Rwanda is a landlocked country bordered by Uganda in the north, Tanzania in the east, Burundi in the south, and Zaire to its west and northwest. It is found on the East African plateau, being divided between the water systems of the Nile and Zaire rivers passing in the north-south direction through the western part of the country. The land drops sharply to Lake Kivu in the Great African Rift Valley to the west of the divide; and to the east, the land falls rapidly across the central plateau. Rwanda has got grassy highlands which are the settlement areas for the people in Rwanda. The eastern border of Rwanda has got swamps and lakes.
Most of the landscape in Rwanda is 3,000 ft above sea level, with much of the central plateau making it higher than 4,700 ft. Northwest, on the border with Zaire, you find the volcanic Virunga Mountains; Mount Karisimbi (14,870 ft) is the highest peak and snowcapped. Lake Kivu is 4,700 ft above sea level and drains into Lake Tanganyika, through the sharply sliding Ruzizi River. The Kagera River forms much of Rwanda’s eastern border and flows into Lake Victoria.
Tourists who visit Rwanda are welcomed warmly, and this is a country which is considered to be very safe for visitors. The gorilla trekking near the DRC border is very safe, due to the large and continous Rwandan army presence.
This is 160km² national park and it protects the Rwandan sector of the Virunga Mountains, range of six extinct and three active volcanoes which straddles the borders with Uganda and the DRC. The Volcanoes Park is part of a contiguous 433km² Trans frontier conservation unit that also includes the Virunga National Park and Mgahinga National Park, which protects the DRC and Ugandan sectors of the Virunga respectively. The three national parks are managed separately today. At the time of independence, Rwanda’s new leaders confirmed that they would maintain the gorillas which were already known internationally despite the pressing problem of overpopulation. MORE ON VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK
NYUNGWE FOREST NATIONAL PARK
Nyungwe Forest National Park is a true rain forest and it receives 2,000 mm of rainfall annually. It is also one of the oldest forests in Africa, and that is one of the reason as to why it boasts such a high level of diversity. Nyungwe Forest National Park, along with other forests of the Albertine Rift, was unaffected by the drying up of the lowland areas during the last ice age, and therefore become a refuge for forest plants and animals. MORE ON NYUNGWE FOREST NATIONAL PARK
Akagera National Park was named after the river that runs along its eastern boundary; The Park is Rwanda’s famous Savanna reserve. In comparison to the rest of the country, the area is relatively warm and low-lying, and plains support a cover of dense, broad-leafed woodland with lighter acacia woodland and patches of rolling grassland studded eloquently with stands of the superficially cactus-like Euphorbia candelabra shrub. The west of the plains lays a chain of low mountains, which reach the elevations of between 1,600m and 1,800m. The eastern part of the park supports a vast wetland. The mighty Akagera River feeds a complex of a dozen of lakes linked by extensive papyrus swamps and winding water. MORE ON AKAGERA NATIONAL PARK