Boat Trips in Rwanda

In Rwanda besides the major tourism activities such as game viewing, gorilla tracking, nature walks etc. Boat trips and cruises also carry a remarkable percentage as far as tourism is concerned, this is attributed to the fact that the destinations island for the boat cruises harbor numerous wildlife and also carry out activities that excite travelers ie camping,trekking and nature walks . The number one boat trip destination in Rwanda is Lake Ihema located with the boundaries of Akagera national park. As one is having a boat cruise on lake Ihema, he/she are able to see a variety of wildlife including giant Nile crocodiles, hippos and other bird species like the smelly cormorants and open bill stocks but even while aboard one is able to see the a number of wildlife such as the elephants, giraffes,buffaloes  grazing ashore. Another boat cruise destination in Rwanda is Lake Kivu one of the fresh water rift valley lakes located in the west bordering the Democratic republic of Congo with variety of activities like water sports,canoeing,kayaking fishing while on a boat trip in lake kivu,one is able to view all the 

Fragile Relationship Between Animals and Humans

 In Rwanda, tourism plays a huge role in the country’s economy, this is because it is one of the country’s biggest foreign exchange earners as it’s from the travelers who come to see the diversity of the wildlife and carrying out activities like gorilla tracking. However the relationships between wildlife and humans living near the national park has been under jeopardy where by the areas that being allocated by the government for tourism conservation is being encroached on by the local population seeking land for agricultural activities and poachers who still see wildlife as a source of food. This has however increased tension between the government and such individual’s hence prompting government to employ another group of individuals referred to as game rangers who are trained and equipped with conservation skills and they mainly to ensure that the fragile life’s of the wild animals are protected from criminal activities like poaching. The government has also sensitized the local population on the benefits of having of having wildlife hence increasing on their awareness of the population concerning issues to deal with wild life conservation in Rwanda as a Nation. All in all this has improved on the relationship between animals and humans.

Warthog; The Deadly Prey for giant African Predators

A mother warthog with her juvenile feeding on short grasses.

Travel is always exciting and we get to learn of new aspects from the rest of the world outside our own. Take an adventure safari with me right now wherever you are and we explore African wilderness. With us; Warthog (Phacochoerus africanus) (not necessarily beautiful!) is a wildlife species of the pig family that inhabits African open and forest grasslands. Each individual has two sensitive pronounced warts on each side of their face from which they got the name and that differentiates them from other hog species.  Warthogs have scaring tusks on their snouts that are used for digging ground for bulbs, tubers and roots for feeding on as well as dangerous tools of defense in attack.

Warthogs can withstand hard weather conditions with almost bare hard skins (save for mane on the nape of the neck) that retain warmth in cold conditions as well as resist acute humid temperatures. In the heat of the day they wallow in shallow water sources to cool off the heat as well as spreading mud on their body to insulate their bodies when away from water sources.

On physical safari into Rwanda and Africa south of Sahara in general you will encounter warthogs in small groups called sounders feeding on short grasses on bent front knees, ever alert of surprise attack from predators. Warthogs have very accurate senses of smell and hearing and very poor eyesight. Under threat, warthogs bolt away at speed of 30 miles per hour with adult males in the lead to clear the way and offer safe passage to the juveniles and infants follow with tails raised as a sign of threat detection and follow up mechanism.

A hungry hyena facing the wrath of a threatened warthog

In times of real predator attack when running away seems a wrong option warthogs use all their might and face off with the threat using very sharp tusks on their snout and in most cases even the most dangerous predators (lions and leopards) find an encounter with warthogs one of the hardest challenges to be undertaken when solitary if at all they survive the particular encounters.

The Giant Shoe Bill

Have you ever heard of Shoe bill before? If not or if u knew little about it here is an opportunity to get an insight of what this large bird is.

Shoe bills are quiet large water bird that derives its name from the shoe Shaped bill/ Bic. With the adult ones being grey and the juveniles being browner in color. They live in in tropical east Africa in big swamps/wetlands in the countries of Uganda, Rwanda, south Sudan, Zambia, Democratic republic of Congo and Ethiopia and. Theirs numbers are significantly reducing attributed to that fact that most of their breeding grounds are being encroached hence leading to disturbance on their breeding.

Shoe bills largely feeds on small crocodiles, frogs, lung fish and other mud fish that live in swampy areas.

Distribution of the population.

Shoe bill’s total population is estimated to be from 5000 to 8000 individuals and the sum estimates is up to 10000 with the mature population estimate ranging 3,300-5,300. And in regard to the trend, there is no doubt that the species is slowly declining hence rising the fear and suspicion of being an endangered species.

Threats and dangers.

The birds are also under threat because they are being hunted for food and other traditional reasons, destruction of their habitats, transformation of their habitats for agricultural practices and cattle grazing areas hence leading the destruction of their eggs, trading of the birds for both consumption and eggs.  

Conservation strategy.

The shoe bill under different organization being conserved and kept in the different area such as zoos, game parks many others.

For any visitor traveler interested in getting to see this majestic birds, you can organize a safari to Uganda in Murchison falls national park, lake Mburo national park and queen Elizabeth national park. The ones headed for safaris to Rwanda will probably catch this birds in Akagera national park.

Destination Rwanda

Regardless of what one is, where they stay, what they do and where they come from. There has got to be moment when he/she has to travel, visit, explore new attractions the world allover. But before one has to set off he/she has to have and insight of where they are going. This time we look at tourist destination highly recommended by many which is Rwanda one of the new leading tourist destination in East Africa.  A country also known as the land of a thousand hills due to the presence of hills hill surrounding it. Rwanda is endowed with lakes, rivers, forest, mountains and above all national parks that have led to a huge influx of travelers, researchers, tourists and many more from different countries. On a safari to Rwanda,one does not have to miss out on the most famous tourist activities which include gorilla tracking, game drives in the different national game parks, hiking, boat trips and bird watching just mention but a few.

Game Drive A must Do Tourist Activity.

Game Drives are seemingly one of the most captivating activities one can ever indulge him/herself in, during a safaris to Rwanda it’s actually a must do activity in Rwanda safaris. It involves getting into the vehicles and driving in the in the game parks to view wildlife as they go about their business its recommended for one to take pictures or even videos of the animals for memories and other purposes, during game drives in the Rwanda national parks, one is able to view animals like elephants, lions, giraffes, zebras, hyenas, foxes, hippos, crocodiles, warthogs, monkeys, baboons etc. It is carried early in the morning and later in the afternoon or early evening. Its prevalence in the morning and evening is attributed to the fact that the animals on highly targeted watch list by the tourists do their activities in the morning hours i.e. the lions/carnivores do the hunting in the morning and in the evening when it’s cool for them to run and chase after their prey. So in a trip to Rwanda consider game drive another important activity after gorillatracking.

Golden Monkeys

Golden monkeys, the name sounds fascinating but they are just shy beautiful monkeys found in volcanoes national park Rwanda. They live in the bamboo forest in troops of course headed by the dominant male.one needs to take trip to Rwanda in orders to see these exciting primates in the activity called golden monkey tracking. Their shyness has been overcome by the presence of frequent visitors visiting the volcanoes national park on the golden monkey tacking, their happiness can be seen by the freedom they express while scampering one bamboo tree to another.