Kigali City

Kigali is the capital city of Rwanda. It was named Rwanda’s capital after independence in 1962. The Twa people were the first inhabitants of Rwanda between 8000BC and 3000BC and these were hunter-gatherers, during 700BC and 1500BC the Hutu and Tutsi migrated in the country and they were agriculturalists and cattle keepers. Kigali has got a lot of fun activities to offer like golfing at the Kigali golf club, swimming in luxurious hotels, bowling, skateboarding and Zip lining among the rest.

What to do in Kigali
The Kigali genocide memorial is a resting place for over 250,000 Rwandese more so the Tutsi who were oppressed by the Hutu during the Rwandan Genocide, the Rwandan genocide spark off in the year 1994 when the Hutu tribe massacred millions of the Tutsi while the rest of the world went on silence.

If you have ever watched the movie “Hotel Rwanda” then you should not miss out to check on Hotel des mille Collins, this is the place where Paul Rusesabagina saved hundreds of Tutsi during the 1994 genocide. Visiting the hotel will give you full details on how he managed to save lives and flee from the Hutu.

The Nyamata genocide memorial church is one of the main genocide sites in Kigali; it was established in April 1997 by the Catholic Church. One person is buried inside the church with more belonging within the church for the Genocide victims, mass graves of over 45000 victims are buried behind the church. A commemoration of the victims is done every year on 11th April in remembrance of those who died in the church and surrounding areas.

The Innema art centre is a privately owned art gallery in Kigali, here you can find paintings, sculptures and so much more beautiful things. There also cultural performances done at the centre, you can buy many things here as souvenirs to take home.

Camp Kigali memorial is a place where you find the ten Belgian soldiers tombs, this UN peace keepers were murdered on the first day of the genocide; each of the tombs have a soldiers name and age during their death encrypted.

The Nyanza genocide memorial is a resting place for over 4000 Tutsi who were massacred during the Rwandan genocide after the murder of the Belgian soldiers.

The mural art tour is an ideal tour for art enthusiasts, you can check out the Kurema, Kureba and Kwima meaning create, see and learn. This was created to focus on meaningful street art.

Mount Kigali located just at the heart of the city is the best place to go hiking, there several routes you can use and the hike is not strenuous therefore you will require no skills but the hill provides breathtaking views of the city and fresh air.

There is a horse riding school on top of Kigali hill called Fazenda Sengha where you can take a horse ride at the hillside or go through horse riding lessons.

The 1000 distillery tour expounds on how they make their locally distilled spirits from grain to alcohol demonstrating each of the steps and process of making spirits.

Kigali city is also not very far away from the country’s national parks provided that there are good tarmac roads you can reach in just 3-4 hours time.

Gorilla trekking is the main tourist’s activity in Rwanda, trekking can be done in Volcanoes national park at only $1500 giving you one full hour of observing these great apes and several other primate species like golden monkeys.

Mountain climbing can also be done at Volcanoes national park that is home to 5 of the Virunga ranges that is mount Sabinyo, Mount Muhabura, mount Karasimbi, mount Gahinga and mount Bisoke, all these mountains lead to unique peaks providing spectacular views of the countryside.

When to visit
Kigali city can be visited all year round as the weather is good and favorable.