Destination Overview
'Land of a Thousand Hills' (
) as it is popularly known, Rwanda
is a small, verdant country in central Africa, the beautiful
rolling landscape dotted with tea plantations, rugged mountains and
towering volcanoes, with the shimmering Lake Kivu in the west.Today Rwanda focuses mainly on ecotourism, being a nature
lover's paradise and home to the world's largest population of
mountain gorillas within the Volcanoes National Park. Gorilla
tracking is the number one tourist attraction in the country, the
critical nature of the plight of these endangered animals having
been brought to international attention by the film
, shot on location in the Virungas.
Nyungwe Forest National Park is home to a large number of smaller
primates, as well as more than 275 bird species, while Akagera
National Park is big game country where herds of elephants and
buffalo, lions, hippos and plains animals inhabit the archetypal
African savannah landscape set among a web of swamps and lakes. The
waters of Lake Kivu are enclosed by green terraced hills that give
way to beaches, inlets and the resort towns of Gisenyi, Kibuye and
Cyangugu.Rwanda's past does not paint as an attractive picture, however,
the legacy of almost 60 years of sporadic fighting having taken its
toll on most of the population. The horrific genocide of about
800,000 Rwandans in the space of just over three months shocked the
international media in 1994, sparked by a long-standing ethnic
tension between the minority Tutsis and the Hutus. Since then,
Rwanda has had to work hard to raise awareness of itself as an
unspoilt, scenically stunning destination that is rich in culture
and wildlife, boasting fine food and one of the friendliest
welcomes in Africa, and is showing rapid signs of development and
worldwide interest of a positive nature.The rapidly growing city of Kigali, situated at Rwanda's
geographical heart, is not only the capital but also the country's
most important business centre and the main point of entry.
