Rwanda vs Kenya

great migration river crossing masai mara The Great Migration Mara river crossing in Kenya

Rwanda offers several attractions not found in Kenya or indeed in most other safari destinations other than Uganda. Foremost among these is the opportunity to track mountain gorillas in the Virunga mountains and chimpanzees in the Nyungwe National Park. Rwanda offers far greater diversity than Kenya when it comes to forest primates, Furthermore, although its checklist of 700 bird species theoretically compares poorly with the 1,000-plus recorded in Kenya, it is far stronger on forest birds that are difficult to see elsewhere in eastern and southern Africa. However, Kenya is well ahead of Rwanda when it comes to plains wildlife and Big Five sightings, and there is nothing in Rwanda to compare with the Indian Ocean beach resorts such as Diani and Watamu. Kenya is also a more visibly diverse and interesting country when it comes to traditional cultures, be it the pastoralist Maasai and Samburu, or Arab-influenced Swahili people of the coast.

Wildlife in Rwanda

Rwanda has three main wildlife destinations, Volcanoes National Park, Nyungwe Forest National Park and Akagera National Park, each of which host a quite different fauna to the others. Birdwatching aside, wildlife viewing opportunities outside these national parks are limited. The Giant forest hog can reach a length of between 1,3 and 2,1 metres Volcanoes National Park is best known for its population of several hundred mountain gorillas. This includes a dozen habituated groups for…

Welcome to Rwanda

Rwanda is, quite simply, the best place in Africa to engage in what is arguably the world’s single most thrilling wildlife encounter: tracking mountain gorillas through the steep bamboo- and forest-swathed slopes of the Virunga Mountains. No two encounters are ever the same, but whether it’s a 200kg silverback chilling out on the forest trail, a curious mother staring questioningly into your eyes, or a youngster clumsily attempting to climb a liana, coming face to face with these…

Rwanda vs Uganda

Golden monkey in Volcanoes National Park Rwanda and Uganda host a broadly similar set of attractions. Foremost among these mountain gorilla tracking, and while neither country could be said to offer a definitively better tracking experience than the other, our experience is that the more open nature of the forest in Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park makes it slightly more reliable for photography than Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. For those with limited time, it is…