Experience the best of Rwanda with self-drive Kigali. I and my husband with our two children rented a Toyota Land Cruiser V8 with a driver guide from Self-Drive Kigali for a 19-days trip going to Volcanoes National Park, Gishwati – Mukura National Park and Nyungwe Forest National Park.
After deciding to do a last-minute trip to Rwanda, we were quickly put into contact with Jackie from self-drive Kigali through a familial reference. Jackie was extremely helpful from the start, as we worked together to put together a gorilla safari experience from Kigali International Airport with tight parameters given commitments/flight dates. We were able to put together 18-nights, 19-days experience and had an amazing time.
The Rwanda tour guarantees you an extraordinary experience of tracking chimpanzees in Nyungwe and Gishwati – Mukura National Parks, as well as tracking mountain gorillas and the golden monkeys in the tropical rain forest of the Volcanoes National Park.
Upon arrival at Kigali International Airport, we were picked up by our driver guide Jeff who warmly welcomed us to the beautiful Land of a Thousand Hills. After that he briefed us about our 21-day Rwanda tour and it’s from here we did a city tour to only the Kigali Memorial Centre. The whole tone of the memorial was impressively different, and reflects a unique solution to the psychological crisis created by an event like this. We did not use a guide, and one of us may have had a hand-held audio guide.
At any rate, we stayed a couple of hours. There are rooms that are not in any account you may have seen. Highly recommended. The personal accounts are carried through from room to room, along with an historical perspective. I think it hangs together better than the Apartheid Museum does in Johannesburg, probably because it has to explain one month, not an enduring social caste system. Lastly, there is a cafe with Wi-Fi.
After the city tour, our driver Jeff drove us to our reserved accommodation at Hotel des Mille Collins in Kigali for our dinner and overnight stay. We stayed here one-night en-route to Rwanda’s National Parks. I did not book the rooms myself; Self-drive Kigali Company did the booking. We are a family of four and my husband and I got a huge suite that had a living room, dining room, bedroom, and large bathroom.
My teenage kids got a regular room with two twin beds. I would not normally book such a large suite for just two people, but it was lovely, as was the rest of the hotel including my kids’ room. I enjoyed the breakfast buffet and all the staff were very friendly and kind.
The next day we had morning breakfast and after Jeff transferred us to Musanze town near Volcanoes National Park located 80km from Kigali, that’s approximately a two-hour’s drive. We visited the Dian Fossey Fund in Musanze town. Mountain gorillas have been monitored and studied closely since Dian Fossey began her work in 1967. She started the process of habituating them to the presence of human observers, so that she could closely observe and document their behaviors, diet, habitat needs, and other important information. Today, Fossey Fund trackers and researchers protect roughly half of all the mountain gorilla group families in Rwanda. Dinner and Overstay was at Hotel Muhabura.
Next day we did the mountain gorilla trekking. Ready with packed lunch, hiking boots, skin repellent, sunglasses, water, long sleeved shirt and trouser, camera and a hut, we transferred to Volcanoes National Park in Kinigi where the park headquarters are located. We got briefed about the do’s and don’ts of the park by the park warden. After the briefing, we were later divided into groups of 8 people and off we drove to the starting point of trekking the gorillas.
Upon arrival we were given walking sticks and we also hired porters. Our range guide Frank told us that it may take between 2 to 8 hours to locate these creatures because they move but unfortunately, we were lucky and we trekked them for only 3 hours. We were permitted to stay with them for only one hour. It was a nice experience seeing them play, guard each other, and feed among others. After trekking we went back to our lodge for relaxation.
The next day we were picked by our drive Jeff and drove us back to the park headquarters in Kinigi for Golden Monkey tracking. We then entered the forest to begin our search for the shy primates and at the end we had a wonderful time with them and took memorial photos and videos. After the experience, we later transferred to Gishwati – Mukura National Park known for primate encounters. Dinner and overnight was at Gishwati Eco Lodge.
The following day at Gishwati, we did a guided nature walk and a visit to the waterfalls. Gishwati Forest is home to a group of 20 chimps which live alongside golden monkeys, L’Hoest and Blue Monkeys. After the activities, we transferred to Lake Kivu and we slept at our reserved accommodation Paradise Malahide along the shoes of Rubona Peninsula. Accommodation was in stone bungalows scattered around a small bar and restaurant, but the highlight of the property is clearly the stunning lakeside location.
The next day at Lake Kivu, we did a boat cruise and we spotted various bird species like the white-breasted Cormorants, pied Kingfishers and osprey. The birdlife at Lake Kivu is also diverse as there are no fewer than 10 endemic species found here. Later in the afternoon drive to Nyungwe National Park en-route to Bisesero Genocide Memorial, the Hill of Resistance Kibuye, a stunning location spread across a series of tongues jutting into Lake Kivu.
The memorial is set on a hill overlooking the actual Hill of Resistance, so you get a good view. It’s a series of rooms connected by many steps, and completely inaccessible to those with a disability or injury. At the very top there is a mass grave. Our guide said it contained 50,000 people. After the visit we continue our journey to Nyungwe Hill Top View for dinner and overnight stay.
Next morning ready with our packed lunch, we transferred to Nyungwe National Park for our chimpanzee tracking and canopy walk way. Nyungwe is sliced in two by the Huye – Cyangugu road. Visitors can access the park through either the Uwinka Reception Centre or the Gisakura Booking Office, both of which lie along this road.
We reported at Uwinka Reception Centre at the park headquarters for briefing about the park. Much like gorilla tracking, you also need to be prepared for lengthy hikes that can take up to several hours. We were lucky to see over 16 chimps and our visit was limited to only one hour.
After lunch in the afternoon, we did the canopy walk way and we saw a lot of bird species. You won’t encounter any wildlife while on the suspension bridge, but you will certainly appreciate the jungle a new from this unique monkey’s eye perspective. The canopy walkway is located on the Igishigishigi Trail. Dinner and overnight stay back at our accommodation.
Next morning we checked out of the lodge and transferred back to Kigali via Butare en-route to Murambi Genocide Memorial. This is a very educational, genocide, museum, and memorial, away from all the tourists. We were the only foreigners here the day we came, and the manager of the museum took us around after all the school kids left. There are many buildings here, some of them holding the skeletons that were not relocated, which really helped my kids understand the gravity, like no museum could do before.
Finally, we arrived at Kigali back to our reserved accommodation Hotel des Mille Collins for dinner and overnight stay. Next after breakfast, we checked out of our hotel and Jeff us back to the airport for our flight back home. Thank you for the great services you offered us Self-drive Kigali. And to our driver Jeff, you were such knowledgeable and intelligent, thank you, you made our trip a memorable one. We surely recommend Self-Drive Kigali.