What is the best time to visit Rwanda? Planning a successful and the best Rwanda safari holiday starts with you knowing when to visit Rwanda. The dry and wet seasons are considerably the best seasons of the year to put into consideration when planning a trip to Rwanda. The dry season occurs in 2 phases and it is regarded as the best time to visit Rwanda for safari holiday. The first phase begins in June, July, August, September and this is rated as the longest dry spell. The short dry season in Rwanda starts in December, January and February.
Why visit Rwanda during the dry season
Every traveler has a reason to visit Rwanda and what one may consider the best time may not be the case to another. However, the dry season is the best to consider when planning a visit to Rwanda because during this season, minimal or no rainfall is experienced in most Rwanda safari parks or tourist destinations. Due relative rainfall received, the habitat and routes are kept relatively drier making it a bit easier to move through game tracks on a game viewing tour experience in Akagera National Park or rain-forests while on gorilla trekking adventure in Volcanoes National Park or chimpanzee tracking in Nyungwe Forest National Park and Gishwati-Mukura National Park.
The wet season in Rwanda
The wet season also known as the rainy season is ideal for Rwanda safaris on its own way. Visiting Rwanda during this season for gorilla trekking is advantages in that there is a lot for mountain gorillas to depend on and keep them within as opposed to the dry season which is characterized by scarcity of forage. A trek to see mountain gorillas during the rainy may take you less hours to find these apes as they are not forced to move to longer distances to find what to feed on.
Birding tours in Rwanda are also best carried out during the rainy season although they can be incorporated with other primate safari or wildlife tour activities. The advantage of embarking on bird watching during this period is that most migratory birds migrate to different birding sites in Rwanda and it is also breeding period for most resident birds.
The wet months of the year in Rwanda start in March, April, May and October, November. These receive plenty of rainfall and the habitat becomes muddy/slippery which makes it challenging exploring primate safari parks like Volcanoes National Park on gorilla trekking safari and Nyungwe Forest National Park on chimpanzee tracking tour.
Weather in Rwanda
The weather pattern in Rwanda varies significantly depending on the season. Rwanda lies astride equator and its weather and climatic conditions are friendly throughout the year. However, one most important thing to bear in mind is that the weather of Rwanda is unpredictable something you need to be well-prepared. It can rain at any time of the day especially in rainforest parks like Volcanoes National Park where gorilla trekking is carried and Nyungwe Forest National Park where chimpanzee tracking safari experience is conducted.
What to pack for Rwanda safari
Once you to get to know when to visit Rwanda, it is important to know which items to consider on your packing list for Rwanda safaris. The main items to pack may vary depending on the safari activity you plan to embark on. Gorilla trekking, golden monkey tracking and chimpanzee tracking requires you to pack waterproof hiking boots, long-sleeved shirts, camera but with no flashlight, sweater, sun glasses, insect repellent, energy giving snacks, bottled drinking water, socks, gardening gloves, first aid kit and many others.