Like a Phoenix, Rwanda has Moved Beyond its Scarred Past to Become One of Africa’s Must-visits
A traditional Maasai hut in Tanzania, highlighting cultural heritage amid lush greenery, attracting luxury travelers.
And it’s not all about the gorillas. Rwanda maintains a tricky balance of quaint and contemporary: see capital Kigali’s chaotic craft markets and cool art museums. It’s also astoundingly green in more than one sense: a lush wonderland of tea plantations, rice paddies and forested volcano slopes, as well as innovations in urban sustainability (a plastic-bag ban, solar-powered hotels). Inevitably, the luxury scene is making moves. Wilderness Safaris’s Bisate Lodge, close to the country’s gorilla-tracking headquarters, has Rwanda’s most exquisitely designed villas, while One&Only’s Nyungwe House is a stylish nature lodge tucked between rows of tea plants.