RWANDA TRAVEL GUIDE FOR FIRST TIME TRAVELERS
An ultimate Rwanda travel guide for first time travelers: Traveling to Rwanda for the first time comes with its own challenges. This complete travel guide provides a deep insight into Rwanda’s best tourist attractions/destinations, tourism activities, how to get around, when to visit, places to stay and other important travel tips.
Rwanda is most popular for is unique mountain gorillas and these can be visited on gorilla tour in Volcanoes National Park. This landlocked country provides more than gorilla trekking adventures. Visitors can also travel for big 5 game viewing, chimpanzee tracking in Nyungwe Forest National Park & Gishwati-Mukura National Park.
Unique attractions/destinations to explore in Rwanda
Genocide sites
Explore more about the Rwandan genocide (1994) on a visit to one of the remarkable genocide memorial centers. In the space of 100 days, over 800,000 people were murdered during the civil war between the Tutsi and Hutu. A deep insight into the 1994 Rwandan civil war is offered on a tour in the Nyamata and Ntarama churches, Kigali/Gisozi memorial center, Nyarubuye, Biserero memorial center, and more. The Gisozi/Kigali memorial centre is where the biggest number of the Rwandan genocide victims were laid to rest and visits to this historical center is possible on Kigali city tour.
Hotel Rwanda- pay a visit to the Hotel Des Mille Collins in Kigali, a remarkable spot where over 1268 including Hutus and Tutsis sought refuge in this area. The story about this place was shared in the South African movie- Hotel Rwanda.
National Parks
Rwanda is an amazing travel destination, featuring 4 National Parks: Akagera National Park, Volcanoes National Park, Gishwati-Mukura National Park and Nyungwe Forest National Park. Three parks host different primates: Volcanoes, Gishwati-Mukura and Nyungwe Forest National Park. These protected areas hold diversity of wildlife including endangered mountain gorillas, chimpanzees, golden monkeys, colobus monkeys, l’hoest monkeys and more.
Volcanoes National Park –this is a refuge to 30% of the mountain gorillas that reside in the wild. Other attractions of Volcanoes NP include the 5 Virunga Volcanoes that attracts enthusiastic hikers. The 5 volcanoes: Gahinga, Sabyinyo, Muhabura Bisoke and Karisimbi. Accommodation to stay in Five Volcanoes Hotel, Bisate Lodge, Virunga Lodge, Sabyinyo Lodge, Kinigi Guesthouse, and others.
Nyungwe Forest National Park offers the best canopy walk and chimpanzee trekking experiences. 13 primate species live in the Nyungwe Forest and they include Demidoff’s pottos, chimpanzees, red colobus monkeys, black and white colobus monkeys, baboons and others.
Akagera National Park- Located in Eastern Rwanda, Akagera National Park is typically a savanna destination in Rwanda where the big 5 game can all be spotted. This is the only savanna park where tourists visiting on Rwanda tours enjoy a great encounter with elephants, buffaloes, lions, hyenas, warthogs, leopards, giraffes, zebras, and antelope families.
The park’s special experiences to be part of include game drive, boat cruise to see hippos, crocodiles, water birds; hot air balloon. Places to stay include Akagera Game Lodge, Magashi Tented Lodge, Dereva Hotel and others.
Congo Nile trail
The Congo Nile trail stretches 227 sq.km and offers the longest cycling experiences in the East African region. The cycling trail covers the Gisenyi in the Northern side through Karongi to Rusizi town in Cyangugu.
Lake Kivu
Lake Kivu is one of the Africa’s spectacular freshwater Lakes. It is the best place to visit if you are interested in boat cruise, kayaking, and more.
Kigali city
Kigali capital city is a vibrant, created in 1907 during the Germany colonial era. The city is divided into 3 districts: Nyarugenge, Gasabo and Kicukiro. The city rises on an altitude of 1567 meters and as of 2012, over 1.2 million people were living in this mushrooming city. There are many tourist sites to be explored in Kigali including Mount Kigali, Genocide sites, local markets like Kimironko market and more.
When to visit Rwanda for a trip
Rwanda enjoys favorite tropical weather conditions. However, as first-time travelers, we recommend that you visit Rwanda during the dry season: June, July, August and December, January and February. These are the best months of the year to travel to Rwanda for gorilla trekking adventure in Volcanoes National Park or big game trips.
Getting around Kigali/Rwanda
The most comfortable means to navigate around Kigali/Rwanda is by using a rental car. Hiring a private rental car in Rwanda and we have many rental cars. The cars can be hired alone or with an experienced the driver. Choosing from our long list of affordable rental cars guarantees you incredible movement in Kigali or any part of Rwanda. It is the best way to connect from the city to various up country destinations for a holiday for instance Volcanoes National Park for gorilla trekking, Nyungwe Forest NP –chimpanzee tracking & canopy walk, Akagera for wildlife viewing, etc. Some destinations can be reached by helicopter tours from the Akagera aviation.
