This self drive safari will take you to all the national parks in Rwanda winding it up all with a rest at lake Kivu. With the 4×4 with rooftop tent services, you will move at your pace since you can sleep any where as long as there is security.
Therefore, if you want to explore Rwanda with other regions you can choose from our fleet and upon your arrival to Rwanda, you will received a 4×4 rooftop tent land cruiser and started with a city drive which took us to Kigali genocide memorial centre to respect to those victims in the 1994 massacre between the Hutu and the Tutsi. The centre has different exhibit places with space of skulls of survivors and their personal belongings, photographs of survivors, reconciliation efforts, and genocide perpetrators.
Another space has photographs and descriptions of genocides that have happened around the world showing that this indeed is not a Rwandan problem but a world problem that should never happen again. Outside the building, there is a garden and different mass graves where survivors and those who lost loved ones can come to ‘re-connect’. It was really a day of remembering those victims.
We had lunch and continued to Akagera national park for a wildlife encounter located in Eastern Rwanda along the border with Tanzania. The introduction of the big five (buffaloes, leopard, elephants, lions and rhinoceros) made Akagera a one – stop – centre for an African Safari. We were also able to see other animals like Topi, hippos, crocodiles, warthogs, hyena, water buck, mongoose, eland, zebra, serval cats, duiker, impala, black masked civet, reed buck, bush pigs, giraffe, side-stripped jackal, Klipspringer, Sitatunga Antelopes and roan antelope. On such an extensive game drive, we also saw a few primates like olive baboons, vervet monkeys, blue monkeys and bush-babies.
After the game drive we had to for lunch as well as warming for the boat cruise. While on the boat trip on lake Ihema, we encountered crocodiles, hippos and elephants drinking along the shores. The Lakes and nearby swamps are breeding grounds for several bird species like African darter, African Jacana, blue-headed coucal, cormorant, fish eagles, kingfishers, marsh flycatcher and the open-bill stork. The cruise costed $40 per person and we went in a group of 11 people.
The next stop was volcanoes national park for another encounter in the jungle. We checked in the camping site where we had our rooftop tent raised it up in the shortest time possible, prepared our dinner and overnight. Very early in the morning, we drove to the park headquarters for briefing. We had to bring our ($1500) permits out for verification. We were put in groups of 8people to trek one gorilla family and it took us almost 6 hours in search for the apes. Once we found them, we took one hour with the them learning about their behaviours. This is one of the best experiences you can not miss while in volcanoes national park. We had to descend after the one hour to pick our trekking certificate and go for lunch.
Later, we took a visit to IbyI’wacu cultural village which offered us the chance to explore the traditional rural life of Rwandans, providing the opportunity to meet local people in their homes.
We were joined by a local guide who greatly welcomed us to the village and took us through the cultural history of Rwanda. The guide offered insight as they took us through activities such as: visiting the huts, tasting the local brew, marriage ceremony, storytelling, and wrapping it with watching fantastic dancers and drummers, who showcased their traditional dance before us and we also joined!
On the new day, we had to take a full day paying homage to the strongest woman ever in the lives of mountain gorillas (Dian Fossey). We took a hike to the grave yards of Dian Fossey and the Karisimbi research centre where she used to do her research from. Fossey made the world know more about mountain gorillas and advocated for their protection against extensive poaching. visiting the grave of Dian Fossey is a unique experience and a great way to pay homage to one of the greatest mountain gorilla researchers. We learnt about her work with the mountain gorillas in Rwanda. The hike gave us time to reflect on many things and the challenges she went through that were physical, emotional and intellectual level. The day ended with resting as well as dinner and overnight at our camping site.
New day started very early with breakfast and briefing again for the golden monkey trekking. With its unique characters, they are easily recognized due to the yellow patches that can be seen all over their bodies. We were able to see them swinging from the bamboo trees in the forest after paying for the trekking permit at $100 each. The easiest way we trekked them was by following the left-over bamboo shoots which are always left by the monkeys after eating. Took an hour with them as we enjoyed them jumping from one tree to another as well as learning about their behaviours.
Took lunch and continued to Nyungwe forest national park for another adventure. It is in this forest that you can see chimpanzees in Rwanda as a country. We checked in the camp site on arrival prepared a meal and raised up our rooftop tents for an overnight.
Early in the morning after breakfast, we went to the park headquarters for briefing then head to the starting point. Surprisingly, trekking chimpanzees is simpler than gorilla trekking since the chimpanzees don’t go high in the slopes like gorillas. It took us 3 hours to meet the chimpanzees and once we met them, we took one hour with them learning their social behaviour as well as enjoying a stay with them.
We then went for lunch and later went for a canopy walk. The canopy walk in Nyungwe forest is the best in East Africa. The canopy walk starts at the Uwinka Visitors Centre and goes through a hanging platform that is about 45 meters above the ground. From these heights, visitors get spectacular views of the rain-forest, animals and birds. We discovered and explored everything there is to know about this old forest including the primates.
Our next destination was lake Kivu for refreshing from the treks as well as taking on some activities at lake Kivu. This place is one of the best to relax and rest after along period in Rwanda’s best national parks. We really took time at the lake’s sand beaches enjoying the morning breeze as well as the sun set breeze.
We took a Boat Cruise as part of relaxing enjoying our stay on the lake. The Lake known for being hippo and crocodile-free. This is attributed to the toxic gasses in her crust creating a perfect environment for taking boat cruises on this large water body.
we visited the different islands on the lake (Napoleon Island and her famous fruit bats, Amahoro Island also known as One Bar Island), taking a romantic evening ride whilst watching the sunset as well as sharing a meal floating on the water and surrounded by countless scenic features which we wouldn’t see out of the boat. This made it the end for our trip transferred back to Kigali for our flight back home.
Therefore, those willing to explore East Africa starting from Rwanda Self-drive Kigali with it’s sister service provider 4×4 Rooftop Tent Car will offer you suitable cars fit to hit the off-track of every nature and you can take it on 4×4 one-way rental option.