We came to experience the wild mountain gorillas up close after watching a documentary about it and wishing we could see them for ourselves. We hire hired a car rooftop tent car from self-drive Kigali and we were not disappointed. They also went ahead and booked our gorilla permits.
Reason why we rented out a rooftop tent car for our holiday in Rwanda is a great idea if you want to move your campsite more regularly as it is much easier to set up and pack down, and move camp than with a ground tent. And again with a rooftop tent car you will be able to spot various park attractions like animals, birds, plants and many others.
The clear views from the rooftop tent will also help you take beautiful photographs for your memories. A rooftop tent provides a wonderful experience to a traveler during a self-drive safari in Rwanda.
The elevated position of roof tents being on top of your vehicle means that the views are much better than if you were down in a tent. You also get 360 degree views with roof tents that have two doors and two windows too, which makes the scenery look just that much more beautiful!
Off ground like your own tree house, no mud or flooding, catches breezes for ventilation. Frees up storage space in vehicle having the tent on the roof means you have more space in your vehicle for other gear. Security up off the ground makes things less accessible to animals and people
It was a fantastic experience, very difficult to express in words. So surreal that we share so much of our DNA with these wonderful creatures but live such different lives. To get to see them interact with each other, playing, carrying the baby’s on their back, swinging around, making acts to assert their authority, and even beating their chest, it was something we will remember forever. Yes it is expensive but for us, it was worth it.
A bit about the trek, I was quite nervous given all I had read as thought it was going to be horrendously difficult and slippy. We went to the Muhoza family and it was honestly not difficult at all bar a tiny amount of scrambling once or twice. Most of the walking was on a fairly flat plain and we only climbed an extra couple of hundred feet to see the gorillas.
We brought trail runners with us with the intention of hiring proper hiking boots but all they had was welly’s and they ended up being fine. We did not get mucky at all. We did not get any stings or bites. There were people right up to 70s in our group and everyone managed fine. The guides and porters help people if anyone struggling. One of the group did have a hard time because of the altitude but everyone else was perfect.
I think it’s true that the Rwandan trekking is easier than the Ugandan option as we met some people in our hotel that did it in Uganda the day before us and they were up to their knees in flowing mud! So for us, overall it was a very enjoyable day and nothing to fear – neither the gorillas nor the trek. So, if this is something you are thinking about doing, you won’t regret it.
We also visited Akagera National Park eastern province of Rwanda for game viewing and boat cruise tours with our 4×4 rooftop tent car. The journey to Akagera National Park rewards you with unplanned en-route stopovers along the route.
Feel free to stop and take pictures or videos. As we arrived at the park, we proceeded to the camping ground and made ourselves lunch. We went for a sunset boat ride on Lake Ihema with a chance to see the aquatic mammals such as hippos and crocodiles in the lake or on the shores.
We also did a morning full-day safari game drive in the park. (Order your packed lunch). We saw the Big Five mammals (lion, rhino, elephant, buffalo and leopard) as well as antelope, kob, and baboon, among others. Akagera National Park is a varied habitat for wildlife species in Rwanda and a birder’s haven with more than 500 bird species in the park.
Later, in the afternoon you will transfer back to Kigali at our hotel and returned the car to self-drive Kigali company and the next day they dropped us at the airport for our destination.
