Remote & Local Rwandan Experience

Depart from your lodge and drive for 40minutes to the local community where you will participate in the Umuganura feast, learn the importance of Umuganura in Rwandan culture, enjoy traditional music, zither playing, two-stringed fiddles, musical bow, lamellophone, etc….. ), photo shooter for guest, interaction with local people in their villages while sharing freshly made local food and local beers and get the whole picture of how it feels with the Rwandan culture. This tour will take approx. 4 hours in the village. After this memorable experience, we shall drive back to the hotel. 

DAY 2: COFFEE TOUR EXPERIENCE TO KINUNU 

After breakfast at 06:30 am, you will take a drive to Rubavu, on arrival you will take a short city tour exploring the beauty of this neighboring city with DRC, after this, you will drive for 20 minutes to the Beer processing factory, embark on the boat for 2:00hour ride to Kinunu village.

On the way to Kinunu, you will enjoy the magnificent views of the Congo Nile Divide, stunning scenery and landscapes, fishing activities, and the extraction of methane gas in Lake Kivu. On your arrival, you will meet a local guide from Kinunu Coffee Wonders who will take you through an authentic coffee tour experience (nursery, fertilizing, pruning, harvesting, washing, sorting, drying, preparation, and tasting). After this tour will give more insights on the Rwandan delicious coffee, you will walk for ten minutes to Rushel Resort for lunch before we take the boat back to Musanze or meet the car at Rushel.

Day 3: AUTHENTIC VILLAGE WALK COMBINED WITH A VISIT TO                  Gasura Nursery School.

After breakfast at 08:00 am you will drive for 40minutes to Gasura village to learn more about the lifestyle of Rwandese in their community, you do homes visit, and interact with the local people active in their daily activities where you will be free to participate in some of the activities alongside this tour you will visit Gasura Nursery school and get a chance to learn more on education development while interacting with smiling kids who are enjoying an early education development as another way to enhance the local people living standards, The other highlight for this tour is that you always have a perfect view of the volcanoes as the Village is situated on the foot of this volcanoes-one of its kind. This tour will take about four consecutive hours and the trail is very easy it does not involve any hiking trail.

Day 4: BANANA BEER BREWERY EXPERIENCE 

After breakfast at 08:00 a.m, we shall drive for 20 minutes to Muko village with a vast banana plantation where the tourists learn how local people grow bananas, different banana species, the ripening process, demonstration of making beer, visit different families for further demonstration, historical background of home-made beer in Rwanda, a visit to a local pub where local home-made beers are being served and enjoy the interaction with people who are involved in the tour. On this tour, guest is encouraged to take part in all these activities and the takes approx… 4 hours. 

Day 5: VISIT TO EX-HUNTERS COMMUNITY 

After breakfast at 08:00a.m, drive for 40 minutes to Kagano village, and walk through local communities of formerly marginalized people who lived in the forest for many years. You will learn more about these peoples’ lives in the forest through their beautiful stories, dances, and songs. As these people relied on bushmeat for survival through poaching, they also presented traditional materials they were using to trap animals, which was the only source of food in the forest. It is interesting to hear their journey from a poacher to a conservationist!

After about 3hours of experience in this community, you will go back to the hotel and enjoy your afternoon at leisure. 

Day 6: KINYARWANDA LESSONS AND WEAVING EXPERIENCE 

After breakfast, depart from the hotel to one of the villages nearby the hotel at any time to interact with locals especially children who will help you to learn more about Rwandan culture, and learn the basic lessons of Kinyarwanda words with them, children dance, and songs. Guest here enjoys the good company of the local children.

Weaving Experience, Later after Kinyarwanda lessons, decided to participate in this activity of basket, traditional mats, and other traditional equipment weaving with the women’s Association as another way of supporting community-based tourism, along this tour, you get to see all the materials they use to make the baskets, local mats and learn their role in Rwandan daily life.

Handcraft sales are available you can buy some for souvenirs. This tour takes a 20-minute drive from the hotel and 4 hours for the above experience.

Rate of the trail: Easy 

Day 7: BEE-KEEPING EXPERIENCE. 

Depart from the hotel at any time before 2:00 pm drive for 1hour the nearby apiary to experience beekeeping. This activity is ranked very important for locals because it generates direct income for the local people visited. The tour will not be more than 2.5hours. During this tour you will get to know how honey is produced from the making of beehives until harvesting of fresh honey, you also get a chance to harvest honey as you are well protected by bee keeper’s costume, taste the honey, or even take some home. Real natural honey

Rate of trial: Easy to moderate 

Day 8: COW HERITAGE EXPERIENCE AND VISIT TO COMMUNITY-BASED PROJECTS

Depart from the hotel to the village where you meet with herdsmen on the farm, grazing cows and learn the history of cows in Rwanda from Gihanda Ngoma ijana known as the founder of Rwanda, cow milking, butter churning, usage of butter in our communities, guest enjoys this activity in one local family and participate in cow milking and other related work. The Photo shooter is always there collecting this marvelous memory. After 3hours of cow heritage experience, you will resume the tour to visit Community-Based Projects, visit some of the community projects that generate money for the local people, and learn how locals unite into cooperatives as a key for poverty alleviation then after we drive back to the Hotel for lunch and the rest of the day at your leisure.

Rate of trial: Easy to moderate

Day 10: TRADITIONAL HEALING. 

In the morning after breakfast at 08:00 am, drive for 40 minutes to Nkumba for a botanical garden tour with a herbalist, and see a variety of species of local herbs used as traditional medicines to cure even strong diseases. Thereafter, we shall visit one of the traditional pharmacies where we can get a chance to talk to people who have come for treatment. After the traditional healer’s explanations, you will get further information about Rwandan traditional healing and other practices related to the traditional religion of Rwanda as well as synergies in conservation campaigns. This tour will take about 3 hours then we drive back for lunch.

Rate of trial: Easy

Day 11: SCENIC WALK AROUND VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK

Depart from your lodge at 08:00 am for a scenic tour in the vicinity of volcanoes national park. It is an amazing and very adventurous experience, as you will see how the Rwandese live in their villages and homes and see the magnificent view of 5 beautiful volcanoes. This walk takes 3 hours walking alongside the fence of volcanoes and it ends at the foot of Bisoke volcano have lunch there after a short message from the staff of Volcanoes Resto-Bar. After that, you are led back to the Hotel for relaxation and overnight.

Rate of trial: Easy

Day 12: Mount MBWE HIKING.  

Depart from your Lodge at 8:00 am and drive for 40 minutes to the starting point,  the hike starts at approx.1600m above sea level from Rusenge center and leads you to the top of the hill about 2550m above sea level. On your hike, you will have a panoramic view of beautiful volcanoes, landscapes, twin lakes (Ruhondo and Burera) interactions with locals from their villages, and people who are doing their daily activities like carrying organic manuals, sweet potatoes, plowing etc. The estimated time for the hike is 3-4 hours to and from. After your descent, you will drive back to Musanze town and have your lunch at your resort.

Rate of trial: Easy to moderate

Day 14: Visit the outskirts of Musanze for MPENGE Waterfall & carbonated soda water.

After breakfast at 08:00 am, drive for 15 minutes to Snow Hotel and start the walk from there heading to Mpenge river, visit carbonated soda water, Mpenge waterfall, and resume the walk heading to Mukungwa river, explore the marshland of Mukungwa, birding… After this tour driver will pick you up at the end point and drive you back to your camp for lunch and spend your afternoon at your leisure. This tour will take about 4 hours including different stopovers.

Day 15: BIKING IN THE VILLAGE.  

Pick up at 07:00 am and drive for 3o minutes to the starting point at Rwaza parish the third oldest missionary church in Rwanda, enjoy biking in the rural village, beautiful sceneries, and landscapes, and seeing the community members in their daily routines. You will decide the time according to your fitness. This is both a refreshing and life-changing tour. After biking you will have refreshments at My Hill Eco-Lodge before you embark on the boat and ride to the Ntaruka hydropower plant. This will encompass different discoveries (culture and nature)

Day 16: COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERING. 

Depart from the hotel at any time of the day going to support any of the poor families in the village, guests who would like to help the community in different ways are most welcome (housing, education, donation of livestock, etc.) This is a very important tour in terms of community development as a single tour will make an everlasting impact on the lives of many of the local poor. The drive to the village will take about 40 minutes, and participating in volunteering work will last 3 hours.

Day 17: BOAT CRUISE IN THE TWIN LAKES (BURERA AND RUHONDO). 

Depart from the hotel at 9:00 am and drive about 1 hour to Lakes Burera and Ruhondo to enjoy a fantastic nature walk around the lakes, bird watching, boat cruise, fishing, and outstanding view of the 5 volcanoes. These lakes are beautiful for sundowner cruises as well. With the guest’s preference, BGE packs cold drinks and snacks.

Day 18: REAL MARKET TOUR.

Depart from the hotel at 08:00 am and drive about 1.5hours to the remote village to visit local markets, you will see the beautiful local hills, landscapes, scenery, and active local people in their agricultural activities and walk through the rural market to experience what the local people eat and grow in their fields. You will take pictures freely. This walk takes 5 hours including walking through the market and driving.