Rwanda Safaris

Why visit Rwanda?

Most travelers are drawn to Rwanda by the chance to go gorilla trekking and the experience will be a highlight. The mountainous rainforest that makes up Volcanoes National Park is home to 10 different families ranging from 11 to 33 members. 

While mountain gorillas have become the face of the country in many ways—there is even an annual naming ceremony dedicated to the newborn gorillas that draws vast crowds, including the president—tracking other wildlife in Nyungwe National Park and safari in Akagera National Park can be just as enchanting. The latter also gives you a look at a more savanna-like landscape that’s unique within the country.  

Rwanda’s contemporary culture is rich and dynamic, with a lively and sophisticated art, design, and foodie scene in Kigali, and some of the best coffee on the continent. Savoring a hot cup at a local cafe such as Question Coffee or visiting one of the idyllic green tea estates in the countryside is a must while you’re there. But while Rwanda is a progressive and peaceful country, a visit here should also contemplate the legacy of the country’s complicated past and the genocide that took place here in the 1990s. A visit to the Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre is a sobering look at this history that will inform the rest of your visit here and ultimately inspire hope for the country’s future. 

Rwanda, your way

Known as “the land of a thousand hills” for its rolling green landscape, the small country of Rwanda is nestled like a glittering emerald in East Africa. Rwanda’s landscape alone, marked by mist-shrouded volcanoes, lush rainforests and tea estates, and winding roads that skirt rural villages makes it unique on the continent. But it’s the country’s wildlife and people that make a trip here so meaningful.  

After a trek through whistling bamboo groves and shadowy jungle, you’ll experience one of the planet’s greatest wildlife encounters: coming face-to-face with a mountain gorilla. Rwanda is home to half of the world’s remaining mountain gorillas, with about 178 of the primates living in the hills of Volcanoes National Park, one of the oldest parks in Africa. While locking eyes with a gorilla is an unforgettable experience, other captivating wildlife abounds in the country. Volcanoes National Park is also home to golden monkeys and colobus monkeys swing through the trees in Nyungwe National Park. On a game drive or boat safari in Akagera National Park, you might spot southern white rhinos, black rhinos, giraffes, zebras, elephants, and hippos. 

The people of Rwanda are warm and welcoming and getting to know their culture and ways of life is a memorable part of a trip here. The cosmopolitan city of Kigali offers world-class boutique stays, restaurants and cafes, and shopping, while rural Rwanda gives you a look at the country’s working tea and coffee plantations and life in small villages. Whether it’s a stunning modern lodge in the foothills of the Virunga Mountains or an intimate boutique hotel on a leafy street in Kigali, Rwanda also boasts dreamy accommodation to complement the singular experiences it offers.