Known as the “land of a thousand hills and a million smiles”, Rwanda is a country blessed with extraordinary biodiversity, incredible wildlife, compassionate people and rich culture. Despite its turbulent past it is a safe and friendly destination. For those seeking a deeply enriching safari, Rwanda offers an experience like no other.

Ideally positioned in the centre of Rwanda and having the only International Airport in the country, Kigali is a pleasantly low key yet dynamic and progressive capital city. Thanks to a nationwide ban on plastic bags, Kigali is widely regarded to be Africa’s cleanest city. Highlights include the Genocide Memorial Centre, the suburban Nyabugogo Market, lunch at the Hotel des Mille Collines (of the famous movie Hotel Rwanda).

Volcanoes National Park located in the northern part of Rwanda, runs along the border with the DRC and Uganda, and is home to the Rwandan section of the Virunga Conservation Area. The lush slopes of these volcanoes provide one of the most enthralling wildlife experiences – seeing the mountain gorilla in its natural habitat. Roughly half of the worlds wild gorilla population reside in these mountains along with the rare and endangered Golden Monkey who are often seen leaping from bamboo branches or racing after one another in circles around and above you.

Akagera National Park is known as somewhat of a miracle. Like the country that hosts it, it has a violent past where poachers and settlers destroyed the area during the height of the war in the 1990s and thereafter. In 2010 African Parks assumed management and turned it into Central Africa’s largest protected wetland. Today, Akagera is home to over 8000 large mammals (including the black rhinoceros) and almost 500 species of birds.