Top Attractions in Rwanda

Volcanoes National Park: Volcanoes National Park also known as Parc National des Volcans is located in northwest Rwanda and is famously known as the home to the endangered Mountain Gorillas in Rwanda. The diverse national park covers an area of 160 square kilometres and borders Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in Uganda. The park also protects part of the Virunga ranges that are shared by three countries and on a clear day you can see the mountain peaks from the Kinigi park headquarters.
Volcanoes National Park has a rich and diverse Eco system and is the best place to do the Mountain Gorilla Trek in Rwanda. Gorilla Trekking is arguably the most popular tourist activity at the park however the park has several hikes and activities like the golden monkey trekking adventure that brings one closer to the active golden monkeys, an Albertine Rift endemic primate specie. The most sought after wildlife species in Volcanoes National Park are the mountain gorillas and the golden monkeys.

Mountain Gorillas

Visitors to the park usually combine gorilla trekking and golden monkey trekking while on their Rwanda Safari.  A 3 Days Gorilla Trekking Safari is one of our top tours to this rich and diverse national park.

Akagera National Park: Located in north-eastern Rwanda, Akagera National Park is Rwanda’s finest savanna park well known for its incredible wildlife sightings and stunning landscape consisting of open grassland and undulating hills. Akagera National Park is very accessible as it is just a 2 hours’ drive from Kigali city making it a perfect destination for a one day tour or two-day wildlife safari. The park is the only savanna park in Rwanda and this makes it the best place for game safaris and wildlife encounters in the acacia savanna area. Akagera Park covers an area of 1,122 square kilometers that encompasses open savanna grasslands, acacia trees, swamp habitats, muddy terrain, herbaceous climbers, dense thickets, small and large lakes and undulating plains. The national park is one of the most scenic parks in Africa and is well known for its rich biodiversity. Our most popular safaris to the park include the 2-Day Akagera Safari and 3-Day Akagera Wildlife Safari.

Nyungwe Forest National Park: Nyungwe Forest National Park is located in southwestern Rwanda and is one of Rwanda’s most popular national parks with a high level of biodiversity. The Chimpanzee trekking adventure and The Nyungwe Forest Canopy Walk are the two most popular activities in the park. Nyungwe Forest is the oldest rain forest in Africa and the park is bordered by Burundi and Democratic Republic of Congo and is easily accessed by road from Kigali city on a smooth paved road.
Nyungwe Forest National Park is home to 13 primate species and Nyungwe primates are the major attraction for visitors to the park. Primates in Nyungwe are spread out across the rain forest which is their main habitat and they move occasionally within the forest in search of food and their next nesting areas. Of course, the chimpanzees are the most popular primate species of Nyungwe and a chimpanzee trek in Nyungwe forest brings one closer to the chimpanzees also known as our closest relatives as they share 97% of man’s DNA. The population of the chimpanzees in the park are about 500 individuals. 

A Chimpanzee in Nyungwe Forest

Top Things to Do while in Rwanda (Activities)

Gorilla Trekking in Rwanda
Gorilla Trekking is a worthwhile wildlife adventure that takes you to the heart of the jungle and allows one to spend time with the endangered mountain gorillas while on your Rwanda Safari. Volcanoes National Park has 12 habituated gorilla families available for visitors to trek and visit. The national park issues 96 gorilla permits per day and the groups visiting the gorilla families have 8 people per group. The other gorilla families are mainly for research and not fully habituated as yet. The gorilla trekking activity starts with transfer from your lodge in the morning to Kinigi park headquarters which is the official starting point for gorilla trekking in Rwanda. The starting time for the session is 7:00am so it is best to be at Kinigi earlier than 7 am, the park headquarters is a well-organized area that features a café where you can even grab a cup of coffee before embarking on your gorilla trek. You will also be treated to stunning views of the Virunga Mountains which can be seen clearly on a good day and views of the beautiful landscape of Rwanda. The gorilla trekking adventure in Rwanda can take from anywhere between 2 hours – 8 hours depending on how far the gorilla family is situated and the fitness levels of the group members. Once you locate the gorillas you are allowed to spend a maximum of 1 hour with them during which you can watch them as they move, feed and even have an opportunity to capture some great photos.

Canopy Walk in Nyungwe Forest National Park
The canopy walk starts at Uwinka Visitor’s center that also is the national park’s headquarters, the center features the park offices, washrooms, brochures and boards with relevant park information about hiking trails, chimpanzees and the nature of Nyungwe Forest. The visitor’s center also features a coffee shop so one can grab a cup of coffee just before they start their activities.

Photo taken while on a Canopy Walk in Nyungwe Forest National Park

Chimpanzee Trekking
The Chimpanzee trekking activity in Nyungwe National Park takes about 2-3 hours. The park has habituated chimpanzee communities that are open to visitors to see and once the chimpanzees have been located visitors are allowed to spend 1 hour with the primates. Three communities have been habituated in Nyungwe forest and these include the Cyamudongo group which lives in Cyamudongo forest and has about 30 chimpanzees, the Uwinka group which is situated closer to Uwinka park headquarters and has about 60 chimpanzees and the Gisovu group also found in northern part of Nyungwe forest and is a relatively new habituated group. 

Game and wildlife safari
Game viewing is best done in Akagera National Park across the vast savanna plains while on game drives in the park. Akagera National Park has a diversity of wildlife and is home to the African Big Five animals that include Lion, Leopard, Buffalo, Elephant and Rhino. The presence of the Big Five offers an opportunity to look out for incredible wildlife sightings while on your Rwanda safari. In June 2015 lions (2 males and 5 females) were re-introduced in Akagera national park and rhinos were also recently re-introduced in to the park, the rhino population was greatly affected by poaching in the previous years but conservation efforts are ongoing and rhinos are now heavily protected by the park officials.  

Golden Monkey Trekking
The golden monkey trek happens once a day at the park and the starting point is at Kinigi park headquarters. Once at the headquarters one is assigned a ranger guide and assigned to a group available that day. At Kinigi headquarters the briefing from the ranger guide is done and basically, the session involves information about golden monkeys, park guidelines and what one should expect while trekking. Golden monkeys are a beautiful sight to behold and the experience of watching them in their natural habitat is one for the books. Being active primates the session of seeing them is also rather active and busy and calls for wonderful photo moments. 

Bird watching in Rwanda
Bird watching in Rwanda is what one would consider as the ultimate birding hot spot in Africa, home to over 700 species of birds and situated in the Albertine Rift Region – Rwanda offers incredible bird sightings across different locations. Rwanda is known as “the land of a thousand hills” dotted with rolling hills, stunning landscapes, rivers, swamps, savanna game parks and rain forests, all this provides a safe habitat for birds in Rwanda. One might wonder what they would expect to see while on a birding trip in Rwanda, well expect to see a lot of savanna specials, woodland species, water birds, raptors, Intra-African migrants, Palearctic migrants and forest specials. Rwanda is a bird watcher’s paradise with the most sought after birds being 44 Albertine Rift endemic species of which 27 of these are found in Nyungwe Forest alone.

Volcano Hiking in Volcanoes National Park
Volcanoes national park protects the Rwandan part of the Virunga Mountains which it shares with Mgahinga Gorilla national park in Uganda and Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The park has 5 of the Virunga volcanoes which are Bisoke, Gahinga, Karisimbi, Muhavura and Sabyinyo. This makes Volcanoes National Park a prime destination for Volcano Hiking in Rwanda for travelers looking for hiking and adventure activities in Rwanda. Travelers can choose among 4 main peaks out of the 5 Virunga mountain ranges to hike.
The most popular is the Mount Bisoke volcano hike which takes one day. Mount Bisoke covers Rwanda and a part of the Democratic Republic of Congo however the summit is found in Rwanda.