Rwanda as a First Trip to Africa

People who have never travelled in Africa tend to arrive with a set of anxieties — about safety, hassle, logistics, being out of their depth. Rwanda answers most of them faster than almost anywhere else on the continent, which is why it works so well as a first trip.

Why it is easy

• It is small. Every destination is within a few hours of the last one, and no internal flights are needed.
• The roads are good. Sealed, maintained, and signposted between the main towns.
• Kigali is calm and clean, and comfortable to walk around, including in the evening.
• Hassle is genuinely low. You will not be hustled the way you might be in some better-known destinations.
• English and French are widely spoken, alongside Kinyarwanda.
• It is one of the safest countries in the region by reputation and by most measures.

What is not easy

The gorilla trek. It is steep, muddy and at altitude, and it is genuinely strenuous. It is the one thing on a Rwandan itinerary that regularly surprises people, and it is worth being straight about that in advance.

The Genocide Memorial is also hard, in a different way. It is essential and it is demanding, and you should not schedule anything immediately afterwards.

How it compares

Against Kenya or Tanzania: those have the migration, larger parks and far higher wildlife densities. Rwanda cannot compete on savannah spectacle and does not try to. What it has is gorillas, compactness and quiet.

Against South Africa: South Africa is easier still and has better infrastructure, but the wildlife experience is more managed. Rwanda feels less packaged.

Against Uganda: Uganda has more variety and cheaper permits, and it is a longer, rougher trip. Rwanda is the softer landing.

A first trip that works

Seven days. Two nights Kigali to arrive properly and see the memorial. Two or three near Volcanoes for the gorillas, with a spare day. Two on Lake Kivu at the end to swim and decompress.

That gives you one extraordinary thing, one city, one lake, and no day where you spend more than a couple of hours in a car. If you want savannah as well, add Akagera at the start and stretch to ten days.

Things nobody tells first-timers

• Book the gorilla permit before anything else. It is the constraint on the entire trip.
• Bring gardening gloves for the trek. Everyone forgets, and everyone regrets it.
• Plastic bags are banned and this is enforced at the airport.
• Take cash in small denominations for porters, tips and markets.
• Hire the porter. It is the best money you will spend all week.
• Do not photograph people without asking. Every time, and accept no.
• Two nights on Lake Kivu, not one. Nobody has ever regretted this.

The most common thing first-time visitors say on the way to the airport is that they had been more nervous than the country deserved.