Rwanda - land of a thousand hills

The land of a thousand hills

The Rwanda story has to start with the horrible events of 1994 but I leave you to read the various reads on this subject, without which one can never really understand the Rwanda story but all I can say is never again! What is relevant is to focus on what Rwanda is today and just how far this small little country has got to since those dark days of 1994. In a relatively short period of time Rwanda is today one of the great success stories of Africa.

The Kigali convention center dominates the night skies

Straddled between the giants of Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) the first thing that strikes me is what made anyone not extend Rwanda’s border to the shores of Lake Victoria? I first arrived in Kigali on a flight from Dar es Salaam and the sizes of the two countries were almost comical. It took almost an hour to pass Kilimanjaro and another 30 minutes to get Mwanza and the shores of Lake Victoria. Once you reach the end of Lake Victoria still in Tanzania, the descent to Kigali starts and you’re on the ground in about 10 minutes.

Hills of agriculture

The first thing that is noticeable is the never ending hills with its never ending agriculture. The banana plantations are the most obvious from the air and of course the Lakes and there appear to be a few in that 10 minute air journey to before you land. What is obvious from the air and land is why Rwanda is called the land of a thousand hills! 

Lake Kivu, dominates western Rwanda.

We had to sell our beloved 80 series Land Cruiser in Tanzania due to the left hand drive in Rwanda so the first plan was to get a vehicle to check out Rwanda. Welcome Kivu, a 3.5 liter Toyota Prado only 10 years old, a whole 10 years younger than our previous vehicle. There are a couple of noticeable changes with the car, the first is car is petrol and an automatic, which would not be first choice for an expedition vehicle.

New wheels, new beginning. 

Next, there are no plans to mount the roof tent which is a seriously bad sign when you are an overlander. This of course means no more messing around on the roof which in turn means a lot of things need to fit inside what is a smaller vehicle.  

Tree tomato, a fruit like no other 

Rwanda has basically 4 main international nature attractions, conveniently spread to each corner of the country.  In the north is the Volcanoes National Park, home to the gorillas.  In the east is Akagera National Park, a big 5 park.  In the south is Nyungwe Forest National Park, a birding hotspot where chimpanzees can be tracked, and in the west is the big Lake Kivu, that borders the Congo.  And luckily the country is small enough that traveling from one side to the other is not a problem.

Best place for Nyamo Choma, Sundowner or Carwash in Kigali

Be aware that all the names of the towns have been changed to remove themselves from their horrific past, but unfortunately not all maps have caught up, so often a map may refer to an old name but the road signs have the new names – which will make for confusing navigation! We’ve used the new names, with the old name in brackets.

Cyclist hang on to trucks for the hill climb

The jewel in the Rwanda wildlife crown are the gorillas of the Volcanoes National Park. The park is less than 3 hours on a good tarmac road from Kigali and we are yet to be convinced that the $1,500 per person price tag is a go. Everyone who has visited and from what I read, the encounter with the gorillas is a once in a lifetime experience but even as die hard wildlife enthusiasts we are yet to be convinced.

Rwanda country side is mountains of agriculture 

Rice fields past Huye

The prime wildlife choice in Rwanda is Akagera National Park which like Rwanda, has an interesting story to what is today a big 5 national park. There was a time when the park had to be reclaimed from people and reestablished as a national park and big chunk of the park along with its animals was lost to people. It has now been restocked, most famously with Lion and Rhino making it a big 5 park once again. The park is an easy 2.5 hour drive from Kigali with the last 30 minutes being on a well maintained gravel road.

The Lion cage, restocking Akagera

One of the best views in Rwanda, Akagera Mutumba camp site

Bed with a view, Akagera Mutumba camp site

The park is dominated by range of hills and a string of lakes with two main game driving tracks, one running on the ridge and the other on the valley below close to the lakes. While there a lot of lakes and water about, disappointingly the game driving tracks hardly get to the water edge or drive along the lake shore. On the few rare occasions one does get to the water’s edge the lack of game and birds on the lake is noticeable.

Long crested eagle

African wattled plover

Pork chop

The park is long and narrow with the two main roads running south to north along the Tanzania boarder demarcated by the Akagera River.  The southern section with the only entrance gate to the park, has two lodges and a campsite as accommodation choices. 

European bee-eater

As you enter the park, the left option, which also takes you to the Southern campsite, leads down the ridge to an open area with a small pan and water hole where we have seen signs of Rhino but not actually seen one. There is also a boat ride service when you go right from the gate. The bush in this section of the park is very thick making it difficult to spot game.

Oribi

Both campsites in the park are on top of the ridge with beautiful views over the plains and lakes below. The camp sites have hand pumped water and long drop toilets, but no shower. There is an electric wire around the fence taking out the possibility of an animal encounter in the campsite. 

The ridge track offers spectacular views

Rare catch on drive up the ridge to the Mutambo campsite

There is a healthy supply of firewood at the campsites thus one less thing to carry and you will need the firewood at night as it can get cold and windy at night on top of the ridge.

Plenty of Topi in the park

When heading north one needs to decide if you wish to take the ridge road or the shore road as there are only a couple of crossing points between the north and south. The shore road is actually a rather inappropriate name as the road hardly ever touches the shoreline. 

Giraffe are not common but present

There is a surprisingly healthy spread of animals on the ridge, particularly during and after the rains and the views are stunning which is probably the highlight of the park so don’t miss it.

Zebs on the ridge

Heading north, there are couple of loops worth checking out and we reckon the Nyampiki Peninsular is probably the most productive for elephant. Take note to give the elephants a wide berth as they all carry scars from poaching and human conflict. The big males, particularly the big old chap without tusks, can and has been known to be a problem with vehicles.

The Ele's are best given the space

The birding in the park is probably some of the best we have come across offering a variety of woodland, savannah and water birds. The best place to catch a few water birds is the second turn-off to the Nyampiiki peninsula which has a decent mud flat attracting nice water birds. There is also a healthy supply of tsetse flies in pockets of the park so come prepared - we are yet to work out a plan for those nasty bugs. 

The hot spots for lions as described to us are in the north of the park namely Lake Gasbanju, Mohana plain and Kilala plain. Mohana plain appears by far the most reliable zone for lions and the place we have had a few sightings.

Buffalo at Mohana plain

Lucky sighting of a Bush Pig on the Mohana loop

Having said that we have seen Lions on top of the ridge near Nyamatete and there are reports of lions been spotted close to the Ruzizi tented lodge near the southern entrance. Also the lion population has increased even in the short time we have been here as new lions are introduced to widen the gene pool.  

Lions on the ridge

Mohana plain and the surrounding loops offer the most interesting game driving and game rich area of the park. The bush opens up to trees and savanna and the best water’s edge driving spots in the part are in this area. 

The new generation at Mohana Plain

Lion doing what lions do at Mohana plains

There are resident herds of buffalo and other plains game including the rare roan antelope, so no surprises that this is the hot spot for lions. The only irritating thing about Mohana is that it’s miles from anything which of course means you miss out on checking out the area at dusk and dawn, often the prime time for chasing predators.

Juvenile African Fish Eagle

Lots of waterbuck!

The closest accommodation, both more than an hour away is the public campsite at Mutumba and the Karenge bush camp, which is a seasonal camp run by the parks board in the north of the park. While the closest drive from Mohana to the Mutumba camp site is through Nyamatete, I reckon the drive round passing the lakes through Buhira could be a lot more productive. 

Plenty waterbuck - the sign of a troubled past

There is also some horrible rock driving to negotiate on the Nyamatere route and worth noting that either drive will offer a challenge after rain as there is a muddy patch as you come down the ridge on either option.

Roan, a prize sighting

We always reach Kilala plain at the hottest time of the day as the last stop before exiting the park through the Northern exit and thus never seem to have much luck here. 

Imps, common sighting

Kilala plain is a different and refreshing change to a true savannah feel with a beautiful flat pan. There is a resident pride of lions but we have never had the chance to catch them given its totally inaccessible from the public camp sites at a decent hour of the day.

Lizard buzzard, representing the raptors 

African green pigeon, representing the woodland birds

Akagera National Park is certainly worth a couple of days and has a good selection of plains game with both zebra and giraffe present. The birding is fantastic and the roads are well maintained. 

Spur winged goose, representing the water birds

The black rhinos by nature are shy and stick to thick bush and thus are hard to catch with very few reported sightings. We found the camping a bit crowded and restrictive due to the electric wire. Also the camp site is uninteresting and lacks character due to the total lack of trees.  

The legends lives here, African fish eagle

Bare faced fo-away bird

Palm nut vulture

The next destination of note in Rwanda is the Nyungwe Forest, one of the last remaining high montane rainforests left in East Africa. The main attraction here are the primates; the highlight of which are the chimpanzees of Rwanda for which Nyungwe is the prime destination. The drive from Kigali takes about 5 hours on a good tarmac road to the park headquarters at Uwinka.  

The Nyungwe forest

Most walks, including the tree top sky walk, start from Uwinka which also offers the only accommodation in the park, a camp site with a flush toilet and freezing cold showers. All other accommodation is outside the park in the border towns of Gisakura and Kitabi.  Gisakura, about 30 minutes from Uwinka, is the starting point for chimp tracking but we found all accommodation outside the park uninteresting and totally unfriendly to self-campers. 

White star robin

Sykes monkey, common in Uwinka camp site

Even the Uwinka campsite is only passable provided there are no other campers as you are camping on grounds of what looks like a researcher’s house. The park has erected tents on wood platforms and the one inside the forest looks the most interesting and away from everyone else, but a bit of walk if you are carrying your own stuff.

Uwinka camp site, doable for the hard core

There is no driving so all activities are walking and you will need decent footwear to minimize slipping around in the moist forest floor. The birding is supposed to be fantastic but spotting birds in the thick tall trees is a major challenge. The turacos are the highlight and can be heard around the park. We are yet to a do a bird walk or chimp trek thus unable to comment.

The tea plantation on the edge of Nyungwe

Once you get over the Rwanda wildlife experience, the next go to spots are the lakes, of which there are many but the prime destination is Lake Kivu on the western edge of Rwanda. There are 3 major towns offering a variety of options of explore Lake Kivu. 

 The Lake Kivu fisherman

The closest from Kigali - about 3 hours - is Karongi (Kibuye), the furthest is Ruzizi (Cyangugu) about 7 hours and Rubavu (Gisenyi), the most popular and about 3 hours from Kigali. Ruzizi and Rubavu have border crossings to DRC. Rubavu is the most popular with up market hotels and backpackers but camping at all options are poor with very limited options. 

Double toothed barbet

All the camping spots we checked out were on the front lawn of an establishment and just plain poor. The best of the worst was the lawn of La bella in Rubavu but get ready to cart your camping gear from the car park down the hill to camp ground at the water’s edge.

Labella campsite, Rubavu

Lake Kivu, Rubavu. 

Another interesting place to check out is Sorwarthe Tea Estate, about 2 hours’ drive from Kigali on the Ruhengeri (Musanze) road. One of the notable features of the tea plantation is the growing of tea on the flat marshes as opposed to mountain sides. The plantation offers decent accommodation and meals while activities include tours of the tea factory and hikes in the surrounding mountains.

Sorwathe, tea plantation 

The view from Sorwathe is spectacular

Growing tea on the flat

The rest of the Rwanda attractions are scattered around numerous smaller lakes in the country, the most significant being Lake Muhazi, parts of which can be reached within an hour from Kigali. There are a variety of accommodation options scattered around the lakes but few if any camp sites.

Lake Kivu, Kibuye

Lake Muhazi

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