Rwanda tourist attractions , rwanda national parks
GENOCIDE MEMORIAL SITES.
After the bloody genocide in Rwanda that started 6th April 1994 left 1.174.000 people of mainly Tutsi ethnicity killed in 100 days,memorial sites have been set up at the sites where the killings took place.These memorial sites stretch from the country’s capital Kigali to all through Rwanda since the genocide was wide spread.A memorial week where the survivors talk about their ordeals and documentaries and films about the genocide are shown at the memorial sites, is observed every first week of April throughout Rwanda.These sites receive many tourists all year round.The most visited ones being:
- Gikondo massaccre memorial site.
- Gisozi genocide memorial site.
- Rebero genocide memorial site.
- Nyanza-Kicukiro genocide memorial site.
- Murambi genocide memorial site.
- Bisesero genocide memorial site.
- Nyarubuye genocide memorial site.
- Ntarama genocide memorial site.
- Nyamata genocide memorial site.
Other Rwanda Tourist activities
Mountain gorilla safari Rwanda
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF RWANDA.
Is the main museum of Rwanda among the many.Located in Butare about 35 kilometres from Kigali city centre,information on the historic heritage of Rwanda is available up the yin yang.It was built in the early 1990’s and is also popular for the death of Queen Dowager Rosalie Gicanda who was the wife to the Rwandan king mwami during the genocide on 20th April 1994.Others museums in Rwanda include:Kigali-Kandt house,Rukare ancient history museum,Nyanza-Rwesero art museum.
GORILLA TRACKING AND BIRDING.
When it comes to Mountain gorillas and birds in Rwanda it should be noted that the 2 exist in plethora.This has been made possible by the existance of a safe sanctuary for the 2 in Virunga sanctuary.Virunga is a sanctuary which spreads out to 3 countries in Congo,Uganda and Rwanda.In Rwanda it has been named the Parc National des Volcans,Mgahinga impenetrable forest in Uganda and Parc des Virungas in the Congo.It is home to ½ of the world’s gorillas(350)and over 70 mammal species which have been recorded within these coterminous boundaries.The following animals are also popular there:
- GOLDEN MONKEY
- SILVER MONKEY together with elephants,leopards,the black fronted forest duiker,the giant forest hog among many.Also,over 180 bird species have been recorded with the indigenous vulnerable Grauer’s swamp warbler and more than a dozen Albertine rift endemics.The following have been spotted too;the handsome francolin,Rwenzori Turaco,Rwenzori batis,strange weaver,dusky crimson wing and archen’s ground robin.
VOLCANOES(PARC DES VOLCANS).
NYUNGWE FOREST NATIONAL PARK.
Is a national game park which gained forest reserve status in 1933. Found in the south Albertine rift which start from mount Rwenzori in Uganda,Nyungwe forest and national park is located in the southwestern part of Rwanda, south of Lake Kivu bordering Burundi. It was established in 2004 and covers an area of approximately 970 km² of rainforest making it East Africa’s largest protected high-altitude rainforest consisting bamboo, grassland, swamps and bogs. Nyungwe national park is nearest to Cyangugu town, 54 km to the west. It has got a mountain within it’s boundaries in Mount Bigugu which paves way for mountain climbing activities.It is home to a variety of rare primate species like:
- Common Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)
- Adolf Friedrich’s Angola Colobus (Colobus angolensis ruwenzori)
- L’Hoest’s Monkey (Cercopithecus l’hoesti)
- Silver Monkey (Cercopithecus doggetti)
- Golden Monkey (Cercopithecus kandti)
- Hamlyn’s Monkey (Cercopithecus hamlyni)
- Red-tailed Monkey (Cercopithecus ascanius)
- Dent’s Mona Monkey (Cercopithecus denti)
- Vervet Monkey (Chlorocebus pygerythrus)
- Olive Baboon (Papio anubis)
- Grey-cheeked Mangabey (Lophocebus albigena)
AKAGERA NATIONAL PARK
Known in French as Parc National de l’Akagera, Akagera is a national park located in the north eastern border of Rwanda and Tanzania and covers an area of 2.500 sq. kilometres.It was established in 1934 to protect animals in the savannah,mountain and swamp eco-regions.It is home to lakes :Ihema amd Shakani.Deriving her name from the Kagera river that flows through it,the park consists of mostly remote unhabited land save for the area that refugees settled in after the civil war in 1994.
The Akagera is home to excess bird species that have been resident since 1998.Among the many are
- Olive green camaroptera
- Leaf-love
- White-winged scrub-warbler
- Mountain Illadopsis
- Sharpe’s pied-babbler
- Green throated sun bird
- Bronze sun bird
- Red-chested sun bird
- Baglafecht weaver
- Black-billed weaver
- Northern brown-throated weaver
- White collared Olive back
- Swee waxbill
- Western Citril
Not to be ignored is the wealth in wildlife that the Akagera national park has in leopards,elephants, Giraffes, zebras,antelopes,chestnut-coated impala, diminutive oribi, discreet bushbuck, tsessebe and the statuesque Cape eland which is the world’s known largest antelope.
MUSANZE CAVE
Musanze is believed to have been constructed by a local king and it has been a safe-haven on several notable historic incidents;forinstance in the 1994 Massacre where it was used as a slaughter- house and upto-date the cave is sprawled with human remains. Musanze cave is located in Ruhengeri 2 Km from the Gisenyi road and 7.2 miles from Kigali city centre. It has a porch as large as a cathedral and the cave is believed to be 2kms long. The entrance is littered with black volcanic debris and at the opposite end there lies a natural bridge formed from the lava flow from one of the Virunga Mountains.
KIBEHO
Is a small town south of Rwanda which became famous outside Rwanda because of reported apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ occurring between 1981 and 1989 to 7 teenagers(6 girls-1 of whom was killed in Kibeho during the gruesome massaccres in1995 and 1 boy).The Virgin Mary appeared to the teenagers as nyina wa jambo which can be directly translated as Mother Of Word.Most notable of these apparitions is the August 19 apparition in 1982;this vision lasted a cool 8 hours and was characterised with tremors,cries and even comas on the side of the side of the teenagers; with reports of visions of a flowing river of blood and people killing each other.The teenagers later stated that the Holy Virgin asked everyone to pray to prevent a terrible war.
Kibeho is also famous for the infamous 1995 massaccre where reportedly 4.000 refugees of mainly Hutu origin were killed by the Government forces.Even if the government vehemently insists the number to be 330.After the 1994 massacre,a refugee camp 9 kms large with 80.000-100.000 people was formed in Kibeho reportedly by renegade hutu accomplinces of the 1994 genocide.So in an attempt to discern the guilty refugees by the Government forces in 1995,tensions erupted between the government officials and refugees and the aftermath was the opening of live fire on the refugees in the presence of UNAMIR officials.An opalescent church in Our Lady Of Sorrows stands there and thausands make pilgrim journeys to Kibeho.
KABGAYI CHURCH MUSEUM
The massive cathedral of Kabgayi, 3 km from Gitarama along the Butare road, is the oldest in the country.Completed in 1925, Kabgayi prior to independence had training schools for natives where carpentry and black smith skills were acquired and it became the first seat of the Catholic Bishop of Rwanda. The cathedral, with its huge and serene interior, is worth a visit, and there is a small museum and red brick church built in memory of Belgium’s prince Astrid nearby.
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