Cultural Tours In Rwanda – Where to Go
Rwanda may be politically known as a country that endured a severe and terrible genocide in 1994 that claimed more than 800000 lives. Also, the land of a thousand hills is known for her outstanding gorilla trekking safaris in the Volcanoes National Park as far as tourism is concerned. However the country’s unique and highly compelling culture deserves to be mentioned in the ears of every potential visitor to the country. Surprisingly the once feared genocide sites together with other cultural sites have now been turned into the country’s serving as cultural packages for travelers interested in Rwanda’s culture and traditions.
Today there are several genocide memorial centers around Rwanda equipped with all sorts of items that tell exactly what happened during this sorry period of human cruelty in Rwanda. Rwanda cultural tour package has got so much more than you imagine and only a practical cultural tour can explain to you how rich, educative and emotional it is. The items in the cultural package include dance, music, drama, literature, handicrafts, education, sports, cultural villages, genocide memorials, and traditional activities.
Literature
Although there were no much written literature in Rwanda prior to the coming of Europeans in the late 19th century, the country has a wealth of oral literature in the form of myths, folk stories, legends, poetry and proverbs. The combination of all these has imparted moral values and historical traditions from generation to generation for example the Mwami court was used to train young nobles in various art forms like in composition of songs and poems that were dedicated to valour in warfare and also in praising the magnificence of their cattle. There is a display of poetic structures in the national museum of Rwanda at Huye/ Butare that give an idea of this part of literature in the country. One of the few available Rwandan written literatures for readers to check out is Scholastique Mukasonga’s 2012 novel “Our Lady of The Nile” that was first published in English in 2014.
Music
Customarily Rwanda had three categories of music each belonging to one of her three ethnic groups (Tutsi, Hutu and Twa) describing the traditional beliefs of that group. Whereas Tutsi songs praised excellence and valor, Hutu songs were lighter, humorous and linked to social occasions and Twa songs were directly relating to their occupation of hunting. These intriguing songs are still sung to visitors during their cultural tours around some of the country’s tourist destinations accompanied by a corresponding drumming, clapping and dancing. Drumming has been very important in the traditions of Rwanda since the time of the monarchy where royal drummers dominated the court musically. A complete set of Rwanda drums typically consists of either seven or nine drums including the soprano as the smallest baked up by a tenor, a harmonist alto, two baritons, two bass and two double bass. The lulunga is another widely used musical instrument, an eight-stringed instrument resembling a harp and it is often played solo to back up singing or dancing.
Traditional Dance
Just as music, dance is also instinctive in Rwanda and it has been so through centuries and it also varies in style among the three groups. When it comes to dance as far as Rwanda is concerned, the Intore dancers who perform both nationally and internationally dominate the sector. This reigning group of outstanding dancers has been in the field from centuries even before colonization and at the time of the monarchy. They started performing at the royal court where selected young men received privileged education and training in order to entertain their masters and also to perform at special functions. The name Intore means “the best” confirming that only the best of them were selected for this honor. The costume worn by these dancers is also eye catching consisting of either a short floral skirt or a leopard skin wound around their legs. The chest is also decorated with crossed straps and coloured beads with a fringe of white colobus monkey fur on their heads. Often the dancers may carry a bow; spear or a stick decorated a long tail of raffia depending on the theme of the dance and the region. The bells worn around their ankles produce a sound, which adds to the rhythm of the dance. Today the main centers where you can encounter the Intore performances include Kigali, Nyanza, Huye/Butare. They also occasionally perform abroad during their tours.
Handicrafts
Rwanda’s handcrafts are genuinely traditional and they have a practical use, decorated with a variety of objects. Tourists get visual pleasure and are impressed with these objects. The marvelous package of Rwanda’s beautiful handcrafts includes woven bowls, mats, baskets, and storage containers among others from various natural fibers. Other handicraft productions include woodcarving, attractive pottery from the Batwa community and Imigongo paintings. All these handicrafts products can be found in all the major towns and in lodges within national parks displayed for purchase by art-loving visitors.
Genocide Memorials
Much as they represent a painful past that has haunted the country for long, they also give an impressive story of recovery turning them into an inspiration. The genocide memorials are destinations of visitors who want to gain insight with issues relating to the genocide in Rwanda. Travellers also get to learn how far Rwanda has come upon reaching these memorial sites. The main genocide memorial center is in Kigali, other centers include the following;
Nyanza Genocide Memorial
Graves for over 10,000 Tutsis who were massacred in Nyanza can be seen here in the grounds of Kigali’s Ecole Technique Officielle. This site has often been used as a main site for genocide anniversary commemorations.
Ntarama Genocide Memorial
This Church based memorial site is found in a village south of Kigali where more than 5,000 people were massacred in the church grounds. Today the Ntarama site church has been turned into a memorial garden with the interior of the church storing personal belongings and skeletons of victims ranging from clothing, toys to identifications.
Nyamata Genocide Memorial
This is another Church based memorial along the main road south of Kigali where over 10,000 people were slaughtered in 1994. There are two tombs that hold tens of thousand of bodies.
Murambi Genocide Memorial
This South Western memorial is probably the most significant with an astonishing number of victims of about 50,000 people. The area has mass graves covering the remains of the victims.
Umuganda
A very important and significant aspect of the Rwandan culture, Umuganda is a monthly community development program aimed at achieving several community-based objectives. The program is carried out every last Saturday of the month and it involves all Rwandese coming together to work for the good of their neighbors and their nation as a whole. On this day, shops are closed, buses stop running, traffic disappears from the roads, and all personal businesses are set aside that morning and everybody embarks on public works projects around the country. The activities involve litter cleanup, tree planting, building houses for the needy, cleaning wells, leveling roads and many more. This collective effort has resulted into many social and economic benefits that are easily seen by everyone who visits Rwanda for example the city of Kigali is always ranked top in terms of cleanness. Interestingly on this day of umuganda you find even visitors freely participating in the activities and they always find the exercise very exciting and heartwarming.
Museums
This is another important aspect of the Rwandan culture that cannot be ignored. Rwanda has a network of national museums around the country. In total there are six compelling museums across the country under the Institute of National Museums.
Ethnographic Museum (Huye)
This is the National Museum of Rwanda and the finest of all. It is located in Huye a southern city and was built in 1989. The Museum contains items representing almost everything about Rwanda including banana beer, basketry, geology, cosmology, farming, cattle, music, dance, poetry, history, tools and transport. The Museum has also got an incredible craft center as well.
National Art Gallery (Nyanza)
This fascinating site of art pieces is found in a wide colonial building on the Rwesero hill in the Northeastern agricultural town of Nyanza. The gallery has a cultivated selection of artwork with both traditional and modern Rwandan art pieces. Frequent exhibitions of both local and International artists are always hosted here.
King’s Palace Museum (Nyanza)
This is also found in Nyanza on a hilltop just opposite the National Art Gallery. A former palace of king Mutara III that was constructed in 1930s. The palace has been historically reconstructed with its royal compound filled with intricacies of traditional architecture. There is a former colonial building next to the palace, which is now used to keep a series of exhibits of the monarchy and court customs that are always visited by history scholars.
Presidential Palace Museum (Kigali)
Although it’s no longer a Presidential home, the palace used to host Juvenal Habyarimana and Pasteur Bizimungu when they were presidents. Today this palace gives a window to see through Rwanda’s fascinating history and also the remains of president Habyarimana’s plane that crashed in 1994 can be seen in this place together with preserved presidential furnishings and cultural exhibits.
Natural History Museum (Kigali)
This is a new museum reconstructed from the 1900s building named for the German naturalist and former governor of Rwanda Richard Kandt. It sits in a leafy garden with magnificent views of Kigali city with several historical exhibits and Kigali’s early settlement photographs inside. The Museum also has exhibits of Rwanda’s endemic species of Flora and Fauna together with information regarding the physical and geological history of the country. Also found at the museum are the relics from the German-British battles of WWI that took place in Rwanda.
Museum of the Environment (Karongi)
This newly opened Museum in the Western region of Kibuye focuses on the Rwanda’s climate and environment. It features a rooftop garden of medicinal plants and has a number of Rwanda resources exhibits including energy production. It is also study center for tourists to get understanding of climate change and its impact on Rwanda.
In general, a complete Rwanda safari package must involve cultural experiences. Visit any of Rwanda’s cultural sites, lean more about the country’s traditions, norms and cultural rewarding with extensive Rwanda cultural knowledge.