Tourist Places in Rwanda
Tourist Places in Rwanda: Rwanda the land of a thousand hills is one of the small countries in Africa but one of the top tourist destinations in Africa in this century. Mostly known for its unpleasant past, the country that has worked through its ruins to recover from its devastating past has in recurrent years become the epitome of tourism in the East African region offering its visitors unique and rare opportunities to explore nature and different tourist activities. The country is full of beautiful tourism sites with beautiful sceneries, rare animal species and several breath-taking activities to engage in on your safari in the country.
Below we list some of the places in the country that offers amazing tourist experiences and you should not miss visiting on your stay in the country; A visit to these places will not just be memorable but ones that will take your breath away.
Volcanoes National Park
One of the four parks in the region with Mountain gorillas this is a must visit for you. These rare and endangered apes are a wonder to view on a great trek through the virunga massif in Rwanda. Volcanoes National Park is home to these endangered mountain gorillas and offers different opportunities for its visitors to trek the different mountain gorilla families in the park.
Mountain gorilla trekking is done almost every day in the park and gorilla trekking permits cost 1500 USD. The experience is not one to miss.
Other activities that visitors can enagage in while at this park are visiting the Dian Fossey grave, visiting the Iby’Iwachu cultural Village, taking a hiking one of the virunga mountains and visiting the Musanze caves.
Nyungwe Forest
Nyungwe Forest is a high altitude tropical rain forest famous for harbouring Chimpanzees and having the unique canopy walk. The forest is one of Africa’s ancient forests and one of the most bio-diverse forests in the entire world. The forest hosts over 1000 unique plant species, over 200 bird species and the famous primates – the chimpanzees.
Activities done in this tropical forest include chimpanzee trekking, canopy walking, hiking forest trails and waterfalls trails, community visits among other things.
Kigali Genocide Memorial
The Kigali genocide memorial is a very important and significant centre in Rwanda’s history which you should not miss to visit. A visit to this site will help you appreciate the past, present and future of Rwanda as a nation. The centre is full of several exhibitions showcasing the Rwandan Genocide in visual and Audio, its effects, documented stories of survivors among other thing. The outside of the centre has grave sites where most victims were buried. This genocide that racked the country for 100 days in 1994 claimed the lives of over 10,000 Rwandan people.
Mount Bisoke
Mount Bisoke is an active Volcano among the Virunga Massif bordering Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The mountain offers beautiful sceneries of the East African region and great hike for those that are into adventures and challenging activities. A hike on this mountain takes the whole day and it takes you up the Crater Lake at the summit which is a beautiful experience altogether.
Mount Bisoke is accessed through Volcanoes National Park.
Lake Kivu
This exploding lake is one of three in the world and the only one in Rwanda making it a must stop destination when you’re in Rwanda. The waters of this lake have occasional eruptions from the deep lake. The Lake is beautiful on its own but it’s also surrounded by beautiful vegetation that complements the shiny waters. Visitors of the lake will take boat rides on the lake and just enjoy the breeze and the scenery.
While at Kivu you can also visit the nearby tea plantations in Gisenyi, to experience the tea processing and production in Rwanda, if you’re in luck you may get to taste some of the Rwanda tea. You can also visit the communities in Gisenyi to learn more about the Rwanda communities and their local markets.
Those are the top destinations not to miss while in Rwanda and others include but not limited to:-
- Akagera National Park – the wildlife park in Rwanda, a must visit for animal viewing and game drives
- Lake Ihema – In Akagera bordering Tanzania, very good for boat rides
- The Congo-Nile Trail – An adventurous hiking trail stretching through Nyungwe and Lake Kivu
- Gishwati Forest
Among many other places.
