Top 4 Interesting Reasons Why You Should Visit Rwanda
The Republic of Rwanda, “Land of a thousand hills”, is a landlocked country lying in the Great Rift Valley of central Africa with the capital Kigali in the center of the country where the African great lakes region and southeast Africa converge located a few degrees south of the Equator and lies at a high altitude, well known for its magnificent scenery, the geography is conquered by mountains in the west and savanna in the south East with abundant of lakes throughout the country calling for a temperate tropical highland climate due to its elevation with lower temperature to subtropical with 2 rain and 2 dry seasons every year. Rwanda is the 4th smallest on the African mainland with one of the highest population densities in an inland African country with a population of over 12.6m and one of the world’s youngest populations. The “Land of thousand hills” spectacular scenery with the sweeping plains, earnest, friendly people, the astonishing biodiversity, culture, the calmness and cleanliness of the capital, primates, montane rainforest, and farfetched wildlife, all offer exceptional experiences which are reasons enough for visiting Rwanda but here we offer the top four interesting reasons why you should visit the Republic of Rwanda.
The Endangered Mountain Gorillas
The enthralling Mountain gorillas of Rwanda are part of the interesting reasons why you should visit the Republic. Rwanda is among the blessed 3 countries Uganda and Congo where you can freely have an encounter considered to be life-changing with these largest living primates the mountain gorillas in their natural habitat IN Volcanoes national park and through the most exciting, exercise, the breathtaking activity of gorilla trekking which requires a gorilla permit, great degree of fitness, long jungle pants, light clothes, mineral water, light waterproof comfortable boots and other trekking gears as directed by the well skilled and knowledgeable park guide carrying along a bag of patience and a sense of humor to enlighten the expectation through the tall twisted vines and antique trees that carpet the northwestern rainforest of the Virunga with the help of an expert trainer or guide clearing the way with a fine-edged machete.
Gorilla trekking in Rwanda is very harmless and comparatively accessible since Volcanoes national park the home of these endangered primates has over 450 gorillas with 12 families of habituated gorillas namely, Muhoza, Bwenge, Susa, Igisha, Sabyinyo, Amahoro, Kwitonda, Hirwa, Ugyenda, Umubana, Karisimbi, and Agashya which makes the mountain gorillas an interesting reason for you to visit Rwanda because your search during the trek is expected to be very rewarding. Every group of gorillas consists of a powerful silverback that sits quietly while taking a kin eye on his family members with a very gentle nature that is very eye-catching and very calling to the human onlookers who end up feeling very connected in a very unique unexpected way. 8 gorilla permits are issued every day per family making them 96 in total meaning the encounter with these marvelous largest living primates is intimate and very unobtrusive as possible, therefore the mountain gorillas of Rwanda should be reason enough for you to visit Rwanda.
Various other primate species
The incredible encounter of the primates in Rwanda’s national parks which is considered to be life changing is such an interesting reason why you should visit Rwanda. Besides the mountain gorillas, Rwanda offers many other scurrying creatures that are rare elsewhere making it so interesting to visit Rwanda like the colorful golden monkeys found in the implausible bamboo forest of Volcanoes national park, Gishwati-Mukura Forest in the northwestern part of Rwanda which thrill every tourist as they continually scamper through the treetops where they dine on fruits, leaves, and soft branches.
The engrossing chimpanzees are “the cousins of man” because 95.5% of humanity is also part of the 14 primates that Rwanda offers, making it so interesting to visit the Republic. Nyungwe national park is the best spot for the primate trek which requires a great degree of fitness, great degree of fitness, long jungle pants, light clothes, mineral water, light waterproof comfortable boots, and other trekking gear for the activity takes around 30minutes-6hours walk through the thick antique trees under the guidance of well-trained personnel who are experts in locating their secluded places, the effort in finding them and spending a 1hr watching them live in the natural habitat makes the experience extraordinary.
The enthralling endemic endangered beautiful black and white colobus monkeys which live in groups of over 300 are also part of the primates that Rwanda offers abundantly visiting the Republic so interesting the fact that they are rare elsewhere but common in Rwanda. The trek for these scurries primates is very rewarding but calls for a good degree of fitness to hike through the deep African rainforest which makes the encounter with them a marvelous experience. More primates that are highly expected to be seen during the trek include Dent’s monkeys, grey-cheeked mangabeys’ vervet monkeys, blue monkeys, red-tailed monkeys, and L’Hoest’s monkeys among others.
Countless Bird Species
The myriad bird species of Rwanda are another interesting reason why you should consider visiting the Republic. For bird lovers, Rwanda is more than the best destination for you the fact that she offers perhaps the best African Montane birding in Africa. The avifauna of Rwanda is over 703 bird species recorded with 29 Albertine Rift Endemics, 2 introduced and 22 globally threatened. There are several spectacular birding sights like Volcanoes national park located in the region of heavily stagnated and dormant volcanoes blessed with over 200 bird species among which 17 are Albertine Rift endemics and they include brown woodland warbler, dusky turtle dove, handsome francolin, dusky crimson wing, brown necked parrot, lagden’s bush shrike, red-faced woodland warbler, etc. and the best time for birding in the volcanoes is during the dry season from June to August and late September
The Savannah, Akagera national park in the Eastern part with progressing hills, wetlands, woodlands, and hills is another birding sight which makes visiting Rwanda very interesting with about 490 bird species which include rare shoebill, white-winged swamp warbler, brown-throated weaver, white-collared olive back, papyrus gonolek, grey-crowed cranes among others with the best time for birding being in March, April, October, September, and November
The tropical montane rainforest, Nyungwe national park is also a ghostly birding sight in Rwanda which makes bird watching very easy and interesting for its epic number of 322 bird species like the stunning red-collared babbler which is only found in Rwanda, Rwenzori turaco, Rwenzori nightjar, regal, Grauer’s warbler, blue-headed, purple breasted sunbirds, Grauer’s swamp warbler, Regel, Willard’s sooty boubou, which requires some patience, the rarest of the ark Congo bay owl, Albertine owlet and shelleys and many more. Besides the above, Rwanda has more birding sights like Gishwati-mukura national park, Lake Kivu, wetlands, and Kigali the capital.
The unique Canopy Walk
The exciting adventure of the canopy 2-hour walkway done in Nyungwe forest on aerial 160m long bridge 70m high is such an exceptional experience that makes the visit to Rwanda very interesting. It is the newest and most adventurous activity in the Nyungwe national park which gives you the greatest chance to have a beautiful view of the tropical forest, and a close encounter with some of the primates of Nyungwe national park like blue monkeys, golden monkeys, velvet monkey, Olive baboon, red-tailed monkeys, crowned monkeys, owl-faced monkeys among others which make the visit to Rwanda very interesting.
There are sufficiently other interesting reasons why you should visit Rwanda but the above 4 will give you a full feel of the nature and wildlife, we at Rent A Driver Rwanda organize both self-drive and guided Rwanda tours to all the national parks, memorial historical sites, and all those you may have on list at very reasonable fares. You can book a tour or rent a car online by simply emailing us at info@rentadriverrwanda.com or calling us at +256 700135510 to get in touch with the reservation team.
Gloria Nalubega
