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9 Facts about Rwanda
9 Visitor accounts
9 Facts for the visitor
9 Attractions
9 Culture
9 Infrastructure
9 Travel advisory

Services - Personal accounts of visitors to Rwanda

If you would like to publish an account of your personal experience in Rwanda, please contact the Amahoro team.

Account n°1:

Author:                 Klarissa Wills-Lang (2003)
Organisation:      Muthaiga Travel Ltd, Kenya
Contact:               info@supersafari.com or info@muthaiga.co.ke

Gorillas – not in the mist!
Earlier this year we were invited by the ORTPN – the Rwandan Tourism Board – for a familiarization tour of Rwanda. It has been an experience that we will never forget! 

We saw so much!!! Driving the first 110 km on well tarmacked roads to Nyanza town, where we visited the traditional ancient palace of the king, a fascinating construction. Then on to Butare, the former colonial era administrative capital of Rwanda. The National Museum in Butare is exceptional. Spacious rooms, with well presented collection of exhibits on Rwandese history and culture. Our visit was followed by a show of traditional dancers. Graceful movements by female and male dancers, beautiful music, quite different from the one we know from other East African countries. It was a delight to watch them and we had to leave too soon to continue on our journey. We stopped at Gikongoro genocide memorial site, a grim reminder of the senseless massacre of innocent lives in 1994, before reaching our first night stop – the Gisakura guesthouse at the edge of Nyungwe Forest.   

Passing large tea plantations with pickers busy at work and lovely hills and valleys, we arrived at the Nyungwe tropical forest reserve, which with 970 square km, is the largest single forest block in East Africa. It is also one of the richest forests for primates in all of Africa.  

An estimated 500 chimpanzees live here and chimpanzee tracking can be organized, but this morning we mainly went out to look for Angola colobus – delightfully acrobatic monkeys which move in troops of up to 400. After about 50 min hiking we found ourselves watching close to two hundred of these beautiful monkeys all around us in the trees – watching US, feeding, playing and calling to one another. Following our guides Anastase and Aphrodis, we clambered up and down some very steep slopes, found different orchid species, saw beautiful butterflies – some enormous – and VERY old trees, listened to the birds and enjoyed good sightings of Blue and Mountain Monkeys as well.

Later we were driven to the shores of Lake Kivu, the extraordinarily beautiful vast inland sea enclosed by the steep, green terraced hills that are so characteristic of rural Rwanda.Fast motor boats took us from Cyangugu across the lake to Kibuye, where we relaxed in a pleasant small hotel right by the lake, watched the sun set and enjoyed more of Rwanda’s hospitality. 

The next day the boats took us across another part of the lake. Fishermen plied the water in dugout canoes, unchanged in design for many centuries. We disturbed some hundred thousand bats on a small island and later arrived for lunch at Gisenyi. Here the waterfront with its red sandy beaches and shady palm-lined avenues has the captivity of a tropical beach resort. Yet due to being at 1500 m above sea level it has a refreshing climate, quite at odds with its tropical appearance. After a delicious lunch we continued 60 km by road to Ruhengeri where we found a warm welcome in the new Mt. Gorilla Nest Lodge. We slept in very comfortable beds, eagerly anticipating our visit to the mountain gorillas the next day.

Only fourteen years ago Rwanda was known as THE place to track mountain gorillas. It was on the Rwandan slopes of the Virungas that the late Dian Fossey studied gorilla behavior for almost 20 years and those same bamboo-covered slopes the famous movie “Gorillas in the Mist” was shot in 1988. Unfortunately since 1994 Rwanda became almost exclusively associated with the genocide that took place in this country. We could see for ourselves that this is History now. Not forgotten, not ignored, but History all the same. Peace was restored in 1995 and over recent years people have come back from exile and are actively building their country. In these few years Rwanda has blossomed in an atmosphere of political stability and steady economic growth. Gorilla tracking is just one of the many things that can be enjoyed here.  

After a good breakfast we drove the short way to the park headquarters where we had to register. There are at present four habituated gorilla families that can be visited. We were assigned our ‘family’ and guides and then drove to the part of the forest from where we would start the trekking. The sun was shining, we could see all the well-known volcanoes (the highest is just over 4,500m) and spirits were high.  After a hike of only 25 min., we reached the edge of the forest. Our guide, Francois, had actually been working with Dian Fossey for 20 years and was full of stories and knowledge which he readily shared with us. Elephant and buffalo are quite common in the Virungas but are timid and infrequently observed. Two armed wardens also walked with us, for general security and protection against possible ‘encounters’ in the forest.   

Hiking in this forest with lots of different vegetation, bamboo and many other plants that gorillas like to feed on, was in itself thrilling. We could see evidence that gorillas had recently been where we were now walking, but the foliage was dense and Francois had to cut a path for us to get nearer to the place where he was expecting to find them. Another approx. 20 min of (not very difficult) trekking brought us to our first gorilla lying half hidden in a bush. He was a young “silverback”, who had been challenging the older “Guhonda”, presently the head of the “Sabinyo” family. He had lost part of one toe in a recent fight, but we were assured that a vet would later look after the injury. 

By now we were really excited, all conversation was down to a whisper and then we saw them: at first a really small Primate who did not seem worried at all about our presence. He sat there, munching on some branches and suddenly decided to show us that he was going to be a BIG man one day – pounding his little chest with his fists! Apparently this is something he would never dare to do to an adult gorilla, but we posed no threat to him... Then a few females appeared some more youngsters and now we knew that the big “Silverback” was right there, behind the bushes. While I tried to move closer to my friends for a better look, there was suddenly a SCREAM, a rustle, a ‘crash’ and “Guhonda” hurled himself straight at us in a MOCK attack! I will certainly never forget this appearance – a huge black angry face right above – separated from my face only by a few bamboo twigs! WE WENT DOWN! I did not even want to know what went on behind my back! 

Even though we KNOW that these apes will never hurt anyone without being provoked and even though tourists are always told that the domineering male gorilla (the Silverback) could try to 'chase' them away when he feels that his family was too close to them, seeing one at such close quarters is unnerving, to say the least! Maybe the fact that John, a very tall Rwandese right next to me had been looking straight at the Silverback had triggered this reaction? Certainly, being ‘warned’ by a creature of this size can put you into your place!!! Apparently “Guhonda” – the name meaning "to love" – is presently the largest Silverback known in the Virungas.

Next our guide, after cutting down more vegetation for us, told us to move forward and then we saw HIM again, now peacefully lying on his back in the sunshine only a few meters away,  reaching for branches, leaves, leisurely feeding, obviously having forgotten the ‘scare’ he had just caused us. The rest of the family appeared as if on cue, in the same sunny glade. This group consists of 13 individuals and we saw most of them clearly. The youngsters played in the bushes all around us,  the weather was absolutely perfect and when we had to leave this idyllic place we all felt that we had witnessed something incredibly beautiful! Having looked into the eyes of those wild mountain gorillas certainly was one of the most awesome and emotional animal encounters that I have had in all the 33 years I have been living in East Africa!  

In the afternoon we drove the 96 km back to Kigali through beautiful country side. Rwanda has been named the ‘land of the thousand hills’, or the ‘Switzerland of Africa’. We certainly enjoyed the beauty of its mountainous landscapes and our eyes followed the big river Nyabarongo in the valley. The source of this river – also known as one of the longest "Sources of the Nile" – is actually in the Nyungwe Forest. It later on changes its name to "Akagera" before entering Lake Victoria. We saw even the steepest hills being cultivated from base to peak and many traditional brick-making sites. 

Kigali, Rwanda’s attractive capital lies at about 1,600m altitude and has a wonderful climate. The town straggles over several hills, with the city center on one and the government / administrative quarter on another. The center of Kigali is bustling, colorful and noisy, but surprisingly clean and safe. We were told that on one Saturday every month everyone cleans the area and roads near their homes and it certainly showed! 

The government and administrative area is newer and quieter, with wide streets and some modern architecture. Cars drive on the right side – contrary to other countries in East Africa. What absolutely amazed us was the fact that vehicles coming INTO a roundabout have priority! I’d like to see how they manage during rush hours! But then, there are good traffic policemen on duty, so the system obviously works. We were told that police men and women are very helpful and definitely not corrupt! Even though we had little time to walk in the city, we felt that we would not worry about safety anywhere we passed.  

Rwanda today is astonishingly open about its recent past. But, obviously, Rwandese of all walks of life are looking positively to a brighter future. Economic growth always helps to forge political stability and we can only wish all those wonderful people we met, that their hard work bears much fruit.   

We left Kigali with a longing to return! Our thoughts were still with those gentle giants living in the forests of the Virungas. The gorillas are there in their misty mountain home… and Rwanda is still Africa’s premier gorilla tracking destination. 

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