Kigali city Tour in Rwanda

Kigali City Tour in Rwanda

Rwanda Tours: Being a country of thousand hills, the capital Kigali is an interesting mix of rural and urban town overflowing on juxtaposed hilly terrain. Kigali is a place to get acquainted with the Rwandan pace. Excursions in and around Kigali offer a first impression of what Rwanda looks like. The many hills seem to stretch forever, usually featuring a lush green colour due to the abundant rainfall from the two main rainy seasons. Of course, visits to some of the historical genocide sites are possible.

Driving round Kigali, Rwanda's capital

The exhibition in the Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre tells the history of Rwanda leading up to genocide in 1994 and catalogues the details of the genocide using photographs, video, written accounts and a range of artifacts. This site has been constructed in memory of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide that took almost 1,000,000 lives in 100 days while the world stood by and watched. The Kigali Memorial Centre is a site of burial for around 250,000 victims of the genocide, which comprises of a main historical exhibition, a Children’s Memorial exhibition and an exhibition on comparative genocide, called Wasted Lives. You will also visit Camp Kigali, the venue of the massacre of 10 Belgian UN Blue Berets which happened on the first day of the genocide.
Kigali city tour can be combined with other activities like Gorilla Tracking safaris and Chimpanzee tracking.

Rwandan Culture, Historical and Genocide Memorial Sites

GENOCIDE MEMORIAL CITES.

Brief History of Rwanda and the Genocide.

Rwanda was initially inhabited by the Hutu farmers before the Tutsi came in with their cattle. Cattle being a status of fame in Africa, the Tutsi ruled over the Hutu people, and the two groups were living in Harmony.

However, with the coming in of the Belgians who colonized the country, they created a difference in the group by regarding the Tutsi, which was a minority group as the elite class and were to rule over the Hutu. They drew up a line between them and were identified by color, and head dimensions. Many atrocities were heaped on the Hutu majority all in the name of colonialism, and this grew much discontent among the Hutu which created tension and enmity between the Hutu Majority and Minor Tutsi.

This enmity continued on, and thus, on 6th April 1994 following the death of the then President Habyarimana, who was a Hutu, the Hutu were aggrieved and unlished a campaign to slaughter all the Tutsi who they referred to as “Cockroaches”. With the international community looking on after the death of 10 UN peacekeepers and decided to withdraw from the country, 100 days saw over 800,000 most of who were the Tutsi and those who sympasized with them.

Today, there are over 200 genocide memorial sites in Rwanda but only a few are developed for tourism purposes. Genocide memorial Tour is one of the tourist activities in Rwanda - Africa.

List of Rwandan Genocide memorial centers
Kigali memorial centre
Murambi memorial.
Nyamata memorial cite
Bisesero memorial site.
Nyanza memorial centre.
Nyarabuye memorial site
Ntarama memorial site

Tourism in Rwanda: Tour Destinations, Attractions and Activities

Mountain Gorilla Tracking in Rwanda

Despite being small and land locked, Rwanda offers some of the most breathtaking scenery in Africa. It is a home to 360 African Mountain Gorillas, which is half of the world’s remaining total population of 720. These are found in Volcanoes National Park, also Known as Parc National des Volcans, located in the North of the Country on Uganda and Congo Borders.

Tour activities in Volcanoes National park

Mountain Gorilla Trekking

The park is part of the Virunga Volcanic  Mountain ranges, shared by Uganda, Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo. The major Tour activity here include gorilla trekking, Golden Monkey Tracking, Bird watching with over 350 bird species, Mountain hike to Karisimbi and Bishoke peaks, hike to Diana Fossey’s graves nestled between the beautiful volcanic peaks of Vishoke and Karisimbi as well as cultural walks to nearby villages, where you can get entertained in Kinyarwanda cultural Music, Dance and Drama.

Nyungwe Forest Primates and Birds

Nyungwe Forest primates trek

Rwanda is also a home to 13 primates species, the highest concentration in Africa. These are found in Nyungwe Forest and they include large communities of Chimpanzees, huge groups of black and white colobus monkeys that range up to 400-500 individuals, Mangabeys, vervet monkeys, Baboons, Golden Monkeys, Blue Monkeys, and L’hoest’s Monkeys among others. Also the forest inhabits over 280 bird species. The major activities here include excellent birding and primates trekking, nature walks as well as cultural walks.

Akagera Wildlife Tour

Akagera wildlife park is located in Eastern part of Rwanda near Tanzania border. This a home to several mammal species and 500 bird species. The major tour activities include game viewing drives in search for African Lions, Masai Giraffes, Zebras, Leopards, herds of Elephants, Buffaloes and antelopes, as well as boat trips on lake Ihema in search for Huge Nile crocodiles and Hippos.