9 Day Highlights of Rwanda Guided Motorcycle Tour: Great Lakes, Mountains and Friendly People

Overview

A beautiful motorcycle journey through a unique country, Rwanda quickly stabilized and developed after the unrest in the 1990s. It now even applies as an example for Africa. You will start the trip in the capital of Rwanda. Drive the Congo Nile Trail along Lake Kivu, visit the volcano area, explore gravel routes through the countryside and tea plantations, and drive along the plains of Akagera National Park. A short but powerful motorcycle trip through a special African country.

Highlights

• Starts and ends in Kigali
• Ride to Nyungwa Forest, home to various wildlife species
• Ride along the scenic shores of Lake Kivu
• Enjoy the spectacular views of the Volcanoes National Park
• Drive past tea and coffee plantations
• Support car available with more than 5 riders
• 8 nights accommodation

Itinerary

1. Day 1: Arrival in Kigali

   You will be picked up at the airport. Kigali is a big city with friendly inhabitants. The city is scattered over several hills. It is developing rapidly, with shopping malls and office buildings. It is a safe city, and many claim it to be the tidiest urban area in Africa. You are not allowed to bring in plastic bags, and it is unmentionable to throw rubbish on the streets. You will stay in a nice hotel with a swimming pool and bar

2. Day 2: Kigali - Butare

   You start riding through the city streets that curve alongside the many hills. Getting out of the city is a challenge with big trucks climbing those same hills, but you quickly leave the tarmac and continue your journey through the countryside. You will stop for a simple lunch and then continue your way east to Butare, a town situated in central Rwanda. You'll stay at a simple but pleasant guesthouse.

3. Day 3: Butare - Cyanguvu

   An adventurous day today! And at times a cold one, as you ascend towards the Nyungwe Forest, home to 13 monkey species, including chimpanzees, golden meerkats, fringe monkeys, and baboons. This park is one of the largest primeval forests in Central Africa. The vast, immense forest has many flora and fauna species. It is a birdwatcher's paradise. You will drive partly through it, via the main asphalt road, and partly south of it, following gravel roads along the Burundi border. You will stay at a small border town with the Congo.

4. Day 4: Cyanguvu - Gitesi

   You will ride along the shores of Lake Kivu, enjoying the scenic route. Lake Kivu is believed to be one to five million years old and has a depth of 485 meters. Straddling the border between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kivu is one of a string of lakes lining the East African Rift Valley, where the African continent is being slowly pulled apart by tectonic forces. The resulting stresses thin the Earth’s crust and trigger volcanic activity, creating hot springs below Kivu that feed hot water, carbon dioxide, and methane into the lake’s bottom layers. Gitesi is a small town o

5. Day 5: Gitesi - Ruhangeri

   You follow the coastline of Lake Kivu all day long. This is a mountainous area and therefore often offers beautiful views. You will largely take the famous Congo-Nile route, while the support car will follow a different route. Ruhengeri is the place you are going. Sometimes the road is very bad. At the top of the lake, you turn off and drive past the many volcanoes of the Volcanoes National Park of the same name. This produces spectacular images.

6. Day 6: Ruhangeri - Nyagatare

   All day, you drive through beautiful mountain areas, and most of the route will be unpaved, sometimes narrow and difficult, sometimes wide and easy. You drive past tea and coffee plantations and beautiful lakes. It is one of the most challenging days of the trip. Nyagatare is a small—but growing—town with mainly simple hotels.

7. Day 7 - Nyagatare - Akagera

   You head your way to the south, where you ride through warm and low-lying plains. You can enjoy empty stretches of new highway with digital speed cameras checking your speed. You will still definitely enjoy some gravel roads along the Akagera National Park, a long stretch of protected area from north to south that borders Tanzania. The park includes savannah, woodland, and swamp habitats and a dozen lakes. After practically eliminating poaching in just five years, lions and black rhinos were reintroduced between 2015 and 2018, and white rhinos were introduced in 2021 in a conservation move to

8. Day 8 - Akagera - Kigali

   Today you head back to Kigali. Depending on the time left today and your travel schedule tomorrow, you can take a more challenging detour to the southern part of Rwanda, near the Tanzania / Burundi border, or you can ride a more straightforward country road back to the capital. You will go back to the hotel where you started. If there is time in the afternoon, you can visit the genocide museum and the hotel Milles Colinnes (Hotel Rwanda from the popular film of the same name). Alternatively, you can enjoy the hotel's sauna / massage facilities. Alternatively, you can plan some city exploration

9. Day 9 - Kigali - Departure

   Departure to the airport is often in the late afternoon or evening. If so, you have most of the day to explore the city, buy souvenirs, or rest at the swimming pool.

Ride Details

Terrain

Off-road ~45% (time)

Bike

rental bike (Haojin 200cc)

Mileage

~ 1.200 km / 746 miles

Riding gear

Not included; please bring your own gear, such as helmet, jacket, gloves, trousers, boots, etc. (wearing protective gear is mandatory)

Meals

Most breakfast are provided

Accommodation

During this trip you will stay in comfortable hotels and decent guesthouses. Some places are basic, family-run accommodations but are the nicest options in town.

Food

Most breakfast are provided.

Getting There

This guided motorcycle tour takes place in Rwanda. Starting in Kigali, you will ride to Butare, Cyanguvu, Gitesi, Ruhangeri, Nyagatare, then Akagera before returning to Kigali. [+](https://www.tripaneer.com/motor-trails/9-day-highlights-of-rwanda-guided-motorcycle-tour-great-lakes-mountains-and-friendly-people# "Zoom in") [−](https://www.tripaneer.com/motor-trails/9-day-highlights-of-rwanda-guided