The hook
A big, calm lake fringed with beaches and terraced hills, beside one of the oldest rainforests in Africa, where a swaying canopy walkway hangs high above the trees and chimpanzees call through the mist.
01Why it's worth it
Western Rwanda pairs a lake and a forest for a gentle counterpoint to the intensity of gorilla trekking and the genocide history. Lake Kivu, one of the great lakes of the Rift, is a large, deep, and calm body of water ringed by steep green hills and terraced farms, with laid-back lakeside towns like Gisenyi and Kibuye offering beaches, boat trips to islands, kayaking, and a scenic road and hiking trail (the Congo Nile Trail) along its shore, a restful place to unwind. To the south lies Nyungwe Forest, one of the oldest and largest montane rainforests in Africa, rich in primates including chimpanzees and troops of colobus monkeys, and famous for its canopy walkway, a suspension bridge strung high among the treetops that gives a bird's-eye view over the forest and its birdlife. Together, the lake's calm and the forest's biodiversity round out a Rwanda trip beyond the gorillas, in a small country where everything is close.
02How to experience it
Relax on Lake Kivu at Gisenyi or Kibuye with beaches, boat trips, and lakeside walks or cycling. Visit Nyungwe for the canopy walkway and primate tracking (chimps or colobus). It all links easily given Rwanda's small size, rounding out the gorillas and Kigali.