Rwanda is becoming one of the very popular destinations for safaris in Africa. In this rather small country we find a large variety of landscapes and natural diversity. We can choose among the many options of touring around the country and gorilla trekking safaris are the most popular of all safari adventures that you can engage in during your holiday in this mountainous country that has been dubbed “the land of a thousand hills”!
Rwanda is one of the best places to visit for gorilla trekking. Being a habitat for a large population of these precious wild apes, many travelers visit Rwanda to meet the mountain gorillas. There are as few as 900 mountain gorillas left in the whole world. Rwanda is glad to host almost a third of this population in its Volcanoes National Park in Northern Rwanda. Apart from the gorillas, Rwanda also hosts other unique animals that include wild chimpanzees, antelopes, elephants, rhinos etc. You can also engage in other adventures such as bird watching safaris and cultural tours to touring specific and picturesque places that are important for people who live in Rwanda. On your safari, you can learn a few things about the past and the present of this nation including the horrible 1994 Rwanda Genocide, one of the most well documented genocides in the world.
Planning Your Safari
There are many options to choose among in Rwanda! You can get our safari the way you want – choose from day trips to long safaris that include other unique experiences such as chimpanzee tracking, game viewing, birding, volcano hiking etc. Get in touch with a local tour operator and get started with booking your trip in advance.
The gorilla safaris are among the most popular in this country as well as the chimpanzee tracking tours. Also, the cultural tours will take us deep inside the country and let us now the best of this culture. We can get our trip both ways budget and luxury trips. The only difference is the category of the accommodation, being the luxury class of a higher and most comfortable condition.
Mountain gorillas have made Rwanda famous worldwide because this species is not found in many countries of the African continent but only in specific spots such us Rwanda, Uganda and Congo, adding up less than 800 gorillas currently.
Where to Go
Parc Nationale des Volcans is the place we come to see these unique animals that live in bamboo-covered slopes near the Virunga Volcanoes. Situated in the northern part of the country, the Volcanoes National Park is one of the three gazetted national parks that are found in the larger Virunga conservation area. The larger Virunga Region stretches over three countries; Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Mountain gorillas are known to roam freely within the region and the rest of the parks are Virunga National Park of the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Mgahinga Gorilla National Park of Uganda.
The Volcanoes National Park is the place where documentaries have been recorded and scientists have come to study this endangered species. One of the most popular documentaries is the Gorillas in the Mist film that tells the story of Dian Fossey, the American Iron Lady who devoted her time to save the plight of the mountain gorillas. On a gorilla safari in the Volcanoes National Park, you can take the Dian Fossey Hike and learn more about the plight of the mountain gorillas!
There are about half a hundred of birds that can only be found in this country, having a huge diversity of species in the conservation areas, up to more than 600 different species. The best spots to go bird watching are Akagera, Volcanoes and Nyungwe.
The Volcanoes National Park is one of the most recommended places to visit in a safari, located in the northern zone of Rwanda. In addition, the Akagera National Park, which is located in the east, s the habitat for elephant, buffaloes, giraffes and zebras, as well as many other savannah species.
Among the destinations suitable for cultural tours we have Ikwita Izina Yearly Ceremony which is the best occasion to know a bit more about African culture, norms and traditions. In this kind of tours is when we will have the chance to know how people live and think within Africa.
