Tailor Made Holidays and Honeymoons to Rwanda from Africa safari specialists!

Gorilla & Chimpanzee Trekking safaris - contact us on 01728 748209, use the Live Chat on the website or send an enquiry. 

The Land of A Thousand Hills ... never has a strap line been more accurate!  Rwanda is a small, land locked country in equatorial Africa made up of thousands of hills and lakes. Most people only go to Rwanda to see the Mountain Gorillas, and whilst this is indeed one of the most amazing wildlife experiences on earth, there is a lot more to Rwanda, so make sure you take time to meet the people, enjoy the scenery and experience the upbeat, vibrant feeling to this amazing country. Easily combined with neighbouring Uganda or linked by regular flights to Kenya and the Indian Ocean. 

The genocide of the early 90's was of course world headline news and one of the most terrible acts of human violence ever.  I (Jules) first visited Rwanda shortly after the end of the genocide and as I hitched a lift in the back of a pick up truck through the pot holed dirt roads of the north of the country to see the gorillas, I felt permanently on edge.  There were more armed guards than tourists in the Virungas and people carrying guns and grenades were around every corner.  Even at that time though, I found the people to be incredibly friendly and on returning at the end of 2010, I found a completely re-juvenated and positive country.  The gorillas were as amazing as ever, and I was also fortunate enough to visit the other parks and various cultural sites.

Make sure you take time to visit the Genocide Memorial and Museum in Kigali.  Whatever your perspective of what happened, it's a totally sobering and thought provoking experience and a place that is educating Rwanda's children of today, reminding them that this must never happen again ....

Onto happier topics!  Primates are definitely the draw card for tourists to Rwanda.  In the Virunga Mountains there are several habituated groups of Gorillas, have a look at the Gorilla Trekking page on this site.  Also in the same park you can visit the Golden Monkeys, seen in large troops in the bamboo forest and indigenous to this area. 

To the south of the country is Nyungwe Forest Reserve - this is true rainforest and an incredible experience.  There are Chimpanzees here, though they are hard to follow and large groups of Black & White Colobus monkeys too.  The plants and trees and the varied birdlife is the main attraction here and there are hundreds of tracks and trails, enabling you to spend several days exploring the forest.  Nyungwe is also reputed to be the 'source of the Nile' and you can visit the point in the hills where the trickle of water begins! Take a look at the special page devoted to this amazing rainforest park.

Lake Kivu spans the border between Rwanda and Congo and is a huge mass of water, which amazingly has no natural freshwater fish stocks as it's a methane lake!  Nonetheless, there are some really pretty lake shore lodges and hotels and it's worth spending a few days here, meeting local people, visiting historical sites and taking boat trips on the lake.

Kigali, the capital city, is a modern and cosmopolitan business centre.  With a forward thinking government and a great infrastructure, Rwanda is now educating more of it's children than ever and actively encouraging home grown businesses onto the international market.

Burundi has also recently opened up to the tourist, contact us to combine a trip to Rwanda and neighbouring Burundi.

There are some group trips which travel to Rwanda, mainly for the gorillas - if you are on a tight budget, take a look at the Gorillas and Mara group trip which is great value or the group holiday Rwanda Primate Safari.  If you want a bespoke safari, ask us to put together the perfect itinerary for your tailor made holiday to Rwanda - travel in a group or independently, it's a fabulous inspiring and beautiful country!