Rwanda’s tourism industry has been developing over the years despite the painful past of the 1994 Rwandese genocide. Rwanda is a small landlocked country located country located in east Africa neighboring Uganda, Burundi, Tanzania and DRC. Rwanda is blessed with a number of wildlife and it’s among the leading wildlife destinations in Africa. The country is known to the many as the land of a thousand hills and has a lot of adventure to offer to tourists seeking for once in a lifetime experiences. Wildlife adventures and exclusive experiences can be enjoyed in one of the national parks that the country has.
Volcanoes national park located in northwestern Rwanda is the most visited wildlife destination because of the exclusive mountain gorilla encounters tourists have while in the forested mountains of this national park. Volcanoes national park is a home of the endangered mountain gorillas and the best place on earth where tourists can enjoy mountain gorilla safaris. There are 10 habituated mountain gorilla families in this national that are open to tourist visitation. Mountain gorilla permits are sold at $1500 and mountain gorilla tracking can be done at any time of the year though best experiences are during the dry season.
Volcanoes national park is covered with a tropical rainforest as well as bamboo and it therefore in habits a number of many other wildlife species like birds and many reptiles that are usually encountered by tourist while on forest expedition in search of the mountain gorillas.
This national park is also home to the endangered golden monkeys, which are primates that are endemic to the Virunga volcanoes. Just as their names depicts, golden monkeys are covered with a coat of golden fur and viewing them in the forests of volcanoes national park also offer incredible primate experiences. They also live in groups of their close relatives and also feed on plant leaves, wild fruits and shoots. Golden monkey tracking also starts in the morning as tourist hike the forests to meet them. Golden monkey permits are sold at only $100 and can be obtained through a trusted tour operator.
South of volcanoes national park is Nyungwe forest national park, which has the largest and well-preserved natural montane rain forest in east Africa. Nyungwe forest extends several kilometers over a number of hills and the best destination for chimpanzee tracking in Rwanda. Nyungwe forest has the highest chimpanzee population in Rwanda. These are usually seen over tree branches as they move from one place to another probably seeking for fresh leaves, wild fruits which for meals or even looking for new places where to spend a night. There are well developed tracking trails that lead adventurous tourists to the different parts of the forests with great sightings of other wildlife species like birds, butterflies and many others.
Nyungwe forest national park also has the only canopy walk way in east Africa that stands several meters above the ground thus offering great aerial views of this vast forest. This national park can be accessed by road from Kigali in about an 8 to 9 hours drive through the countryside of Rwanda the land of a thousand hills.
Rwanda has one savanna national park – Akagera national park located in the eastern Rwanda. Akagera is the place in Rwanda where tourists can view savanna wildlife species like the African elephants, buffaloes, zebras, giraffes, Topi’s, lions, hippos, crocodiles and many others. Game drives and boat cruises are the major tourists activities carried out in this national park. The boat cruises are carried along lake Ihema as tourists go adventure trips to see the hippos and the crocodiles near the shores. There are also many bird species in this national park and its therefore among the birding destinations in Rwanda and the best place to see the rare shoebill stork.