A Complete Guide to Self Drive Tours in Rwanda

Plan the road trip to Rwanda with Drive East Africa to cut the cost of the Rwanda Safari while on an adventure and enjoy various Safari activities in Rwanda National Parks.

We have put together this comprehensive guide to assist independent tourists wanting to travel to Rwanda on a self-drive safari to understand the best places to go, where to stay, the people of Rwanda, and many considerations for the perfect road trip journey.

History of Rwanda

Rwanda, often known as the “country of a thousand hills,” because of its vast, sprawling, lush mountains and diversified natural beauty.

The variety and uniqueness of what may be seen in Rwanda will astound the nature enthusiast, but the country is home to more than just Albertine endemics and protected mountain gorillas. The beaches along Lake Kivu’s shoreline rank among the greatest in Africa’s interior and provide access to the lake’s numerous small islands.

The capital and primary conference center of east Africa, Kigali, serves as a vital stepping stone to several locations both inside the nation and throughout central and east Africa. The city produces excellent locally grown tea and coffee and is green, lively, and safe.

Even though the 1994 Genocide, which resulted in the mass death of up to 20% of the country’s people, is all too frequently linked with Rwanda, the nation is moving toward cultural rehabilitation and investment in the future. There is something to enjoy in Rwanda for everyone. Here are just a few of Rwanda’s many attractions.

• Visit the golden monkeys, chimpanzees, and colobus monkeys of Rwanda in Nyungwe National Park, Akagera National Park, and volcanoes National Park.
• Visit the national park for volcanoes to search for the legendary mountain gorillas.
• Join a birding safari tour to see the variety of birdlife in Rwanda, as well as the Nyabalongo wetlands, Akagera National Park,
• Discover the breathtaking waterfalls, flowers, and butterflies at Nyungwe National Park.
• Nyungwe Forest National Park, and Cyamundongo Forest, which are among of Rwanda’s IBAs (important birding areas).
• Visit one of Rwanda’s 52 mapped caverns. made from volcanic rock from the Cenozoic.
• On Lake Kivu, go windsurfing, kayaking, and canoeing.
• Visit Lake Kivu, the largest lake in Rwanda, with its numerous islands as well as the beach resort cities of Rubavu and Karongi.
• Iby’Iwacu Cultural Village in Musanze, Rwanda’s Northern Province, offers a whole traditional Rwandan experience, complete with dancing, traditional crafts, archery, traditional healers, food, and a taste of the local brew.
• Visit the volcanoes national park, where you shouldn’t miss the fifth-highest mountain in Africa and go mountain biking across Rwanda’s 1,000 hills.
• Visit one of the many regional markets or cooperatives located all around Rwanda to purchase Rwandan crafts.
• Around 60 kilometers from Kigali, Lake Muhazi offers calm days and delicious fish dishes.
• Learn everything there is to know about Rwanda’s capital city as you travel around Kigali on the Kigali city tour bus.
• Visit Kigali, Murambi, Nyanza, Kicukiro, and Ntarama memorial sites to pay your respects to the victims of the genocide in Rwanda.
• At the king’s palace in Nyanza, go back in time.

Rwanda mountain gorilla:

Mountain Gorilla Trekking in Volcanoes National Park on Self drive ? We help you secure the Gorilla permit at no extra cost.

Volcanoes National Park: The volcanoes national park, which is located to the north, guards the region of the Virunga Mountains that is in Rwanda. The Virunga Mountains are a trans-frontier conservation area that also includes protected areas in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and is made up of a complex of mostly dormant volcanoes. The two active volcanoes in Congo, Mount Nyiragongo and Mount Nyamulagira, which may be visited on a Congo Safari organized by either a Congo Tour operator or directly with the park offices, are also included in this list, as well as Mount Karisimbi (4507), the highest point in Rwanda.

This National Park is renowned for housing the last remaining mountain gorillas in their native habitat in addition to housing nearly 100 different bird species.  Although mountain gorillas are the main reason people flock to the park, there are also a number of other tourist attractions and opportunities there. There is a possibility to go to the top of Karisimbi Mountain, the fifth-highest mountain in Africa, or even to the stunning Crater Lake on Mount Visoke.

The neighboring Rugezi wetland and the twin lakes Burera and Ruhondo, which are frequently disregarded, are known for their superb water birding chances. There are several community-based tourism activities available in the region, such as visiting villages, agricultural production facilities, and an ethnobotany tour, going fishing with local fishermen using traditional techniques, or just relaxing and admiring the gorgeous surroundings. 

 Nyungwe National Park:

Nyungwe National Park is the largest and oldest remaining mountain rain forest patches in the area.

it’s located deep in the southwest within the Albertine Rift Area. The park is also home to a multitude of eco-systems including rainforest, bamboo, grassland, swamps, and bog habitats. It is home to 310 species of birds and one of the largest and last remaining sections of highland rainforest in the area. The most significant ornithological location in Rwanda is this park. It is becoming more and more popular due to the fantastic birding chances, especially the numerous Albertine Rift endemics, which are present in greater numbers here than in any other African park. There are about 240 different species of trees, over 140 different colors of orchids, and over 1050 different kinds of plants, including the enormous Lobelia. 250 of these plants are endemic to the Albertine Rift. The most distant sources of the Nile are found in Mount Bigugu, the park’s tallest mountain, which rises to a height of 2950 meters.

The park is home to 13 different species of primates, including habituated chimpanzees, a number of mammals, and a wide range of other species, including hundreds of butterflies, a relatively small number of snake species (due to the altitude), as well as a number of vibrant lizard and chameleon species. There is a lot to see and do on the many breathtaking walks that the park has to offer. Learn More

Akagera National Park

Would you like to go on self-drive in Rwanda‘s Akagera National Park? Embark on self-guided game drives in the Akagera National Park while renting a car with Drive East Africa.

It is rapidly becoming recognized as Rwanda’s Big 5 wildlife park. Including the Kagera River and being on Rwanda’s northeastern border with Tanzania, hence the name Akagera. The national park was established in 1934 to safeguard the fauna and flora of the savannah, mountain, and swamp environments. Akagera, which focuses on big game, now has an African elephant, buffalo, zebra giraffe, and a few antelope species. Numerous hippopotamuses and the Nile crocodile, the largest reptile in the world, can be found in Akagera and adjacent lakes.

It is regarded as one of Rwanda’s top locations for bird watching. Many different bird species are drawn to the park’s diverse settings. Without a doubt, Akagera is the best location in Rwanda to see savannah birds and raptors. It is also one of the few areas where the less common species dwelling in the papyrus swamps may be seen. It is also quite well stocked with water birds. There are no breeding bird species in Rwanda that cannot be seen in either of the Akagera or Nyungwe national parks due to their complementarity in terms of bird life.

Rwanda culture

With a wide variety of superb crafts and enduring traditions, Rwanda has a rich culture. Local markets, craft shops, and craft cooperatives offer wonderful shopping choices, not just in and around Kigali but all across the nation. Watch out for the internationally renowned traditional Akagera baskets from Rwanda, as well as the pottery and hand-painted imigongo artwork.

Initiatives for cultural tourism are being developed all throughout the nation and are high on the agenda; they encourage community-based tourism and provide you the chance to help a community while experiencing the culture and the country. Some of these include excursions to local towns where tea, coffee, and sorghum (beer) are produced, fishing and boating initiatives, tours with traditional herbalists, and trips to nearby villages where one can learn to prepare regional cuisine. Even a reconciliation village worth visiting allows visitors to hear the survivors’ and collaborators’ tales of the massacre.

Travelers are drawn to the Intore dance, also known as the Rwandan Ballet, because of its rising notoriety. In celebration, beautifully dressed Intore dancers move rhythmically from side to side while holding spears in their hands. Visit the national museum in Huye to witness these dancers and the continent’s largest collection of ethnographic artifacts.

In memory

Memorials and museums

Over the course of around 100 days, the Rwandan Tutsi Genocide of 1994, which was orchestrated by despicable authorities of the time, resulted in the mass murder of over a million of the country’s sons and daughters. Today, Rwandans are profoundly devoted to fighting the concept of genocide in all of its expressions, eradicating ethnic, regional, and other forms of discrimination, and embracing peace and reconciliation.

Western province’s Karongi

This is an environment Museum in Kibuye, next to Lake Kivu. This museum features transient exhibits about environmental changes in Rwanda and other countries.

Nyaza and Huye

Museums and other historically significant locations can be found in Huye, the former colonial capital of Rwanda. The Ethnographic Museum, one of the six museums that make up the Institute of National Museums of Rwanda (INMR), the Memorial at Murambi, the largest Roman Catholic Cathedral constructed in the 1930s, the Ruhande Arboretum, and more are all popular tourist attractions in the city.

The Ethnographic Museum was established in 1989 and has one of Africa’s greatest ethnographic collections on display in its seven rooms. These exhibits feature historical, pre-colonial, colonial, artistic, and archaeological artifacts, providing visitors with a deep understanding of Rwandan culture.

The Nyanza Genocide Memorial honors the victims of the murders that occurred at the Ecole Technique Officielle. The Murambi Memorial Center, also known as the Murambi Genocide Memorial Center, is situated in an old secondary school close to the town of Gikongoro in the South-West region of Rwanda. The Institute of National Museums of Rwanda (INMR) in Huye is 30 minutes away by car from the Murambi Memorial Center.

Near Kigali City

The massacre of 10 Belgian UN Blue Berets on the first day of the 1994 genocide is remembered at Camp Kigali. The camp is home to a tiny museum and a memorial with a stone pillar for each soldier and a line denoting their age.

Richard Kandt, a German physician and adventurer who traveled to Rwanda in 1897 in search of the Nile’s source, is honored at the national history museum. The interdependence of living things and their environment is explained in the exhibit. His creations and several national natural treasures are on display in this museum.

Some of Rwanda’s most heinous atrocities took place on the sites of the Nyamata and Ntarama Genocide Memorials. Both are situated in the Bugesera region, some 30 kilometers south of Kigali. These churches and their belongings serve as a reminder of the atrocities committed during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.

The Kigali Genocide Memorial Center, a collaborative venture of the Kigali City Council and the Aegis trust, was opened in April 2004 to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the start of the Genocide in Rwanda. There are three ongoing exhibits, the largest of which details the 1994 Rwandan genocide. A memorial for children and an exhibition on the global history of genocide brutality are both present. Over 250.000 persons are buried on the site where the center is located.

Juvenal Habyarimana, the former president of Rwanda, lived in the Presidential Palace Museum, which is 40 kilometers (about 24.85 mi) from Kanombe Airport. This museum is well renowned for the fight debris, which are the remains of the presidential plane that crashed on April 6, 1994.

Another place related to the genocide in Rwanda is the Remera Heroes’ Cemetery. This cemetery is located on Kimironko Road, past the Amahoro stadium, and contains three particularly notable graves: the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which serves as a memorial to all genocide victims, and the grave of Fred Rwigema, the co-founder and leader of the RPF, who was killed on 2 October 1990 while attempting to invade Rwanda.

The Nyanza Genocide Memorial honors the 10,000 Rwandans who were murdered at the Ecole Technique Officielle. The exhibit stresses the world community’s abandonment while also documenting the tragedy.

Agaseke (the peace basket)

Giving someone a peace basket is a customary gesture of love and respect in Rwanda. Treasures like jewelry and food items like grains and cereals are kept in peace baskets. When girls get married, they often bring at least six peace baskets, which are laden with gifts and food, to the husband’s house.

Following the genocide in Rwanda, many uneducated women found it challenging to find employment and were heavily reliant on the income of their husbands. Until women began to produce peace baskets, which were marketed via various associations and co-ops and allowed them to make a career while improving the welfare of their households, the fueled domestic disputes. The fact that Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa women sit side by side to weave these “peace baskets” is a consoling feature of the baskets.

In the province of Eastern

The Nyarubuye Genocide Memorial, which commemorates the violence that occurred on April 14 and 15 and resulted in the deaths of over 20,000 people, is situated in the Kirehe District, 35 kilometers from Kibungo. Remains of the victims, including clothing, crockery, and human bones, are still preserved at this location in the nunnery structures.

All around the country, memorials and testimonials have been built as a tribute to the 1994 Tutsi Genocide, its brutality, and the friends and family who perished.

Plan to go on a Rwanda safari to take advantage of visiting and viewing the aforementioned locations. One of the trustworthy vehicle rental companies and travel agencies that can provide you with the greatest safaris to Rwanda is Drive East Africa.