RWANDA TOURS
WHAT NOT TO MISS IN THREE DAYS IN RWANDA
Rwanda is a small landlocked country known for the genocide in 1992 but with the presence of gorillas in the country, people will see why the country is important to be visited.
Rwanda is one of the countries in Africa where the gorillas can be found. The apes are found in Volcanoes National park, in Uganda in Bwindi and Mgahinga National Park while in DR Congo in Virunga National Park.
Mgahinga, Volcanoes and Virunga are immediate neighbors and to reach Volcanoes National Park is two hours from Kigali and the drive enables you to view the green hills where locals grow their crops.
The landscape is beautiful but when it comes to searching the gorillas the altitude is different. The trek is quite difficult with stinging nettles, ants and thick bush but can take a few minutes depending on where the gorillas are.
.to view these gorillas, one needs a permit to allow him enter the forest to see how the animals feed, and how they feed their young ones which costs $500. Visitors are allowed to stay 10 meters from the apes and for one hour.
The Golden Monkeys are also found in the Volcanoes National park and can be visited during these three days. The price to visit the golden monkeys is $100 which is less than $500.the walk to the golden monkeys is shorter compared to that of the gorillas because the gorillas are found at a higher altitude.
Viewing these monkeys is worth an extra day in the park and also for the gorillas one day so they both can’t be viewed at the same time.
The country has a number of memorial sites remembering the 1994 genocide so they can be visited in a day.
Rwanda is very different ever since Paul Kagame came into power. It is one of the safest countries to be visited which wasn’t the case 20 years ago.
The sites include Kigali memorial site which is located in the city centre and says over 1 million people mostly those that belong to the Tutsis were murdered in 1994.There are exhibitions which introduce children like a 4 year child that was stabbed in her eyes and head. In the courtyard, there are mass graves.
These days the churches are used to pay respect t0 those that died during that time instead of worshiping.
The churches outside Kigali that include Nyamata and Ntarama have bullet-riddled roofs and clothing of those that were killed and act as reminders of the people who crowded inside thinking they would be spared.
At Nyamata Genocide memorial centre, over 10,000 people were killed at the church and in the neighboring areas. Its yard is a mass grave where freshly cut flowers are left by those that survived. In the crypt, there is a display of a number of skulls and bones which some people might find unnecessary to view which means the people of Rwanda are still healing from their past.
Rwanda has a number of cultural and natural histories to make it worth a visit.
