Rwanda is blessed with unfettered beauty and endless hills and valleys that it earned the nick name the land of thousand hills. However, these hills seize to dominate the terrain once you’re deep in the Northern Province and arrive to Musanze. Musanze is the third largest city in Rwanda (after Kigali City and Butare) and sits on a plateau that’s half encircled with the Virunga volcanic mountains. The Virunga Mountains are declared a protected national park known as the Volcanoes National Park (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volcanoes_National_Park) which is also home to the endangered Mountain Gorilla.
The Volcanoes National Park offers a great place for hiking with several trails with various levels of difficulties. I recently hiked mount Bisoke (3,711m), one of the five volcano mountains, with a group of friends and other muzungu tourists. The other mountains are: Muhabura (4,127m), Gahinga (3,474m), Sabyimbo (3,634m), and Karisimbi (4,507). (reference: 1m = 3.28084 ft)
The Volcanoes National Park offers a great place for hiking with several trails with various levels of difficulties. I recently hiked mount Bisoke (3,711m), one of the five volcano mountains, with a group of friends and other muzungu tourists. The other mountains are: Muhabura (4,127m), Gahinga (3,474m), Sabyimbo (3,634m), and Karisimbi (4,507). (reference: 1m = 3.28084 ft)
Mount Bisoke is home to the Amahoro Gorilla group and is crowned with a crater lake, which makes the three and half hour hike to the top worthwhile. The scenery from Bisoke is breath taking with amazing views of the other mountain tops breaking through the clouds atop the villages way below, and if you’re lucky you might come across other wild inhabitants of the national park such as the mountain elephant and the mountain buffalo. Our group was not lucky enough to see neither but we certainly stepped in their TERD!! The fauna in the area is just as amazing starting with potato fields right at the entrance of the part and starting with bamboo park (home to the mountain buffalo and elephant). As you continue ascending, you’ll reach the rain forest and as the weather gets colder with elevation, you’ll start noticing the more Siberian type plants with small leaves and tiny flowers!!
If you’re an avid mountain trekker but feel constrained by you modest PC stipend and feel the pinch to spend the $65 for park fees and another $80 for a car hire, another option is just as fascinating. Mount Kabuye is one pf the largest mountains in Rwanda and is right outside my new hometown of Gakenke. Mount Kabuye is about 3,500m offers an interesting hiking experience and is FREE. And for the price of a cold beer and a chocolate croissant from Naukumat you can spend the night at my house and get an early start the next day with a guided tour from yours truly.
In addition to trekking and visiting the Mountain Gorillas, Musanze offers a great opportunity for mountain biking, and is also a short bus ride (1:15 hours) to Gisenyi, which sits on the northern end of lake Kivu.
