RWANDA WITH THE LEGACY UNTOLD
The untamed beauty of Rwanda is full of natural wonders. Remarkable Rwanda is one of the most sought-after travel experiences for curious, adventurous, luxury seeking global nomads. The “Land of Thousand Hills” is also a place with a storied past and ground zero for one of Africa’s most important conservation success stories. One third of the world’s 1,000 remaining endangered mountain gorillas live on the steep slopes and misty peaks of Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park. This wild and wonder-filled place was home base for legendary conservationist Dian Fossey, who is often credited with saving the species from extinction and whose story was famously told in the movie Gorillas in the Mist. Seeing mountain gorillas in the wild is a safari unlike any other – guided by experts, you’ll trek on foot through an emerald green rainforest until it’s time for a “family” reunion with our closest relatives in the animal kingdom. Mountain gorillas share over 98% of their DNA with humans, and seeing them in the wild is mystical… their body language so distinctly familiar, yet their habitat so wildly different.
While many intrepid travelers have Rwanda at the top of their bucket list primarily because they want to go gorilla trekking and we can condense the trip to just a few days, there is so much more to see – off-the-beaten-path private cultural experiences, a Big Five safari, one of the oldest rainforests in Africa, chimpanzee tracking, and some of the most atmospheric luxury properties on the African continent. A trip to Rwanda is not complete without a visit to the genocide memorial in the country’s capital of Kigali and a face to face with a survivor to both honor Rwanda’s darkest chapter while also absorbing the inspiring recovery that defines Rwanda today. Kigali is a cosmopolitan center for art, culture and fashion, with top designers now showing on the runways of Milan, and it’s worthy of a weekend exploration on either end of your trip.