Driving From Kigali, Rwanda-Bukavu DRC (Gorilla Trekking 1)
Intro
The day had finally come; it was time to embark on a great expedition of a lifetime to see the wild gorillas. When deciding to visit the wild gorillas, most sane people tend to choose either Uganda or Rwanda due to safety reasons. However, with the adventurous person that I am (and a cheapskate), I decided that the Democratic Republic of The Congo sounded like a better choice.
However, seeing the gorillas in the DRC isn't quite as simple as in Rwanda or Uganda. It requires a lengthy 6-hour drive, crossing the infamous border, and a total of 3 days roundtrip.
The Experience
Following a nice hearty buffet breakfast at Urban Hotel, my driver for the next 3 days came around 8 am to pick me up. Getting to know each other a little bit, the driver walked me through the plan for the day but also informed me that we should leave right now if we were going to make it in time.
In time, I thought? Basically, the Rwanda-DRC border closes at 3 pm every day, so we had to make sure we got there before closing.
I noticed two major aspects of driving this route in Rwanda.
The roads in Rwanda were in very good condition. Every single road that we embarked on was paved and had barely any bumps.
If you got stuck behind a truck, you could end up being stuck behind for miles and miles, as all of the roads outside of Kigali are single lanes in both directions...
For the next few hours, we listened to music, enjoyed some conversation, and looked out over a very different side of Rwanda. It's always interesting to compare the countryside to a capital and this was no different.
Until we arrived at our "first rest stop." Scattered across Rwanda are these so-called "lodges," and these are the perfect places to stock up on a quick coffee or a bite to eat if need be. Most importantly, they have toilets!
On the road again...
So the journey continued with a coffee and a ham and cheese sandwich (okay, maybe a beer as well 😉). The next few hours of the drive to the Congolese border would take us through Nyungwe National Park. Beautiful landscapes filled the horizon, people pushing carts up the mountain filled the eyeline, and, of course, being stuck behind even more trucks filled the anger 😂.
Until we found some Baboons! All of that anger from the backlog of trucks went away when I laid my eyes on these magnificent creatures.
I've never driven through a national park in Africa before, so it was quite interesting to have the opportunity to see wildlife from your car window. Unfortunately, these were the only animals that we saw this time, but they were exciting nonetheless.
I digress, with a couple of hours still left to go, we pushed onward towards the DRC. Once again, getting stuck behind multiple trucks over and over again. Eventually, we made it out of the National Park, and the road turned into a more flatline surface (these roads in the National Park can be very dangerous for trucks).
Throughout our couple-hour drive through the park, I counted over 200 AK-47s and multiple turret guns along the way. Rwanda is known for safety, and this is primarily due to precautionary reasons.
When the magnificent happened, we finally got our first glimpse of Lake Kivu! Lake Kivu is a place where I have only seen pictures and heard rumors of this hidden paradise. Most people think Lake Como is beautiful, but perhaps Lake Kivu is more beautiful (as I will show you in another post).
5 hours later, we pulled into the Rwanda-Congo (DRC) border. While I will touch on the shenanigans in another post, it was the wildest border crossing I have ever experienced.
Just like that, we pulled into Hotel Nediva!
Current trip:
Final Thoughts
Driving from Kigali to Bukavu was an experience I will never forget. While I was grateful to be in a private car, it was extremely annoying to constantly be stuck behind trucks, so make sure to bring your patient pants for this journey if you are planning on it. Other than that, the roads are extremely nice, and there are plenty of places to stop off along the way!
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