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• Visit Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda. It is home to the Genocide Museum, which documents the 100-day massacre in 1994.
• Kibungu (Umutara), in the east of the country, is in the centre of a region of lakes and waterfalls, including Lake Mungesera and the Rusumo Falls. Gisenyi is the main centre for excursions in the Parc des Volcans. Plane trips can be made from here to view the craters. Situated on the north of Lake Kivu, it also offers many opportunities for watersports or for excursions on the lake. Kibuye, further south, is another lakeside resort. Near Cyangugu, on the southern shores of the lake, are the spectacular grottoes of Kaboza and Nyenji, and the thermal waters at Nyakabuye. Nearby, the Rugege Forest is the home of many rare species of wildlife.
• Get close to some of Rwanda's fantastic wildlife. The A’Kagera National Park covers over 2,500 sq km (1,000 sq miles) of savannah to the west of the A’ Kagera River (the frontier with Tanzania). The park has a variety of wildlife and is a habitat for over 500 species of birds. The major point of access is Kabarando. Safaris can also be undertaken at Kabarando; the park is devoted to game preservation and has lions, zebras, antelopes, hippos, buffalos, leopards, apes, impalas, crested herons, fish eagles, cormorants, giraffes, elephants, elands and warthogs.
• Embark on a gorilla trek at the Parc National des Volcans. Military units currently guard the park and ensure the safety of visitors, particularly from poachers. This park is one of the last sanctuaries of the mountain gorilla and it is here that the well-known Diane Fossey spent 18 years studying them prior to her murder in 1985. The Office Rwandais du Tourisme et des Parcs Nationaux (ORTPN) bureau and some private companies in Kigali can organise guided tours or gorilla tracking for small parties; a permit is necessary but this should be organised through the ORTPN.
• Discover the intellectual capital of the country, Butare, which borders with Burundi. The most prominent tourist attraction in Butare is the superb National Museum, which houses perhaps the finest ethnographic collection in East Africa. Absorbing displays of traditional artefacts are illuminated by a fascinating selection of turn-of-the-century monochrome photographs, providing insight not only into pre-colonial lifestyles, but also into the subsequent development of Rwanda as a modern African state. Butare also boasts craft shops and a botanical garden. North of Butare is Gitarama, which has a good art museum; nearby is the cathedral town of Kabgayi; and at Mushubati, the grottoes of Bihongori.
• Climb the Virunga Volcanoes between Ruhengeri and Gisenyi. Nyiragongo in the Democratic Republic of Congo is the most commonly climbed volcano from Gisenyi. The Parc National des Volcans region is composed of volcanic mountains, of which two, Nyamuragira and Nyiragongo, across the frontier in the Democratic Republic of Congo, are still active. These are best trekked rather than climbed, and are still for the intrepid.
• Watch a performance of the Rwanda National Ballet, famous for its traditional dancing and singing.
See Contact Addresses for further tourist information.
• Kibungu (Umutara), in the east of the country, is in the centre of a region of lakes and waterfalls, including Lake Mungesera and the Rusumo Falls. Gisenyi is the main centre for excursions in the Parc des Volcans. Plane trips can be made from here to view the craters. Situated on the north of Lake Kivu, it also offers many opportunities for watersports or for excursions on the lake. Kibuye, further south, is another lakeside resort. Near Cyangugu, on the southern shores of the lake, are the spectacular grottoes of Kaboza and Nyenji, and the thermal waters at Nyakabuye. Nearby, the Rugege Forest is the home of many rare species of wildlife.
• Get close to some of Rwanda's fantastic wildlife. The A’Kagera National Park covers over 2,500 sq km (1,000 sq miles) of savannah to the west of the A’ Kagera River (the frontier with Tanzania). The park has a variety of wildlife and is a habitat for over 500 species of birds. The major point of access is Kabarando. Safaris can also be undertaken at Kabarando; the park is devoted to game preservation and has lions, zebras, antelopes, hippos, buffalos, leopards, apes, impalas, crested herons, fish eagles, cormorants, giraffes, elephants, elands and warthogs.
• Embark on a gorilla trek at the Parc National des Volcans. Military units currently guard the park and ensure the safety of visitors, particularly from poachers. This park is one of the last sanctuaries of the mountain gorilla and it is here that the well-known Diane Fossey spent 18 years studying them prior to her murder in 1985. The Office Rwandais du Tourisme et des Parcs Nationaux (ORTPN) bureau and some private companies in Kigali can organise guided tours or gorilla tracking for small parties; a permit is necessary but this should be organised through the ORTPN.
• Discover the intellectual capital of the country, Butare, which borders with Burundi. The most prominent tourist attraction in Butare is the superb National Museum, which houses perhaps the finest ethnographic collection in East Africa. Absorbing displays of traditional artefacts are illuminated by a fascinating selection of turn-of-the-century monochrome photographs, providing insight not only into pre-colonial lifestyles, but also into the subsequent development of Rwanda as a modern African state. Butare also boasts craft shops and a botanical garden. North of Butare is Gitarama, which has a good art museum; nearby is the cathedral town of Kabgayi; and at Mushubati, the grottoes of Bihongori.
• Climb the Virunga Volcanoes between Ruhengeri and Gisenyi. Nyiragongo in the Democratic Republic of Congo is the most commonly climbed volcano from Gisenyi. The Parc National des Volcans region is composed of volcanic mountains, of which two, Nyamuragira and Nyiragongo, across the frontier in the Democratic Republic of Congo, are still active. These are best trekked rather than climbed, and are still for the intrepid.
• Watch a performance of the Rwanda National Ballet, famous for its traditional dancing and singing.
See Contact Addresses for further tourist information.
