Rwanda’s capital city Kigali is often described as one of the cleanest and most organised cities in Africa.  The cleanliness is often attributed to the ban on non-degradable plastics which was introduced in 2008.  Sprawling across numerous hilltops, valleys and ridges, this safe and vibrant city has undergone many changes in the years since the genocide which devastated the country in 1994.

The superbly curated Kigali Genocide Memorial provides an emotional and thought-provoking opportunity to understand more about the events leading up to the genocide, as well as the 100 days during which around one million Tutsi and moderate Hutus were killed, and the peace and reconciliation process which has been ongoing ever since.  The Memorial is also the final resting place of over 250,000 people who died during the genocide.

Nowadays, there is a busy arts and music scene in the city as well as a Natural History Museum housing the stuffed skeleton of a huge crocodile which terrorised a village at Lake Muhaze and which was found to have a pair of shoes in its stomach!

There are a number of art and craft galleries while a wide range of restaurants caters for food lovers of all tastes and budgets.  The city boasts two golf courses and visitors are welcome.

Kigali has a tropical climate, with temperatures ranging from 16 C to 28 C on average, and little variation month by month.  April is the wettest month and July the driest, with the city experiencing an average of 122 rainy days a year.  It’s suitable to visit at any time of the year.

Size and accessibility:
Kigali has a population of approximately 1.2 million people.  It’s quite centrally located within Rwanda.

By car:
From the Uganda/Rwanda border at Katuna (Gatuna on the Rwandan side) it’s around 2 hours drive to Kigali.

By air:
The international airport has regular flights to and from many European and other cities and RwandAir offers direct flights to and from Entebbe in Uganda, daily.

Activities:
City tour
Genocide Memorial
Museums
Shopping
Dining
Cultural activities
Distillery tour
Golf courses

Akagera National Park is located in the north east of Rwanda along the border with Tanzania. It is named after the Akagera River that flows along its eastern boundary, and feeds into a labyrinth of lakes of which the largest is Lake Ihema. The forest fringed lakes, papyrus swamps, savannah plains and rolling highlands combine to make Akagera amongst the most scenic of reserves anywhere in Africa. It has exceptional levels of biodiversity and forms the largest protected wetland in central Africa.

Species diversity:
Giraffe and zebra amble through the savannah, and more than a dozen types of antelope inhabit the park, most commonly the handsome chestnut-coated impala, but also the diminutive oribi and secretive bushbuck, as well as the ungainly tsessebe and the world’s largest antelope, the statuesque cape eland.

Due to its wide variety of habitats, Akagera is an important ornithological site with nearly 500 bird species. The rare and elusive shoebill shares the papyrus with other rarities such as the exquisite papyrus gonolek and countless other water birds that inhabit the wetlands in large numbers.

Of the larger predators, leopard, hyena, side-striped jackal and lion, which was re-introduced 2015, are present. Plans are underway for the reintroduction of the black rhino too, and this will restore Akagera’s ‘Big 5’ status.

Size and accessibility:
Akagera National Park covers 1,200 km2. The park was reduced in size from over 2,500 km2 to its current size. Although much of the best savannah grazing land is now outside the park boundaries, what remains of Akagera is some of the most diverse and scenic landscape in Africa.

By car:
Akagera National Park is about 110 km from Kigali the capital of Rwanda, which is about a 2 ½ hour drive.

Activities:
Game drives
Nature walks
Boat tours