Popular Tour Activities in Rwanda
Rwanda, “A land of thousand hills” as famously known is an extraordinary tour destination where serene scenery and placid people greet you at every juncture. The Land of Thousand Hills is full of sights and delights, waiting to be explored. The country is safe and secure with an overwhelming renaissance of Rwandese National Pride and cultural reconstruction.
Rwanda has wonderful and friendly people, challenging mountains, breathtaking beautiful lakes like Kivu, Burera and Ruhundo, stunning scenery, perfect climate, rare species of apes, express buses, excellent road networks, good and cheap food and beer, various accommodation options, internet facilities,
Being small in size (26,338 square kilometers / 10,169 square miles) Rwanda attractions are near each other and can be reached quite easily and safely.
Top 10 Popular tour activities in Rwanda
1. A city tour in Rwanda’s capital - Kigali
Being a country of thousand hills, the capital Kigali is an interesting mix of rural and urban town overflowing on juxtaposed hilly terrain. Kigali is a place to get acquainted with the Rwandan pace. Excursions in and around Kigali offer a first impression of what Rwanda looks like. The many hills seem to stretch forever, usually featuring a lush green colour due to the abundant rainfall from the two main rainy seasons. Of course, visits to some of the historical genocide sites are possible. The exhibition in the Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre tells the history of Rwanda leading up to genocide in 1994 and catalogues the details of the genocide using photographs, video, written accounts and a range of artifacts. This site has been constructed in memory of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide that took almost 1,000,000 lives in 100 days while the world stood by and watched. The Kigali Memorial Centre is a site of burial for around 250,000 victims of the genocide, which comprises of a main historical exhibition, a Children’s Memorial exhibition and an exhibition on comparative genocide, called Wasted Lives. You will also visit Camp Kigali, the venue of the massacre of 10 Belgian UN Blue Berets which happened on the first day of the genocide.
2. Genocide Memorial sites
During the genocide in Rwanda in 1994, over a million people were murdered. Some 250,000 perished on the streets and in the houses, churches and hospitals of Kigali alone. Kigali Genocide memorial center contains ten mass graves- a site of burial for almost victims, who were killed in the Kigali region. After the genocide, as mass graves were being discovered around the city. It was decided that a single monument/ burial place should be created, where the victims could be laid to rest with dignity, this is now their final resting place. The memorial houses a children's section, a particularly powerful experience to read about the children- how they lived, and how they died. Amongst other things, it traces how things came to being so bad, how the ideology of genocide emerged, how the tragedy could have been averted, and how the world ignored the signs and warnings repeatedly. Some of the survivors of the genocide have been trained as guides at the center. The place is really heart breaking! Other genocide memorial sites include Nyamata, Murambi, Ntarama, and Bisesero among others
3. Gorillas in the Mist
Trekking African
Mountain Gorillas in Rwanda is the pinnacle of all the wildlife experiences available in Africa. People are limited to spend only one hour with the Gorillas and expect to hike for two to four hours to see them. These incredible primates are divided into four groups that have been habituated over the decades; it's a thing not to miss in Rwanda. Don't miss spending an hour with these magical creatures. It does require planning in advance, and contacting the National Park or a local tour operator to check what the latest system they have implemented with regards to how you get a permit - but it is all worthwhile. Also, don't be put off by the price - a high price is needed to ensure that protecting the gorillas is economically sustainable for the local area.
While at Volcanoes National park (Home of Gorillas), there is another opportunity for Golden Monkey tracking.
4. Mountain Hiking
There are guided hikes to the top of 2 volcano among the 5 of the Virunga chain, Visoke (3711m) and Karisimbi (4705m -the tallest). Hiking to the summits are not technical and can be done by fit hikers. The scenery is great! However, the trek to Karisimbi's peak takes 2 days and should be prepared properly.
Hiking some times goes up to Diana Fossey’s grave yard, nestled between the beautiful lake of Burera and Rukundo.
5. African Primates trekking (Nyungwe Forest)
Nyungwe Forest is the largest Montane forest in east and central Africa, and a home to 13 primates species. This is where you can find large Chimpanzee Communities beating up to 400-500 individuals. Other primates include the handsome L'Hoest's monkey and hundred-strong troops of the delightfully acrobatic Angola colobus. Nyungwe Forest harbours almost 280 bird species of which two dozen are restricted to a handful of montane forests on the Albertine Rift. The major tour activities include Primates trekking, nature walks and village / cultural walks among others.
6. Wildlife viewing in Akagera National Park
Akagera is the best wildlife park of Rwanda located in eastern part of the country on Tanzania Boarder. The park derives its name from the Akagera River. The major tour activities include game viewing drives in search for animals like giraffes, zebras, antelopes, baboons, buffaloes, Lions and many more, boat cruise on Lake Ihema in search for huge Nile crocodiles, hippos and over 500 bird species includeing the rare shoebill.
7. Rusumo Falls
Rusumo is a Marvelous and spectacular falls of the Akagera River, a part of the most distant headwaters of the river Nile. The falls is located in the Eastern part of Rwanda at the border with Tanzania. If you happen to cross the border with Tanzania at Rusumo don't forget to see the Rusumo falls.
8. The Beautiful Lake Kivu
The beautifully Lake Kivu is a large deposit of fresh water that marks the western border with DR Congo and one of the Great Lakes of Africa. The lake is in the Albertine Rift, a part of the Great Rift Valley. Lake Kivu empties into the Ruzizi River, which flows southwards into Lake Tanganyika. Beneath the lake lie vast reserves of approximately 55 billion cubic of dissolved methane gas which have not been exploited. Lake Kivu is a tourist center, safe to swim (but just ask locally to be completely sure). There are nice beaches, gorgeous landscapes and the sunsets are regularly stunning. There are some excellent places to stay on the Lakeside such as Kibuye and -especially-Gisenyi near the DR Congo border. Accommodation options include Kivu Serena Hotel, Kivu sun, Paradise marahide Hotel and many more.
9. Butare City in Huye
The most popular tourist attraction in Butare is the superb National Museum, which houses perhaps the finest ethnographic collection in East Africa. The rooms are spacious, without the excessive clutter of distracting memorabilia. Absorbing displays of traditional artifacts are illuminated by a fascinating selection of turn-of-the-century monochrome photographs, providing insight not only into pre-colonial lifestyles, but also into the subsequent development of Rwanda as a modern African state. Here the Intore dancers can be commissioned to perform, but this is not a good deal for a single traveler. If a group is present the price would definitely be worthwhile as shows are few and far between.
10. Rwandan Cultures
Rwanda culture is really unique and exciting. Through performances such as Cultural Music, dance and drummer, you learn more about the norms, values and customs of the peace full Rwanda people, because Rwanda is one of the African countries with unique and untamed cultural attractions in Africa.
The richness of Rwandan culture is apparent in the wide range of fine crafts which include pottery, basketry, painting, jewelry, wood carving, metalwork, and the making of gourd containers. On addition to being friendly people, Rwanda people are very welcoming and hospitable. All ethnic groups cherish oral traditions of proverbs, songs, and chants. The Tutsi Intore dancers for instance are characterized by coordinated drilling dances reflecting the warrior tradition of the Tutsi, and drummers, which are very exciting to tourists. Additionally, Much of Rwanda's traditional cultural heritage revolves around dances, praise songs, and dynastic poems designed to enhance the legitimacy of the Tutsi kingship.
