Rwanda

Rwanda sells convenience, and delivers it. Land in Kigali in the evening, drive two hours on good tarmac the next morning, track gorillas the day after. Doing the same thing from anywhere else costs you a full day of driving or an extra flight. The roads are the best in the region and Kigali is calm and easy to move around.

What you pay for that is the permit, which is the most expensive gorilla permit in Africa by a wide margin, and a smaller wildlife circuit than the neighbours have. Rwanda works well as a short, high-value trip, or as the polished end of a longer East African route.

When to go

Months	What it is like
Jun-Sep	The long dry season. Firmest trails, clearest views of the volcanoes, and the highest demand for permits.
Oct-Nov	Short rains, mostly falling in the afternoon. Trekking continues and the forest is at its greenest.
Dec-Feb	A drier, warmer spell and good trekking. Busy over Christmas and New Year.
Mar-May	The long rains and the wettest trails of the year. Some lodges cut rates hard. Expect to be soaked and to work for every metre of the climb.

Before you go

• Rwanda issues a visa on arrival to travellers of every nationality, and you can also apply online beforehand. A yellow fever certificate is required if you are arriving from a country where yellow fever occurs.
• Gorilla permits are capped at a fixed number of people per family per day and sell out for the dry months. Book far ahead and expect to pay in full up front. The price is set by the government and has changed with little notice in the past.
• Plastic bags are illegal and luggage is checked for them at the airport. Leave them at home.
• Kigali sits at about 1,500m and the Volcanoes trailheads are above 2,300m. It is cool, and cold in the evenings. The country is hilly everywhere, so map distances understate drive times — though far less than in Uganda or Ethiopia.