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Attractions to be Experienced on a Rwanda Tour

Tourists on Rwanda tours will take part in exploring the beauty of the country from the beautiful scenery, wildlife, the landscape, museums, plantations and many other attractions that are eye-catching.

National Parks in Rwanda

Most of the wildlife in Rwanda is protected in the Rwanda National Parks which enable tourists from different countries to have the opportunity to take part in the adventure of going into the wild to Explore Rwanda on an amazing Tour. Rwanda has 3 national parks which once visited, a tourist is able to discover a number of attractions from wildlife to the landscape scenery to bird species, lakes, rivers, and forests among others.

Akagera National Park

Akagera National Park is located in the eastern part of Rwanda in the northeastern part of the country in the Kibungu district. The park is home to a number of animals like the big five animals namely the leopard, rhinoceros, the elephant, the buffalo, and the lion. Other animals in the park include the antelope, the zebra and many more. The park is not a home to the animals but also the bird species which are over 400 in number like the Hamerkop, Caruthers’s cisticola, pied crow, black-headed weaver, fan-tailed widow bird, violet’s black weaver, long-crested Eagle the African fish Eagle, the open billed stork, the egrets, cormorants, Senegal lapwings, African darter and all this attracts bird lovers from all over to come to the park and experience the adventures it has to offer. This boosts bird watching Tours in Rwanda.  

Akagera national park has got a number of relief features like the lakes and rivers, for example, Akagera River, Lake Shanaki which offers a number of activities that ensure customer satisfaction and relaxation.

Nyungwe National Park

The park is located in Rusizi district in the western part of Rwanda, and just like Akagera national park, Nyungwe national park is also a safe place for wildlife species that are able to attract tourists from different parts of the world.

Important to note about the park is the primate species especially the chimpanzees. The park is a home to over 500 chimpanzees and over 85 animal species but chimpanzees are one of the most sought after attractions in the park and in order for the park to ensure customer satisfaction, they carried out chimpanzee habituation of two chimpanzee groups which enables tourists to engage and spend time with the primates in order to understand their behaviour like the feeding patterns, there daily activities and many more in a process called Chimpanzee Trekking. To engage in chimpanzee trekking in Nyungwe National Park of Rwanda, one needs to buy a chimpanzee trekking permit which acts as an identification that you have been allowed to access the park premises for chimpanzee trekking.

In Nyungwe National Park, tourists on a Rwanda Primates Safari Tour can also have a chance to see other primates like the different monkey species. The park offers the utmost experience of the primate species. Some of the species that can be seen include the following; the grey-cheeked Mangabey, the white colobus, the Angola colobus, the red tailed monkey, Mona monkey and many more. This enables people interested in exploring the primates to have a wonderful experience with a variety of species to look at.

Other wildlife species that can be seen are the bird species which are over 200 in number which are some amazing attractions to birders that are interested in knowing the different bird species and their adaptations to the environment that they live in. The bird species in the park include the following the blue turaco, Ross’s turaco, coqui Francolin, long-tailed cisticola, bubbling cisticola, Miombo wren warbler, Chubb’s cisticola and many more. This gives a variety of attractions for a tourist on a Rwanda tour /Rwanda safari/ Rwanda adventure/ Rwanda trip.

A tourist that is able to visit Nyungwe national park is able to see the different mountains within the park and the different vegetation types and covers while on the mountains. You can also view the amazing Isumo waterfalls and other attractions that are seen while carrying out hikes on different trails within the park, for instance, the Isumo waterfalls trail, Irebero trail, the igishigishigi trail, Muzimu trail and many more. 

Canopy Walk / Canopy Walkway is one of the other interesting attractions within the park includes the canopy walkway which is one of the most rewarding adventures while in the park. The Canopy walkway offers aerial thrilling views to the tourists while on their adventure at the walkway. At the different points of the canopy walkway, different attractions can be seen which improves the experience of the tourist for example Lake kivu can be seen primates like the white colobus, Angola colobus, red tailed monkey, blue monkey, owl-faced monkeys other animal species like the golden cats, duikers, giraffes, lions, buffalos. Butterfly species, for instance, the graphium- gudunesi, metisella- articolla, zenonia- crasta, and charaxes-mafuga.

Volcanoes national park

Volcanoes National Park is one of the most interesting parks in Rwanda which ensures tourists on a Rwanda tour to explore the various tourist attractions and activities that it has to offer. The park is located in the districts of Rubavu, Musanze, Burera, and Nyabihu and it offers one of the memorable Gorilla experiences in the country and East Africa at large. The park is home to the endangered species i.e. the mountain Gorillas in the park which are habituated into 10 different groups mainly the Hirwa, Susa, kwitonda, Amahoro, Bwenge, Uganda group, and others. Each of the gorilla groups have a dominant silverback that ensures control and organization within the families. This gives chance to gorilla trekkers to visit the different families at a different time which has ensured increased customer satisfaction among different clients. Travelers from across the world engage in Rwanda Tours to be able to do the famous Gorilla trekking tours activity. 

Another attraction that a tourist on a Rwanda tour will have a chance to look at are the which are also considered endangered species. The golden fur of the monkeys is such an attractive feature which is rare to see among the different monkey species for instance in Nyungwe National park which is dominated by the black and white colobus monkeys. 

Volcanoes National Park is also home to five of the eight Virunga Mountains; Bisoke, Karisimbi, Muhabura, Sabyinyo, and Gahinga. All the mountains once hiked give off the breathtaking views and a number of tourist attractions to the tourists. You can also view the different primate species like the monkeys, the chimpanzees and many more.

Dian Fossey’s grave: Dian Fossey was a primatologist that was interested in the mountain gorilla that he treated like his own family. She described them as shy and gentle giants that would go the extra mile to fight for their families. With her love for gorillas in Rwanda, Dr. Dian Fossey established the Karisoke Research Centre that she used as a safe haven for the ‘’gentle giants.’’ Dian protected the Gorillas from both environmental and most especially human hazards because during the period poaching was on a high increase which was heartbreaking to Dian Fossey who looked at the gorillas as family.

As a way of protecting them, she destroyed traps that were put up by poachers in order to capture the giants, she killed the dogs of the poachers who were interested in capturing the primates, and she hired veterinary officers to treat the injured primates, hired patrol personnel to patrol the area to prevent poaching. She did everything possible to ensure that she would protect the gentle giants whereby she even used the media to put in light the matter of gorilla poaching because she knew the primates were on the near extinction.

However, her love for the gorillas increased bitterness within the local people who looked at the gorillas as beasts which they wanted to erase from the communities. On 27th December she was found dead in her cabin in the forest after being murdered by an unknown person. She was later buried in the gorilla cemetery in Karisoke which she established for her gorilla family that lost their lives to poachers. Today thousands of tourists come into the country to visit her graveyard as a way of honoring her legacy and her efforts in conserving the gorillas and this Dian Fossey hike is one of the leading tour Safaris in Rwanda.

Culture of the Rwandese People

Rwanda tours will give an opportunity to explore different cultures comprising of the different cultural values, institutions, villages and many more. The diverse cultural values packaged is a whole everlasting experience to the tourists. The country comprises of 2 groups of people the Hutu and the Tutsi and these groups have a various set of rules different traditional attires, different traditional dishes and so on.

Tourists on the Rwanda Safari Tour will have a chance to interact with the different cultural groups and villages like the Banda and Kitabi cultural villages that are located in Nyungwe National park, the Ibyiwacu cultural group in Volcanoes National Park, the Humure refugee village around Akagera national park among others. The different villages and cultural groups are able to express their cultures through dance, traditional dishes, cultural performances like plays skits and many more. This can be a form of entertainment and education and cultural exchange through the engagement with various tourists.

History Of Rwanda 

The history of Rwanda can be unfolded by visiting a number of museums, monuments art galleries and many more all of the museums have different key aspects when it comes to bringing to the history of the country. A Rwanda tour will enable a tourist to learn while having fun some of the museums include;

• Kigali Genocide Memorial Museum: 
  
  The genocide memorial museum takes tourists to a tour to the period between 7th April -15th July when the mass slaughter of the Tutsis, moderate Hutus, and the Twas was killed by the Hutu extremists as a result of the death of the then president of Rwanda Habyarimana who was killed after the plane he was in crashed and nobody o board survived.  However they blamed the Rwanda patriotic front a rebel group that was against the rule of the then-president which sparked out a war between the different group and it should be noted that over 1,000,000 people were killed which was a dark period for the country at large especially the victims who were the Tutsi moderate Hutu and the Twas. In the museum, different pictorials are displayed showing how different people were killed, short films of the victims and people that survived the massacre were documented and they were able to express their pain through the recording and films. A tour through the museum will enable one to see what people had to go through while they had to fight hard in order to survive. The museum is located in Kigali city the capital city of Rwanda.
• Nyamata Genocide Memorial Museum: 
  
  Just like the Kigali genocide memorial museum, the Nyamata Genocide Memorial Museum also commemorates the genocide that happened in Rwanda. The museum which was formerly a church was used as a safe place for the victims of the massacre, the church displays the skulls of the people that were killed, the ceilings and the walls have different bullet holes, holes that were dug in order to throw grenades so that the  people that had sought refuge in the church could die and the ones that we're able to escape death by either the bullets and the grenades, they were slaughtered using machetes. The museum also displays the remaining of the people that were killed and so on.


• Other museums that commemorate the genocide include Ntarama Genocide Memorial Museum which was a catholic church during the genocide period that was used as a refuge place for the tourists however they were attacked and over 500,000 people were killed from there, Murambi memorial centre, Bisesero where 40000 people are believed to have died there, Gisozi and Nyarubuye genocide memorial centres.
• Jesus' House of Mercy in Rwanda (Our Lady Of Kibeho): The house/shrine is also another historical adventure that a tourist on a Rwanda tour should not miss out while in Rwanda. The shrine is found in Kibeho Rwanda and it is considered as one of the holy places in the country.  Our lady of Kibeho was named after Hail Mary appeared to a group of young women who were able to portray messages to school children. Some of the visions they saw included hail mar telling them how the country was to go throw a period of unrest, massacres, and other miseries and here they urged different people to resort to praying and reciting the rosary for Hail Mary to protect them. Some of the girls who received the visions included Alphosine Mumereke, Anathalie Mukamazimpaka and Marie Claire Mukangango whose visions were after interpreted to be part of the warning of the genocide that was to arise after the different grievances that were between the Hutu and the Tutsis in the previous years. During the genocide, the Kibeho College was attacked and different school children together with their teachers were killed and it is believed that the visionaries were among the people that lost their lives.

Festivals

Rwanda organises different festivals throughout the year where tourists from different countries can come and participate in. The festivals all year round where the people are able to express their talents, showcase their cultures like traditional wears, traditional cuisines and many more. The festivals come in different categories like music festivals, tourism festivals, film festivals, food festivals and so on. They all aim at ensuring that the people that participate in them are able to learn a thing or two about the cultures, trends and different aspects in Rwanda as they have fun and by this, it is important for a tourist who is on a Rwanda tour to participate in the festivals as a form of entertainment.

• Kwita Izina: 
  
  
  In Rwanda when a baby is born, celebration and parties are thrown in order to give the baby a name. And by this, the ‘’Kwita Izina’’ ceremony is a baby naming ceremony for the newborn but in this case Gorillas. The purpose of the ceremony is to create awareness about the importance of conserving the mountain gorillas in the country and also as a means of marketing the wildlife species in the area. The celebrations include different artists from Rwanda and also outside Rwanda performing, entertainment and in the past celebrities from other countries have also participated in the ceremony which has increased popularity of the festival and this has enabled more tourists coming into Rwanda in order to participate in the festivities. The festivities are a sign of hope and sustainability of the great apes which are considered as endangered species. A tourist on a Rwanda tourist will have a chance to be part of the celebrations, have fun, see the young ones as they are brought forward in the public to be introduced to the public and afterwards named.


• Umuganda day: 
  
  
  The day emphasizes togetherness and working together in order to ensure that the communities are cleaned. This takes place every last Saturday of the month annually the day this gives a chance to tourists who are conservationists to carry out conservation because some people carry out tree planting. Some of the activities that are carried out include, sweeping of roads, slashing the overgrown grass around the drainage channels. It is quite interesting seeing people working together for a good cause and this has enabled Rwanda to be the cleanest country in the East African region. With days like Umuganda day, tourists have been attracted to come into Rwanda because of the fact that the country is clean and ensure that tourists are in a healthy environment


• International peace marathon: The marathon in 2019 will take place on the 16th of June; a tourist on a Rwanda tour should not miss out on the adventure that the marathon brings. The purpose of the marathon is to ensure unity among different countries around the world, interconnectedness etc. Athletes from various countries are seen from different countries participating in the run, here tourists especially adventure tourists can have fun while exploring the land of 1000 hills the great landscape the country has the breathtaking terrain that offers nice views.  


• Assumption day: The festival is carried out every 15th august and the purpose of it is to remember the day Mary and Jesus ascended to heaven and the fact that most of the people in Rwanda are Catholics there day involves celebrating, feasts drinking and eating traditional dances, singing of songs which can be a way of celebration for a tourist on a Rwanda safari to enjoy themselves.


• Kigali up: This is a music festival that celebrates artists in Rwanda by playing their music all day; performances from upcoming artists are also carried out to ensure exposure to the country. International artists from around the world fly into the country to entertain visitors through music where different genres like hip hop, reggae, indie, and many more are performed to entertain them.

Other festivals include the Kigali fashion week which involves showcasing the Rwandan culture through fashion Hobe Rwandan festival which celebrates the Rwandan culture through music and the festival is carried out for two days cultural performances like dance, plays and music are performed as a form of entertainment but in the long run this ensures cultural sustainability. The events/ festivals are usually frequented by cultural tourists interested in cultural tourism while on a Rwanda tour.

Kigali City

Another tourist attraction is the capital city of the country Kigali City. The city offers memorable experiences for tourists on a Rwanda tour /Rwanda gorilla tour/ Rwanda gorilla safari. Kigali city is one of the cleanest cities in Africa with a number of attractions that can attract different tourists while on a Rwanda tour. The city is the business hub of the country where tourists can participate in economic tourism where they can involve in business transactions with the people, for instance, buying crafts from the art and craft centres. The city is also a home to different people with different cultures and from different countries some of whom are investors, some intermarried with the Rwandans the co-existence between the Rwandans and people from different countries shows that Rwanda is a hospitable and peaceful country. Another of the most fascinating things when one takes a Rwanda-Kigali City Tour is the fact that the City is one of the cleanest in Africa.

Landscape in Rwanda

Tourists on a Rwanda tour will be amazed by the beauty of Rwanda’s landscape Rwanda is a land of 1000 hills. Making the area one of the most beautiful places to visit, the availability of different land features like the mountains for instance Mountain Gahinga, Mountain Bisoke, Mountain karisimbi which are a home to mountain gorillas in the country, it’s also a home to a number of bird species and other animal species like the chimpanzees, Golden monkeys, White colobus, Red tailed monkeys and many more. 

Tour Activities done by tourists in Rwanda

Rwanda Chimpanzee trekking: In Nyungwe National Park, Chimpanzee trekking can be carried out by tourists on a daily while on their Rwanda tour. Currently, the park has two habituated chimpanzee groups which can be trekked and this gives a chance to tourists that want to know their different mannerism how they carry out their daily activities and so on. The tourists will be given a maximum of 2 hours to spend with the chimpanzees which is quite an exciting adventure interacting with them as they observe and take note, take photos and enjoy their Rwanda Chimpanzee Trekking Tours.

Rwanda Gorilla trekking /Rwanda gorilla safari/Rwanda gorilla tour: Tourists have a chance to trek the gorillas in Volcanoes National Park where the different Gorilla groups can be visited which may include Hirwa, Susa, kwitonda, Amahoro, Bwenge, Ugenda, Agashya group, among others. 

Rwanda Game Drives: Rwanda Game Drives are an exciting activity that a tourist on a Rwanda safari tour should not miss out on. The activity can be carried out in Akagera National Park and Nyungwe National Park where different wildlife species can be seen. While on the drive around the parks and some of the animals that can be seen include; elephants, lions, leopards, rhinos, giraffes, zebra, antelopes that are usually seen grazing in the open grasslands of Akagera National Park.

Rwanda Birding: Birding tours in Rwanda can be carried out in the different national parks of the countries namely Akagera national park, Volcanoes National Park and Nyungwe National Park. The different national parks are great spots for the activity to be carried out with each park having a total number of over 200 bird species that can be seen while on a Rwanda tour. Some of the bird species that can be seen include the blue turaco, Ross’s turaco, coqui Francolin, long-tailed cisticola, bubbling cisticola, Archer's ground robin, red-faced woodland warbler, Ruwenzori double collared sunbird, Collared Apalis, Ruwenzori turaco, handsome francolin, strange weaver and many others.

Rwanda Hiking: Hiking tours in Rwanda should be on the to-do list of any tourist while on their Rwanda tour, the reason being Rwanda is a land of 1000 hills and it has various mountains that once hiked can be rewarding. Hikes on the mountains in Volcanoes National Park can be carried out on mountains like Bisoke, Gahinga, karisimbi, Sabinyo and Muhabura which offer different tourist attractions like the chimpanzees, golden monkeys which are one of the endangered monkey species in the world, different plant species and vegetation covers.

Rwanda Canopy walk: The canopy walk can be carried out in Nyungwe national park which is the only country in East Africa. The canopy walk enables tourists on a Rwanda tour to have fun while getting to know the park with the help of the guide that is always giving information about the park and the various tourist attractions.

During the tour on the Canopy walkway, tourists are able to see the different primates, butterfly species, & bird species that can usually be seen lining along the metal ropes on the walkway. Primates like the monkeys and the chimpanzees can be seen jumping from branch to branch.

Canopy Walk in Nyungwe National Park

Visiting Rwanda’s towns: Different towns can be visited and each of the towns has different attractions and activities to offer to tourists on a Rwanda tour. Some major tourist towns include

• Kigali with the Kigali genocide memorial museum, the Kigali convention centre which is the largest in the country, Kigali city tower, Kimironko market, Kigali arts centre.
• Gisenyi town which is a town known for water sports. The town has a number of water bodies like Lake Kivu with accommodation facilities like Lake kivu Serena hotel which offers top-notch services like accommodation bar services and swimming.
•  Kibuye town found in Karongi district has a number of attractions like the museum of the environment, Kibeho where our lady of Kibeho is found and other attractions. This town is one of the most important towns in regards to faith-based tourism. It was the area where 3 school girls that received visions from Hail Mary about the political unrest that was to happen in the country and many of which linked it to the Rwanda genocide of 1994.

Visiting Rwanda museums: Visiting the different museums will give a chance to tourists on a Rwanda tour to understand the history of Rwanda within the different eras in the country. During the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, around 1.8 million people were killed because of the different reasons which can only be explained while visiting museums like the Nyamata Memorial Museum, Kigali Genocide Memorial  Museum and so on. These give detailed information and evidence on how and why people were killed during the genocide. 

Other different museums that can be visited include the King’s palace museum, Kandt House Museum, Rwanda Art Museum, National Liberation Museum and many more.

Rwanda Cultural Tours: While on the Rwanda Tours, cultural encounters can also be a rewarding activity for tourists in a way that the local communities engage with the tourists through showcasing their different cultures through dance, art and crafts, traditional cuisines and many more. Some of the cultural groups that can be visited include the Kitabi cultural group and  Banda cultural group found in Nyungwe national park.

Dian Fossey hike: The hike is an educational trip to the graveyard of the Dian Fossey the hike which  involves a guide who will take you through the primatologist’s life how her love for the gorillas came about, what she did in order to ensure that poaching was combated in the area during her period while in the park carrying out her research. The hike to the graveyard involves meeting the gentle giants, chimpanzees, and different monkey species and if that is not enough different butterfly and bird species can be seen in the territory to the graveyard which is quite a rewarding experience to tourists while on their Rwanda tour.

Rwanda Golden monkey tracking: Golden monkey tracking can be carried out in Volcanoes national park and this enables tourists that are interested in the primates to find out the various patterns in their everyday activities. The endangered golden monkeys can offer a pleasant golden monkey trekking experience because, in the whole world, it’s Uganda and Rwanda that are the homes of the species. The beautiful primates can be seen jumping from one tree branch to the other enjoying their habitat.

Golden Monkeys in Volcanoes National Park

Rwanda Boat safari tours: Boat safari tours in Rwanda can be carried out on Lake Ihema in Akagera National Park and usually, the trip takes place for a maximum of 2 hours which can be a form of relaxation and entertainment to tourists on a Rwanda tour. The tourist on a Rwanda tour within the hours of the boat trip will be able to ask the guide whatever he needs to know about the lake, the marine species that are found and many more. During the boat safari trips in akagera, wild animals like buffalos, elephants, duikers, antelopes can be seen quenching their thirst from the waters of the lake which helps in visitor satisfaction.