RWANDA

Rwanda is a small land locked country in the heart of Africa, known as the "Land of a Thousand Hills" – due to its many beautiful volcanoes. Rising from a very troubled past (the tragic Rwandan genocide of 1994) it is quickly becoming a gem on the African continent, and a respected African nation, mainly through the courage and hard work of its people – not to mention a determination to eradicate the political past and build a unified nation – and the progress is very evident to all who travel there.

But what Rwanda is now most famous for is the dramatic scenery in the magnificent Parc National des Volcans and the unique opportunities that exist here to see the great apes – the mountain gorillas – close at hand, while ensuring the protection of the semi-habituated gorilla families who will now allow closer contact. The country and its conservationists are working hard to balance the needs of its people for arable land, with the protection of this highly endangered species. The mountain gorilla was first discovered here in 1902. George Schaller's pioneer work with the mountain gorillas began in the 1950's, and was the starting point for Dian Fossey's work – Fossey lived here to research and protect her beloved mountain gorillas and died tragically in 1985 before her work was done.

There are only about 780 mountain gorillas left in the world and companies like Volcanoes Safaris are working hard with Rwandan authorities to protect this species in the Virunga Volcanoes on the borders of Uganda, Rwanda and the DRC and in the Bwindi Forest in Uganda.

Aside from gorilla tracking you can climb a volcano, visit Dian Fossey's grave, track chimpanzees in Nyungwe, and see large troops of colobus monkeys, track golden monkeys, or travel to Lake Kivu, the country's largest freshwater lake. Rwanda is also a super destination for birdwatchers, which an incredible 670 species – especially interesting in that the area is smaller than Belgium.

Rwanda is blessed with particularly good coffee-growing conditions: high altitude, volcanic soil and plenty of sun and equatorial mist. Rwanda has made premium coffee-growing a national priority and is achieving international recognition as a producer of some of the world’s best coffee.

Over 10 % of the country’s crop sells as gourmet coffee to the likes of Starbucks.