Rwanda is the most densely populated country in Africa. French, English and Kinyarwanda are the most widely spoken languages and the population of about 10 million people is largely Christian with some Muslim and Animist communities.
Originally the domain of hunter-gatherers, Rwanda emerged into a centralised state with a feudal monarchy in the fifteenth century. It became a German colony in 1890 and was mandated to the Belgians after the First World War. In 1962, under Prime Minister Gregoire Kayibanda, Rwanda gained independence. Ten years later Major General Juvenal Habyarimana came to power. His death in a plane crash in April 1994 unleashed the genocide in which about one million Rwandans are thought to have been killed and nearly twice as many fled into exile. In recent years, as peace and stability have returned under President Kagame, many Rwandans have come back. Local elections were held for the first time in 35 years in 2001 and are an encouraging sign of the steady return of stability to the country.
What to See in Rwanda
Chimpanzees
One of man’s closest relations, are found in a number of forests in Uganda – especially Kyambura and Kibale in the west and Budongo and Kanyiyo Pabidi near Murchison Falls; they are also found in the huge afro-montane forest of Nyungwe in Rwanda. Bwindi is one of the few forests where gorillas and chimps co-exist but are rarely seen as they live lower down when both species are present. The Ugandan and Rwandan variety (Pan Troglodytes Schweinfurthi) is long-haired and lives in those forests where there is a rich, all year round food supply.
Mountain Gorillas in PNV
The Virunga Conservation Area, around the upper slopes of the dramatic Virunga volcanoes, comprises three contiguous national parks - Mgahinga National Park in Uganda, Parc National des Volcans (PNV) in Rwanda, and Parc des Virungas, commonly called Djomba, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. About 350 mountain gorillas make their home in these afro-montane forests. On the Ugandan side there is one gorilla family that is habituated. You can climb a volcano, go birding, visit the emerald waters of Lake Mutanda or just take in one of the most breathtaking landscapes of Africa. Volcanoes Mount Gahinga Rest Camp is located just outside Mgahinga. In Parc National des Volcans on the Rwandan side, where Dian Fossey worked, there are four habituated gorilla families.
Sources of the Nile
Much of the nineteenth century was dominated by the search for the Source of the River Nile. Many of the great explorers of the age – Baker, Burton, Grant, Livingstone, Stanley, Speke – traversed the continent to understand the connection between the different rivers and lakes in Africa’s central highlands. In 1862, Speke deduced that the river on the north shore of Lake Victoria was the White Nile on its way to Egypt. In reality the Source includes a number of lakes and rivers in Uganda and Rwanda as well as the Virungas and Rwenzoris.
Volcanic lakes - Kivu, Bulera, Ruhondo
These five volcanic lakes on the borders of Rwanda and Uganda have their own special attractions. Lake Kivu, on the Rwanda/Congo border, the largest, is like a giant inland sea with some interesting lakeside towns. Kibuye, two hours from Kigali, is a relaxing retreat for swimming, canoeing and water-skiing. Gisenyi, a famous resort in the past, now has a sleepy forgotten air with some fine but neglected buildings from the Belgian era. The twin lakes of Bulera and Ruhondo are attractive places to visit after gorilla tracking in PNV in Rwanda.
Akagera has beautiful undulating plains with dense, broad-leafed woodland, lighter acacia woodland and rolling grassland with an extensive series of lakes linked by papyrus swamps forming a sprawling wetland. The game in the park is recovering after years of poaching and human presence, with elephant, buffalo, giraffe and lion and different antelope beginning to be seen. Accommodation and the road system in the park have recently been renovated.
Butare is a pleasant university town which contains the exceptional National Museum which has a fine display of the history of the country and people. The Roman Catholic Cathedral, built in memory of Princess Astrid of Belgium, is the largest in the country. At Nyanza, nearby, there is the court of the former King.
Kigali has been the capital of Rwanda since 1965. An attractive city, it spreads over a number of hills and although it saw some difficult times through the genocide in 1994 and as power changed hands subsequently, it now has a pleasant, buoyant air. The main shopping and commercial area is around the Hotel Mille Collines, with the government district on the neighbouring Kaciyiru hill.The markets, the handicrafts, the Muslim quarter and a new genocide memorial being built in Gisozi are some of the main places of interest.
Nyungwe Forest
This massive montane forest, in southern Rwanda, the largest in Central Africa, has thirteen species of primate including chimpanzee, Rwenzori colobus and l’Hoest’s monkey. The colobus live in large groups, including a four hundred-strong semi-habituated group thought to be the largest troop of arboreal primates in Africa. Around 300 bird species, 24 of which are regional endemics and over 100 varieties of orchids and butterflies are other attractions.
