Rwanda beyond
the national parks

Kigali will surprise you

Most visitors arrive expecting Africa the way they have imagined it. Kigali changes that picture within the first hour. Clean streets, functioning traffic, brilliant food, a skyline that is still growing. People who come for gorillas often say the city was one of their favourite parts of the trip.

I grew up here. There are parts of Kigali most tourists never see, the neighbourhoods, the local markets, the restaurants that do not show up in any guidebook. That is what I show you.

Rwanda's recent history is heavy and it deserves to be understood. I take every guest to the Kigali Genocide Memorial. It is not easy. But leaving without going would be leaving without understanding the country you are in.

Che

Kigali city tour

We start early in Kimironko market, where Kigali actually wakes up. Then the Inema Arts Center, Rwanda's best contemporary gallery. The Kandt House museum. Local coffee shops. And wherever the day takes us.

Kigali Genocide Memorial

Over 250,000 people are buried here. The memorial tells the history of 1994 and how the country rebuilt itself. I visit every single trip. I always will.

King's Palace Museum

In Nyanza, south of Kigali, the rebuilt royal palace is shows you Rwanda before colonial times, the royal court and the long horned Inyambo cattle.

Ethnographic Museum

Rwanda's national ethnographic collection in Huye. Traditional instruments, clothing, tools and art, a real picture of daily life in old Rwanda.

Tea & coffee plantation

We walk the plantation rows, learn how Rwanda's highland tea and coffee are grown, and sit down with a fresh cup you watched being made. Guests ask about this one most afterwards.

Traditional dance & music

Rwanda's intore warriors performed for kings. We arrange private cultural performances, not tourist shows, but real moments with communities who are proud to share their culture.

Dinner at Meza Malonga

Meza Malonga in Musanze was named one of the World's 50 Best Restaurants, and if you have been, you understand why. Chef Dieuveil Malonga takes Rwandan and Central African ingredients and cooks them in a way you won't taste anywhere else.

We book a table for every group that comes through. It is not optional in my mind. It is the meal that ties everything together.

Where to eat in Rwanda