Introduction
Click here for Rwanda Map
Rwanda situated at the heart of Africa the bridge between the eco-system of the Cong basin and the Great Rift Valley of Eastern Africa and thus shares the natural riches of both worlds resulting in a country of exquisite beauty and unsurpassed biodiversity.
It lies at 2 00 S, 30 00 E, bordered by Uganda to the North, DR Congo to the West, Burundi to the South and Tanzania to the East. To the outside world, Rwanda is known for the genocide of 1994, but it has recovered from those years of turmoil that characterised the nation in the period 1950-1994.
Today, under the leadership of President Paul KAGAME, Rwanda is peaceful, prosperous and inviting. The country has three (3) national parks - Nyungwe Forest Park known for its large size and a vast army of chimps and monkeys; Akagera National park for game, including zebra, giraffe, antelope, buffalo; and Parc National des Volcans where Dian Fossey dedicated her life researching the celebrated gorillas.
Among its many and enduring attractions are the primates, in particular the mountain Gorillas. One of the most awesome wildlife interactions in the world.
Ultimate Safaris invites you to meet these gentle giants, our ancestors sharing some 97% of our DANN, in their natural habitat, the verdant jungle and misty mountains of Rwanda. Our specialist eco-friendly trekking safaris, led by professional guides and with no detail overlooked,
provide the ultimate once-in-a-lifetime experience.
The People of Rwanda
The earliest known inhabitants of Rwanda were pygmoid hunter-gatherers, ancestral to the modern Twa people who today comprise only 0.25% of the national population. Some 2,000 years ago, agricultural and pastoralist migrants from the west settled in the area. Oral traditions recall that prior to the 15th century a ruler named Gihanga forged a centralised Rwandan state with similar roots to the Buganda and Bunyoro Empires in neighbouring Uganda. Comprised of a cattle-owning nobility and agriculturist serfdom majority - the precursors respectively of the modern-day Tutsi and Hutu - this powerful state was able to repel all early attempts at European penetration.
Major Attractions in Rwanda
Located at Rwanda’s geographical heart, the rapidly growing city of Kigali is not only the national capital, but also the country’s most important business centre and main port of entry. Serviced by an efficient international airport and connected to neighboring Uganda, Tanzania and Burundi by surfaced roads, Kigali boasts a range of hotels catering to all tastes and budgets, and an assortment of fine restaurants whose menus reflect the country¹s historical links with Belgium - while also embracing numerous other international cuisines.
Among the safest and friendliest of African capitals, Kigali is blessed with a moderate high altitude climate that belies its tropical location, and is conveniently located within three hours' drive of the main tourist sites.
The Rwandan capital provides both a comfortable and welcoming introduction to this land of a thousand hills and an ideal springboard from which to explore this magical country.
Volcanoes National Park
Located in the Virunga Mountains, magnificent chain of dormant volcanoes in the North of the country, the park forms part of the extension of the Congo-Nile divide, separating two of Africa´s most important watersheds. They’re also home to the world’s last surviving mountain Gorilla populations, currently a mere 700 individuals.
Mountain Gorillas
Located in the Virunga Mountains, magnificent chain of dormant volcanoes in the North of the country, the park forms part of the extension of the Congo-Nile divide,
separating two of Africa´s most important watersheds. They’re also home to the world’s last surviving mountain Gorilla populations, currently a mere 700 individuals.
Golden Monkeys
For a really unique experience go out trekking for Golden Monkeys. Fully habituated now and only open for visitors since June 2003, enjoy a rare treat watching these unique primates play and perform in the forest.
Fossey Memorial Center
The Volcanoes National Park was once Dian Fossey¹s home. It is at the Karisoke Research Centre on the slopes of the Bisoke Volcano where she carried out her studies on the mountain gorillas for 18 years. She was murdered on the 27th of December 1985 at the
Research Centre and buried near Digit, her favourite gorilla.
The excursion will provide you with excellent background information.
Nyungwe Forest National Park
This 1000 sq.km. Jungle in the south of Rwanda is the largest and most ancient afro-mountane forest remaining in the East & Central Africa, dating back to the last ice age. One of the Africa´s Best kept secrets, the forest is inter-spersed with well-marked and maintained trails and boasts 13 rare primate species, and the world’s largest ever recorded arboreal troup of black/white Colobus monkeys, over 300 species of birds and 100 types of orchids. Nyungwe forest and chimpanzee trekking is the ideal complement to any Gorilla safari.
Colobus Monkeys
The Colobus monkey has a number of features that demonstrate adaptation to a life spent primarily in the upper levels of the forest canopy. A lightweight bone structure and elongated limbs make it easier to leap from branch to branch. A hand with four fingers and no thumb provides a strong grasp on branches as the animal moves through the trees. (The name "colobus" means "mutilated one" and refers to the missing thumb.)
In Nyungwe you can watch them traveling from tree to tree, often performing spectacular downward leaps of 15-20 feet, during which the long shoulder hair acts like a parachute, fanning out to help check the animal's descent.
This same white fringe also provides camouflage by breaking up the animal's outline. Unlike other Old World monkeys, the Colobus has no cheek pouches. Home range of individual troops are defined and marked by a creaking and rattling vocalization. In Nyungwe National park the Angolan Colobus that may number over 400 individuals, are the largest aggregations of this species of the world.
Chimpanzees
Two species of chimpanzee occur in Africa. There is the Booboo and the Common Chimpanzee Pan troglodytes (often shortened to Chimpanzee, and sometimes referred to as the Robust Chimpanzee). The largest remaining populations occur in central Africa (Gabon, DR Congo and
Cameroon). About only 400 individuals, the population in Rwanda is an endangered one.
Early in the morning, around 6.00 am, after a two hours walk through the jungle, the chance to see the some of the apes hanging around in the trees and eating, is very high. It takes a lot of patience to observe them very well.
But if they are some in the middle of the cool morning mist, shouting around like to the dawn of the human being, its
an unforgettable experience.
Trekking
An extensive network of well-maintained walking trails leads through the forest to various waterfalls and viewing points. A comfortably rustic rest house and perfectly situated campsite lie alongside the main road, and the reserve can readily be visited as a day trip from the towns
of Butare and Cyangugu. Nyungwe does, however, deserve more time: anybody who wants to track chimps and see several varieties of smaller primate will need two days there. And dedicated birdwatchers might never want to leave!
Akagera National Park
Situated at lower altitudes on the Tanzanian border, Akagera is dominated scenically by a labyrinth of swamps and lakes that follow the meandering course of the Akagera River, one of the main sources of the River Nile. Giraffe and Zebra haunt the savanna alongside more than a dozen types antelope, such as the diminutive Oribi and the world’s largest Antelope, the Eland. Pods of Hippopotami splutter throughout the day while outsized crocodiles soak up the sun with their vast jaws agape. Along the lake shores are some of the continent’s densest concentrations of water birds, while the marshes are home to the endangered bird species like the exquisite papyrus Sonolek and the bizarre shoe-bill, probably the most eagerly sought of all African birds.
Lake Kivu
Lake Kivu is an extraordinarily beautiful inland sea enclosed by steep, green terraced hills along the Congolese border. Three resort towns, Gisenyi, Kibuye and Cyangugu, stand on the littoral, connected by a wild roller-coaster road that tumbles through lush plantain fields and relic patches of misty rainforest to offer sweeping views over the blue water. It is one of the classic road journeys in all of Africa. There is also charter boat service on the lake connecting the 3 towns.
Gisenyi
Gisenyi, the most developed of these resorts, lies less than an hour's drive from the Volcanoes National park, and is set on a sandy beach lined with swaying palms and colonial-era hotels that exude an atmosphere of tropical languor.
Kibuye
At Kibuye, to its south, tourist activities are centered on a modern lakeshore guesthouse overlooking pine-covered hills seemingly transplanted from the Alps. Different again is Cyangugu, close to Nyungwe Forest, whose more subdued tourist development is compensated for by a stirring setting of curving inlets winding into narrow valleys.
Butare
The town of Butare situated 135 kms south of the capital Kigali, was and still is considered Rwanda’s cultural and intellectual pulse. The national university and various institutions of higher learning are situated here but the most prominent attraction is the superb National Museum with perhaps the finest ethnographic collection in East Africa.
Butare´s cultural significance is further underlined by a visit to nearby Nyanza, the traditional seat of Rwanda’s ancient feudal monarchy.
Genocide Memorial
For survivors and others whose families were murdered in Rwanda’s genocide 1994, the Memorial sites and centres are places of dignified remembrance for loved ones lost. It is also a place of reflection and learning for the wider community, both in Rwanda and internationally.
The memorial centres for example are including three
permanent exhibitions, the largest of which documents the genocide in 1994. There is also a children’s memorial, and an exhibition on the history of genocidal violence around
the world. The Education Centre, Memorial Gardens and National Documentation Centre of the Genocide all contribute to a meaningful tribute to those who perished, and form a powerful educational tool for the next generation.
There are some other memorial sites near Kigali, Butare and Kibuye like the Ntamara church, where nothing was changed in it after the mass murder except taking the bodies of the victims away.
