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Rwanda
Safaris
Located in the heart of Central Africa
is the landlocked Republic of Rwanda which is dramatically
mountainous with erratic shapes of lakes that follow
the contours of the steep mountains. It has a temperate
year – round climate due to the combination of
tropical location and high altitude with the driest
months being July to September and the wettest being
February to May. In addition to the indigenous language
of Kinyarwanda, French and English are the official
languages. Rwanda consists of many cities with Kigali
being the main capital city that is the county's business
centre and main port entry with a wide range of hotels
and restaurants. The City is known for housing the former
genocide site, the Kigali Memorial Centre in Gisozi.
Rwanda also has the most attractively compact city of
Butare with the most prominent tourist attraction being
the National Museum which houses several ethnographic
collections in East Africa.
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The highlight of most Rwanda safaris is the Volcanoes
National Park ( Le Parc National des Volcans ) situated
in the far northwest of Rwanda that it protects the
steep slopes of the magnificent green, rainforest mountain
range - the Virungas. The park offers gorilla tracking
at the Virunga slopes, (what is perhaps the most thrilling
wildlife experience), nature walks that include colourful
birds, rare golden monkeys and also houses elusive populations
of the buffalo and elephant and one can glimpse at the
magnificent peaks through the gaps in the forest canopy.
On the border of Tanzania, set at a relatively low altitude
lies the Akagera National Park, dominated scenically
by the labyrinth of swamps and lakes that follow the
meandering course of the Akagera river. As it is the
big game country, it is home to many animals like the
elephants, buffaloes, giraffes, zebras, leopard, spotted
hyenas, stray lion, pods of 50 hippopotami, outsized
crocodiles, densest concentrations of water birds lining
the lakes and more than a dozen types of antelopes.
Rwanda's Nyungwe National Park is the largest block
of montane forest in East or Central Africa, which is
most alluring for its primates including the chimpanzee,
handsome L’Hoest’s monkey and hundred-strong
troops of the acrobatic Angola colobus. It also harbors
approximately 300 bird species, with the avian highlight
being the great blue turaco that streams from tree to
tree. For tourists, Nyungwe is the place that deserves
more time and a place for dedicated bird watchers that
might never want to leave!
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Many Rwanda safaris also visit Lake Kivu which is the
biggest water body that shimmers in the valleys of Rwanda.
It is an extraordinarily beautiful inland sea enclosed
by steep, green terraced hills along Congolese border.
The lake plus other lakes offer visitors rewarding glimpses
into ancient African lifestyles like fishermen who ply
the water in dugout canoes
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