Experiencing Local Life at the Iby’Iwacu Cultural Village in Rwanda

On September 21, 2023September 21, 2023 By Living The Q Life Travel AdventuresIn RwandaLeave a comment

After trekking in the rainforest to spend time with the gorillas, we then went to visit the Iby’Iwacu Cultural Village where we spent time learning all about the local life in the Rwanda countryside. It was a very interactive experience as we were given the opportunity to play drums, grind sorghum for banana beer, and test our archery skills. As we walked among the huts, our local guide explained to us all about daily lives of the people that have lived in this part of the country for hundreds of years.

From the moment that we entered the village, we were warmly greeted by the music of drums and the local villagers dancing in their authentic ceremony garments. The men wear dramatic blonde wigs, which they flip dramatically around as they dance making for quite the impression. We also had the opportunity to visit the king’s hut with its large bed and learned of the local traditions and rituals. Whether it was making banana beer, creating bee hives, or learning about the role of the medicine man, each hut that we visited was fascinating.

Quite the Performance

As with many villages that provide these types of cultural experiences, there is also the opportunity to buy handmade goods created by the villagers. The money goes towards the community, which is important as it encourages the local communities to embrace tourism and keeps them from poaching wildlife from the surrounding national park. Prior to tourists coming to Volcanoes National Park to trek to the gorillas, many of the villagers would trap gorillas to sell their hands as well as trap the mountain elephants and other animals to sell to people outside of the country. Rwanda has made great strides in reducing the number of poaching incidents and ensuring that the local people make enough money without needing to resort to trapping animals.

Wedding Ceremony Dance

Although spending time with the gorillas is clearly the highlight of going to Volcanoes National Park, visiting the Iby’Iwacu Cultural Village was certainly still a wonderful experience. Considering we did both the trekking and the village visit on our first full day in Rwanda, we were certainly off to a tremendous start to our time in this interesting country. We definitely slept very well that evening before getting up early to move on to our next adventure within Rwanda.

Trekking to Spend Time with a Gorilla Family in Rwanda

On September 19, 2023September 19, 2023 By Living The Q Life Travel AdventuresIn Rwanda4 Comments

After making the over twenty-one-hour trip from Washington DC to Kigali, Rwanda, we immediately were transported to Volcanoes National Park where the Mountain Gorillas of Rwanda are located. We got a few hours of sleep and then woke up early to climb into the rainforest to locate our gorilla family. We were expecting to make our way through the jungle to observe the gorillas through the trees and perhaps have the opportunity to get a little close to one or two of them. It turned out that we would spend an hour standing and walking amongst the entire gorilla family, who continuously walked in front, behind, and all around us as we spent time with them. It was truly one of the most incredible and unique experiences that we have ever had during our travels.

There are only ten families that can be visited per day and the visit is restricted to no more than one hour. Each group that gets to visit with the gorillas is also limited to eight or nine people and our group was a group of eight. That means that only eighty to ninety people per day can visit with the gorillas, which makes it an experience that is not shared by a lot of people. The family that we visited with was the Agashya family and we were told that Agashya meant “special”, which had to do with the unique circumstances that this particular family was formed. When the former Silverback, elder leader of the family, passed away, normally the females would go off to join other families. In this case, though, they stayed together and other silverbacks tried to join the family. The female gorillas were not interested in the first few suitors that tried to join the family and then finally they accepted the silverback, which the guides named Agashya due to having never seen a family of female gorillas due what this family had done.

Showing Off for Us

Our encounter started with one of the two other silverbacks that were now part of the family who had strayed away from the rest of the family with another female gorilla, which would not be tolerated by the leader when he learned about it. A silverback is simply a gorilla that has gotten old enough for the hair on his back to turn gray, typically at about thirteen years old. He beat his chest for us, making sure we knew he was our boss and then came straight towards us. Our guide had us stay perfectly still as the over 500-pound gorilla walked past us making sure to brush up against us as he passed. At this point, we knew that we were in for an amazing day.

Amongst the Gorillas

Agashya is the Name of the Head Silverback and the Family

It took another hour or so to find the rest of the family and at that point our sixty-minute visit would officially start. One of the highlights was seeing a mother gorilla with her five-month-old baby riding on her back. As we walked amongst the gorillas, taking photographs, and watching as they showed off for us and genuinely seemed as curious about us as we were of them. Several of them brushed up against us and one juvenile gorilla even slapped the men in our group as the family departed for the day. Obviously, we’re sharing some incredible photographs of our encounter, but there is no way to adequately explain what it was like to spend time with the majestic creatures.

We would definitely recommend people take the time and spend the money to see these incredible animals and help with their conservation. Be prepared, though, as the trekking can be extremely difficult as you hack your way through the jungle with machetes and climb up and down steep, muddy hills covered with dense vegetation. It was well worth the effort, but it certainly was one of the hardest things that we had done as far as hiking and trekking goes. After spending the magical hour with the Agashya Gorilla Family, we made our way out of the jungle, images still dancing through our minds. This was only part of our first full day in Rwanda and it couldn’t have gotten off to a better start. We knew at this point that it was going to be a trip that would be one of the best of our lives.

Having the Opportunity to See the Big Cats of East Africa

On June 21, 2023June 21, 2023 By Living The Q Life Travel AdventuresIn Africa, Kenya, Tanzania2 Comments

We are currently contemplating returning to East Africa, although the focus of this trip would be to see the Gorillas and Chimpanzees, as well as other animals, in Rwanda. During our previous visit, one of the things that we truly enjoyed during our eleven-day safari in Eastern Africa was seeing all of the big cats like lions, leopards, and cheetahs. We certainly weren’t disappointed with our encounters as we had several that were all amazing and different in many ways. Whether watching the lion cubs at play, seeing a leopard climbing up a tree, or having a cheetah jump on the hood of our Land Cruiser, seeing these animals up close was something truly special. We saw lions at almost every park that we visited throughout both Kenya and Tanzania, but the leopards and cheetahs were rarer to see. We know that we were very fortunate to see the amazing variety of cats, including the caracal cat, which not everyone gets to see.

Cats have very expressive faces and keen eyesight and they definitely kept their eyes on us as we watched them from our vehicle. Regardless of the species of cat, one thing that they all had in common was how they ignored people and their vehicles with the exception of the encounter of the cheetah who definitely was not afraid of our presence. We visited the parks during the lion’s mating season and one of the more unique things that we saw during our safari was actually a lion and lioness mating. We also saw a leopard eating a gazelle as well as a pride of lions eating the remains of some sort of antelope. When on safari, you are in their environment and the animals are going to go about their lives regardless of the visitors that may come along to watch them.

It is hard to decide which of the big cats was our favorite to see during our time, but there is no denying how impressive it is to see a large male lion within arms reach of the vehicle. We had many different encounters with male lions including one that was lying right on the edge of the road. We moved very slowly without sudden movements and spoke in low hushes as instructed by our guide so as not to provoke the lion. We were literally so close to him that we could almost feel his breath as he panted in the warm sun and kept a wary eye on us as we snapped photographs. For the first twenty minutes we were the only vehicle and as other vehicles arrived having been notified by our guide, the lion took offense, growled at us and for a moment there was a sense of fear that he might retaliate against us, but then wandered off into the tall grass before the others had the chance to see his power and beauty.

There certainly isn’t any single animal that could be the considered the most important to see during a safari, but certainly seeing the big cats is a highlight. We took so many photographs during our trip that it is difficult to narrow down our favorites. Seeing how affectionate and playful they were was something truly spectacular. They definitely displayed a variety of emotion and caring for one another whether brushing against each other, wrestling with one another, or the lionesses cleaning the young cubs by licking them with their tongues. Although photographs can’t truly provide the same experience as being there, hopefully these images will give you a sense of what it is like to see these magnificent cats in the wild.