Things to Do in Rwanda in March

Gorilla trekking is the single reason most travelers come to Rwanda. March is a quietly clever time to do it. From the briefing point at Kinigi you set off through Irish-potato fields and stinging-nettle thickets into bamboo forest. Guides cut the trail with machetes while the air smells of wet earth and crushed celery, the gorillas' favourite food. The green season means the families often forage lower down the slopes. Treks can be shorter even when the mud makes them slower. Coming face to face with a silverback at a few metres, hearing the low rumble of contentment in his chest, is worth every slippery step.

Nyungwe is one of Africa's oldest montane rainforests. March's rains make it loud, dripping leaves, the whoop and pant-hoot of chimpanzees carrying across the valleys, the whir of turacos overhead. The early-morning chimp tracking starts before dawn because the troops move fast once they wake. The East Africa-famous canopy walkway strings 200 ft (60 m) above the forest floor, swaying gently as you cross. In March the mist rolling through the trees below makes it feel like walking on cloud. Wet, atmospheric, memorable.

When the forest trails get too sodden, Lake Kivu is your bright-weather backup. The lakeshore towns of Rubavu (Gisenyi) and Kibuye sit lower and often catch clearer mornings than the highlands. A boat out among the islands passes fishermen singing in unison as they paddle their tripod canoes at dawn. It is the gentlest day in any Rwanda itinerary. The water is bilharzia-free and warm enough to swim. The air carries woodsmoke and grilled tilapia. The volcanic hills drop straight into the shallows.

Kigali is the cleanest, calmest capital in the region. A rainy March afternoon is the right time to be indoors at the Kigali Genocide Memorial. More than 250,000 victims are buried there and the exhibits give essential, sober context for understanding the country you are travelling through. Pair it with the buzzing Kimironko Market, sacks of red beans, pyramids of tree tomatoes, tailors running up dresses in wax-print cloth while you wait, and a coffee at one of the cafés on the hills. Rwanda's own high-grown beans are roasted dark and served strong.

Akagera, on the warmer, drier eastern border, is the counterweight to the cool highlands. It offers savannah, papyrus swamps, and lakes where hippos grunt. The country's reintroduced lions and rhinos now roam here, making this a full Big Five park again. March's rains scatter the wildlife because water is everywhere. The landscape is at its most beautiful, long grass, dramatic skies, migrant birds in breeding plumage. A boat safari on Lake Ihema gets you close to crocodiles basking and elephants drinking at the shore.

March rain is why Rwanda's coffee and tea taste the way they do. A working-estate visit near Nyungwe or around Lake Kivu lets you walk the dripping rows, pick cherries, and follow the bean from washing station to cup. Tea plantations are at their most photogenic now. Impossibly green. Women in bright wraps move through the bushes with baskets on their backs. The smell of wet leaf hangs everywhere. This is a low-effort, weather-proof half-day. It explains a huge slice of the rural economy.