Rwanda – Our Kigali Encounters & Other Excursions

Our first few Kigali days were a great intro to this bustling capital city of 1.7 million. Our routes in all directions were packed with locals going about their daily routines interspersed by folks selling all manner of items from nick-nacks to clothing to tires. Along the curbs the ubiquitous moto-taxies are vying for customers, each with a mandatory helmet for their rider, and alongside are a number of vehicle taxis. The space between all the above coming at us from every direction was quite daunting at first, but soon found the flow was only occasionally interrupted by a rub of shoulders or an inch miss of a motorized something. 

Our 2000 Hotel Downtown Kigali was service at its best and suited us well for location, being close to grocery shops and many eateries. We soon found our favourite niches along this city’s extraordinarily clean streets of continual inclines and declines, which we likened to a gigantic gym for the workout on our glutes.  

A toddler tugging at his mother’s hand points to us saying, “Look Mommy, muzungu!”  Not many muzungu (African name meaning white person) are about, as many travellers are whisked to their Safaris and other sites with no time to wander the streets for a month like us, more often than not drawing welcoming smiles from locals.

.One day we stand in contemplation at Hotel des Milles Collines, also known as Hotel Rwanda. This legendary hotel is where manager, Paul Rusesabagina and staff sheltered and thus saved 1,200 Tutsis and other lives during the 1994 genocide in which an estimated one million Tutsis and moderate Hutus were systematically murdered by militias called Interahamwe

We later get to visit the powerful and moving memorial sites of Nymata Church, Ntarama, and Kigali Genocide Memorial, with Billy our Gorilla Safari driver/guide before heading to Volcanos National Park.

Arriving at Five Volcanos Boutique Hotel, our mountain lodge during the trek, we are served a most delicious supper, then after a short sleep are ready for our highly anticipated Gorilla Trek. Mountain Gorilla Trekking in Rwanda  – Globaltrekkers Travel Articles, Travel Stories, Travel Blogs, Travel Photos, World Travel .

Our Flickr Photo Album of Kigali and Out Golden Monkey Safari Rwanda, Kigali and Golden Monkeys Safari | Flickr

Golden Monkey time!

Our Golden Monkey Safari You Tube Video https://youtu.be/G6WPtfD4D5s

The day after our amazing gorilla family visit, Billy drives us to where a Golden Monkey Trek is to begin in another area of Volcanos National Park. Our group of 12 trekkers along with a National Park Ranger and Guide, trackers and porters begin an hour-long slog along narrow jungle trails.

Our trackers signal our approach to monkey territory and soon we are surrounded by a group of about 60 of this rare and endangered species, easily recognized by the yellow patches all over their bodies.

Our guide also shares their unique nose characteristic of nostrils facing upward, whereas most other monkeys have nostrils pointing to the sides.  Like the natural gymnasts they are, our eyes scan for ones swinging from tree to tree, while others dash across the jungle floor.

On eye-level branches and in the underbrush some stay still long enough to feast on bamboo leaves and shoots, with a bit of socializing, grooming, and friendly wrestling going on – monkey business at its best!

Leaving the thick foliage by another route we come across a farm field recently cleared of potatoes in which a bunch of Golden Monkey are digging up and immensely enjoying spuds that were missed by the worker’s hoes.

By mid-afternoon we once again drive through the jaw-dropping panorama of mountains back to Kigali.

All-in-all Rwanda was great from bounding around hyper-active Kigali to our exhilarating Gorilla Safari with inclusion of other sites, and this trip readily qualifies for off-the-beaten-path travel that we so relish.

If you go: 

Our 3 Day Gorilla Safari in Rwanda (incl the Golden Monkey trek and other sites) was booked ahead from Canada with Active African Vacations. We were very pleased with their service!   

Billy – Field Consultant and our Driver/Guide 

Our booking agent for the gorilla trek was Haddy  

This company, as well as some others, use Pesapal to process payments, and upon investigating this method we found it a reliable payment method to process our Visa card payment. 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.