and twice as many fled into exile. Although outside perceptions are understandably dominated by events surrounding the genocide, Rwanda has in fact enjoyed a high level of political stability since 1995, during which time most of the exiles have returned, several of the main instigators of the genocide have been tried at the Arusha tribunal, and the country as a whole has been peaceful.

Conservation areas

Rwanda has three main conservation areas. The Parc National des Volcans in the northwest protects the Rwandese part of the Virunga Volcanoes, and is best-known for its population of mountain gorillas. Akagera National Park in the east is dominated by savannah and wetlands, and protects big game species characteristic of such habitats. Nyungwe National Park is the largest conservation area in the country, a 970km2 tract of rainforest with one of the highest biodiversity levels in Africa.

Kigali and Butare :
cities of Commerce and Culture

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“Much as in Rome, Naples or Lisbon, also built on hills, anyone who visits Kigali by car goes on something like a roller coaster ride… Every circuit seems to have been studied expressly to include a lookout spot commanding a superb panorama of the city and the surrounding hills.”
Jean-Claude Klotchkoff, author of the travel guide Rwanda Today.

Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, is both a modern business centre and a lush garden city, sprawling attractively over verdant slopes in the very heart of the Land of a Thousand Hills. The main port of entry to Rwanda, Kigali is serviced by a modern airport, and connected to neighbouring Uganda and Burundi by zippy surfaced roads. It boasts a range of hotels to suit all tastes and budgets, and a selection of restaurants serving cuisine from around the globe.

Kigali, despite concessions to modernity, retains a satisfyingly organic shape and unpretentious low-rise charm. The compact city centre, which surrounds a busy, colourful market, is studded with souvenir stalls displaying fine local craftsmanship, while leafy avenues wind through hilly suburbia and the atmospheric Muslim quarter. Safe, and overwhelmingly friendly, Kigali enjoys a temperate high-altitude climate which belies its tropical location and appearance, and is centrally located within three hours of most of Rwanda’s tourist sites.

Rwanda’s second city, Butare, situated 135km south of the capital, is the intellectual and cultural heart of the nation, set a short distance from the traditional seat of the feudal monarch, and the site of numerous academic institutions including the country’s largest university. The main road through this compact and sedate small city is lined with inexpensive but comfortable hotels and breezy terrace restaurants. On the outskirts of Butare, Rwanda’s National Museum houses the finest ethnographic collection in East Africa. The absorbing displays of traditional artefacts, illuminated by turn-of-the-century monochrome photographs, provide insights into not only Rwanda’s pre-colonial lifestyles, but also its subsequent development into a modern African state. Within easy day-tripping distance of Butare, the Royal Palace at Nyanza is an enormous traditionally-constructed dome, no longer in active use, but painstakingly maintained as a museum.

Akagera National Park :
The magic of the African bush

“Akagera, with its complex mix of terrains, vegetation and animal life… is a very special place on earth, a place to preserve at all costs for future generations.”
Jean-Pierre Vande, writing in the award-winning conservation magazine Africa Environment & Wildlife.

Akagera comes as a exciting surprise after the steep cultivated hills and breezy climate that characterise the rest of the country. Set at a relatively low altitude along the Tanzanian border, this beautiful game reserve protects an archetypal African savannah landscape of tangled acacia and brachystegia bush, interspersed with patches of open grassland and a dozen swamp-fringed lakes that follow the meandering course of the Akagera River.

Akagera’s stirring and varied scenery is complemented by a superb range of big game. Herds of elephant and buffalo are most likely to be encountered when they emerge from the dense woodland to drink at the lakes, while lucky visitors might stumble across a lion, a leopard or a spotted hyaena. Giraffe and zebra are frequently seen in open woodland, and more than a dozen types of antelope inhabit the park, most commonly the handsome chestnut-coated impala, but also the diminutive oribi and secretive bushbuck, as well as the ungainly tsessebe and the world’s largest antelope, the magnificent Cape eland.

To camp alongside Akagera’s picturesque lakes is a truly mystical introduction to the wonders of the African bush. Pods of 50 hippopotami grunt and splutter throughout the day, while outsized crocodiles soak up the sun with their vast jaws menacingly agape. Magically, the air is torn apart by the unforgettable high duetting of a pair of fish eagles, asserting their status as the uncontested king and queen of Africa’s waterways. Lining the lakes are some of the continent’s densest concentrations of waterbirds —storks, egrets, ibises, plovers, sandpipers, kingfishers and herons. The connecting marshes are the haunt of localised papyrus specialists such as the red, yellow and black papyrus gonolek, the secretive blue-headed coucal, and the singularly bizarre shoebill stork — the latter perhaps the most sought-after of all African birds.

Parc National des Volcans :
Gorillas in the Mist
““In the heart of Central Africa, so high up that you shiver more than you sweat, are great, old volcanoes towering up almost 15.000 feet, and nearly covered with rich, green rainforest — the Virungas.”
Dr. Dian Fossey describing the intensely beautiful mountain range on which she spent the last two decades of her life studying Rwanda’a endangered mountain gorillas.

Protected within the Parc des Volcans, the lushly forested slopes of the Virungas form an appropriately dramatic natural setting for what is arguably the most poignant and memorable wildlife experience to be had in the wilds of Africa : gorilla tracking. The exhilarating climb to the gorillas’ habitat of shady bamboo forest offers fantastic views in all directions, before trekkers are immersed in the mysterious intimacy of the rainforest, alive with the calls of colourful birds and the chattering of the rare golden monkey.

Nothing can prepare one for the impact of encountering a fully-grown silverback gorilla : up to three times as bulky as the average man, yet remarkably peaceable and tolerant of human visitors. Nor are there words to describe the thrill of recognition attached to staring deep into the liquid brown eyes of these gentle giants, which share some 97% of their genes with humans.

That mountain gorillas survive today is largely thanks to Dian Fossey, who is buried at her research centre in the Virungas alongside the animals to which she dedicated her life. Fossey became a household name following the release of the biographical film Gorillas in the Mist, set and shot on location in the Parc National des Volcans. Critical and public acclaim ensured that Gorillas in the Mist also served to raise international awareness of the plight of the mountain gorilla. A mere 300 of these gentle giants survive in the wild, half of them resident in Rwanda, where four habituated groups — ranging in size from seven to 33 individuals — can be visited by up to 32 tourists daily.

The main base for gorilla tracking, Ruhengeri is a small but bustling market town situated 15km from the base of the Virungas. Boasting a wonderful sub-montane setting, and an excellent range of cheap to midrange hotels, Ruhengeri is an agreeable place to spend the night before one goes gorilla tracking, as well as being the obvious base from which to explore the little-known but compellingly beautiful Lakes Burera and Ruhondo. Alternatively, visitors seeking a higher level of comfort could base themselves in Gisenyi or Kigali, and — with an early start — head to Ruhengeri as a day trip from there.

Nyungwe National Park :
Primate and Bird Nirvana

“The mountains are Africa’s Galapagos Islands — islands enriched by golden monkeys, gorillas and iridescent sunbirds, by giant lobelias, everlasting flowers, Ruwenzori turacos and all the questions they raise. They deserve greater recognition, protection and study than they have received so far.”
Jonathan Kingdon, renowned biologist, in his award-winning book Island Africa.


Nyungwe National Park, extending for almost 1,000km2 across the majestic hills of southeast Rwanda, is the largest “island” of montane forest remaining in East or Central Africa : a rich and ancient centre of unparalleled biodiversity and natural wonders. Transected by the surfaced road between Butare and Lake Kivu, Nyungwe and its array of forest inhabitants are also uniquely accessible to casual visitors.

Approach Nyungwe along the main road, and you will initially be struck by the forest’s glorious sense of expansiveness ; a lush verdant swathe across the mighty hills that roll like gigantic green waves towards the distant horizon. Paradoxically, when you follow the walking trails within Nyungwe, it is the intimacy of the rainforest that most impresses : the closed canopy overhead, the towering trees and delicate ferns that line the steep gorges, the mysterious calling and rustling of birds and monkeys hidden deep in the greenery.

Recently accorded national park status, Nyungwe is rightly celebrated for the rich variety of its flora and fauna. At least 200 different types of tree are found in the forest, along with hundreds of different flowering plants, including wild begonia, more than 100 species of orchid, and sensational giant lobelias. Of the large mammals, primates are the most visible, with 13 recorded species representing 25% of the African primate checklist. Of particular interest are the Angola colobus — delightfully acrobatic arboreal monkeys which move in troops of several hundred — and an estimated 500 chimpanzee, often seen from the forest trails during the rainy season. Other primates likely to be encountered over the course of a visit are L’Hoest’s monkey, silver monkey, vervet monkey, olive baboon, grey-cheeked mangabey, and red-tailed monkey.

Home to more than 275 bird species, Nyungwe is the most important birding site in Rwanda. Most alluring to ornithologists are 24 Albertine Rift endemics —birds whose range is restricted to a handful of montane forests between southern Uganda and northern Burundi— a list which includes the spectacular Ruwenzori turaco, secretive red-chested alethe, and several iridescent sunbirds. Equally remarkable are the perpetually honking giant hornbills that crash through the forest canopy, and the stunning great blue turaco — an outlandishly blue, red and green bird most often seen gliding from one tree to the next in procession.

Far from being the sweaty tropical jungle one might expect, Nyungwe lies at an elevation of between 1,600m and 2,950m, and enjoys an agreeably cool climate. An extensive network of well-maintained forest trails lead to various waterfalls and viewing points. A comfortably rustic resthouse and perfectly situated campsite lie alongside the main road, and the reserve can readily be visited as a day trip from smarter hotels in the towns of Butare and Cyangugu. Nyungwe does, however, deserve more time : anybody who wants to track chimps and see several varieties of smaller primate will need two days there — and dedicated birdwatchers might never want to leave this magical forest !

The Lakes

“There are lovely villas along the tree-lined shore… a beautiful white sandy beach… the lake is crystal clear. This is a spot that deserves a longer stay.”
Daniel Stiles, writing about Gisenyi on Lake Kivu in Swara Magazine.

Lake Kivu is extraordinarily beautiful : a vast inland sea enclosed by the steep, green terraced hills that are so characteristic of rural Rwanda. Along its shores lie three resort towns, Gisenyi, Kibuye and Cyangugu, connected by a wild roller-coaster road that tumbles through lush plantain fields and relic patches of misty rainforest to offer sweeping views over the shimmering lake.

Gisenyi, a short drive from Ruhengeri and the Parc des Volcans, is set on a sandy beach lined with swaying palms and colonial-era hotels that positively exude an atmosphere of tropical languor. At Kibuye, tourist activities are centred around a modern lakeshore guesthouse which overlooks pine-covered hills seemingly transplanted from the Alps. Different again is Cyangugu, close to Nyungwe Forest, where more subdued tourist development is compensated for by perhaps the most spectacular setting of them all.

Lake Kivu is the largest of numerous lakes which fill the valleys of Rwanda. Lakes Burera and Ruhondo, close to the gorilla-tracking centre of Ruhengeri, are oft-neglected gems : deep blue waters ringed by steep hills and tall waterfalls, with the outlines of the nearby Virunga Volcanoes providing a spectacular backdrop, particularly as seen from the comfortable Foyer de Charité guesthouse on Lake Ruhondo. Further south, Lake Muhazi makes for a good day trip from Kigali, with overnight camping available Gisenyi and Kibuye are the places to head for creature comforts and water sports. Away from the main resorts, however, the lake circuits offer rewarding glimpses into a more ancient Africa, as fishermen ply the water in dugout canoes unchanged in design for many centuries, colourfully dressed ladies smoke traditional wooden pipes, and troubadours strum sweetly on stringed iningire (traditional “guitars”). And the birdlife around the lakes is fantastic : flotillas of pelicans, majestic crowned cranes, jewel-like malachite kingfishers, and much else besides.

ORTPN
Office Rwandais du Tourisme et des Parc Nationaux
BP 905 Kigali Rwanda
Tel. : +250 76514/5 or 73396
Fax : +250 76512
Ortpn@rwandatel1.rwanda1.com