Rwanda

with Eastern Congo

by Philip Briggs 

Publication Date:  05th Sep 2018


£17.99

Rwanda Travel Guide – Travel and holiday advice featuring Kigali accommodation and highlights, gorilla tracking and wildlife. Also including guides, tour operators, itineraries, canoe excursions, national parks such as Volcanoes, Nyungwe Forest and Akagera, Lake Kivu, Virunga, Kigali Genocide Memorial, DRC excursions and political history.

About this book

Now into its seventh edition and written by Philip Briggs, the world’s leading writer of guidebooks to Africa, Bradt’s Rwanda has been the go-to guide for visitors to this historical and resurgent ‘Land of a Thousand Hills’ for nearly two decades, and it continues to be in a class of its own when it comes to in-depth information on this emerald slice of East Africa. With freshly researched and updated details on developments across the country, Bradt’s Rwanda includes up-to-date maps of rapidly modernising Kigali, information on hiking to the summit of Mount Bisoke and a newly expanded chapter on excursions into the neighbouring DRC.
In this new edition are extensive and recently updated maps and natural history information, details of kayak and canoe excursions on Lake Kivu and the Mukungwa River, all you need to know about tracking not only mountain gorillas in Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park but also lowland gorillas in the Congo, and information about overnight stays on tea plantations at Sorwathe or Gisovu. Also covered are Nyungwe Forest National Park, where a wealth of endemic birds and primates inhabit the largest surviving montane forest in East Africa; Nyanza, where the hilltop Rukari Palace Museum marks the site of the old mwami’s (king’s) palace; and the National/Ethnographic Museum of Rwanda, the top cultural site in Rwanda’s second city, Huye (Butare). Coverage of nearby cities and national parks in the neighbouring DRC has been expanded since last edition, providing all the necessary information to take an excursion into Rwanda’s enormous and poorly understood neighbour.
Rwanda continues to change and develop at an unprecedented pace, and there’s hardly a more accessible part of Africa to be found anywhere on the continent. It’s no less intriguing for the convenience, however, and Rwanda’s superlative natural attractions seem to improve by the day, with growing animal populations and an on-going rhino reintroduction program in Akagera National Park.
Having now gone through nearly 18 years of editions, Bradt’s Rwanda is not only the most in-depth guide available, but also the guide with the longest history in the country itself.

About the Author

AUTHOR Guidebook writer and Africa expert Philip Briggs first backpacked through East Africa in 1986. He first visited Rwanda in 2000 to research the first edition of the Bradt Guide (co-authored with Janice Booth) to this country, which was then re-emerging as a viable ecotourism destination in the wake of the genocide that had torn it apart six years earlier. He has since returned to Rwanda on several occasions to research subsequent updates of the Bradt Guide. Rwanda aside, Philip has written and co-authored more than a dozen Bradt guides to other destinations, among them neighbouring Uganda and Tanzania, and he has contributed to many other books, travel and wildlife magazines.
CONTRIBUTER Janice Booth’s career has included stage management, archaeology, compiling puzzle magazines, travelling, editing Bradt guides and co-writing Bradt guides to south and east Devon. Since the first edition of this guide she has lectured and written about Rwanda and led tours there.
UPDATER Sean Connolly first travelled to Africa as a student in 2008, and since then has been returning to the continent regularly to research, teach English or simply to soak up the ambiance in Africa’s countless little-visited corners. When he’s not discussing verb tenses, diplomatic recognition or the merits of camel meat, you may find him riding in the back of a grain truck, sampling questionable local delicacies or seeking out a country’s funkiest records. Raised in Chicago, Sean has been poring over maps since before he could read them, and has updated or contributed to the Bradt guides to Somaliland, Malawi, Mozambique, Ghana, Uruguay and Sierra Leone, along with the 6th edition of Bradt Rwanda. He’s also the author of the first Bradt guide to Senegal.

Reviews

‘The excellent Bradt Guide to Rwanda includes detailed sections on the national parks.’ The Sunday Telegraph

‘Rwanda is excellent; it captures the mood of the place and gives a positive and accurate account of a fantastic country.’
Art of Travel

‘This guide . gives the prospective visitor real and detailed insights into the country, its people, history, flora and fauna. Even if you end up never going to Rwanda, you will feel you know the place quite intimately by the time you get to the final page.’
Wildside

‘At last, a well-written and dedicated guide to Rwanda.’
Footprints

‘Rwanda is an excellent book that I have recommended to all the visitors who come to Rwanda. This guide presents a clear and balanced overview of events in Rwanda’s recent past.The book also describes the charm and attraction that make this country so different.’
Dr Annette Lanjouw, Director of the International Gorilla Conservation Programme

‘Recommended reading’
Conde Nast Traveller magazine

‘Bradt’s Rwanda is the best guidebook on the region.’ Travel Africa

Additional Information

Table of Contents

PART 1 GENERAL INFORMATION
Chapter 1 Background Information
Geography, Natural history and conservation, History, People, Language, Religion, Education, Culture
Chapter 2 Practical Information
When to visit, Tourist information and services, Tour operators, Red tape, Embassies and consulates, Getting there and away, Safety What to take, Money, Budgeting, Getting around, Accommodation, Eating and drinking, Public holidays and events, Shopping, Media and communications, Cultural etiquette, Becoming involved, Investing in Rwanda
Chapter 3 Health
Before you go, On the ground, Animals, Useful contacts in Kigali

PART 2 THE GUIDE
Chapter 4 Kigali
Getting there and away, Getting around, Tourist information, Tour operators, Where to stay, Where to eat and drink, Nightlife, Arts and entertainment, Sport, Shopping, Other practicalities, What to see and do, Excursions further afield
Chapter 5 The Road to Huye (Butare)
Muhanga (Gitarama), Ruhango, Nyanza
Chapter 6 Huye (Butare)
Getting there and away, Getting around, Security, Where to stay, Where to eat and drink, Nightlife, Shopping, Other practicalities, What to see and do, Excursions from Huye
Chapter 7 Nyungwe Forest National Park
Orientation, Park fees, Natural history, Getting there and away, Where to stay and eat, Trails and activities
Chapter 8 Lake Kivu
Rusizi (Cyangugu), Karongi (Kibuye), Rubavu (Gisenyi)
Chapter 9 Musanze (Ruhengeri) and Surrounds
Getting there and away, Where to stay, Where to eat and drink, Tourist information, Other practicalities, Excursions from Musanze
Chapter 10 Volcanoes National Park
Wildlife, History, conservation and ecotourism, Getting there and away, Where to stay and eat, Gorilla tracking, Golden monkey tracking, Other hikes, Iby’Iwacu Cultural Village
Chapter 11 Eastern Rwanda
The Gicumbi (Byumba) Road, The Nyagatare Road, The Rusumo Road
Chapter 12 Akagera National Park
Natural history, Getting there and away, Park fees, Where to stay and eat, Activities
Chapter 13 Goma and Virunga National Park (DRC)
Entrance and border formalities, Security, Goma, Virunga National Park, Bukavu, Kahuzi-Biega National Park

Appendices
Language
Further info
Index