Houses of a small village against the backdrop of a volcano in Rwanda.Image: The Image Bank RF
This is how contemporary tourism works: The East African country has managed to directly combine nature conservation with the well-being of the people. Rwanda is even more densely populated than Switzerland.
July 12, 2026, 2:24 p.mJuly 12, 2026, 2:24 p.m
Dany Bucher / ch media
When I look out of the plane window, it’s only after a moment of amazement that I understand what’s sparkling beneath me in the blazing sun like countless, wildly scattered diamonds: they’re the tin roofs of the mud huts in which most of the population lives. Rwanda is one of the most densely populated countries in the world. More than 14 million people share just 26,000 square kilometers in the inland East African country. For comparison: Around 9.1 million people live on 41,291 square kilometers in Switzerland.
Around 14 million people live in the capital Kigali.Image: Corbis Documentary RF
The feeling of sleeping in this green cocoon is magical, but the volcanic night is short. At 5 a.m. there is a knock on the door. After a coffee I set off with guide Fabrice. We march past fields cultivated by farming families.
The contrast when leaving the memorial could hardly be greater: Kigali presents itself as a pulsating and modern African metropolis, spread over countless hills – fascinating, intense. And noticeably clean.
The entrance area of the Genocide Memorial. Kwibuka means “remember” and represents the annual commemoration of the genocide against the Tutsi in 1994.Image: www.imago-images.de
In recent years, Rwanda has become a pioneer of sustainable luxury ecotourism. The eco-safari provider Wilderness exemplifies this approach: The brand combines exclusive travel with consistent nature conservation, reforestation and the direct support of the local population. The company operates several high-quality lodges – and that’s exactly where we want to go.
Alternative perspectives are created
On the three-hour drive from Kigali east, tea plantations, small markets, banana groves, densely built-up villages and countless people pass by the side of the road. Shortly before the border to Akagera National Park we visit the Akayange Primary School. Headmaster Ildephonse Mbarushimana explains how the philosophy of “Wilderness” applies here: thanks to collaboration with the school’s own organization Children in the Wilderness (CITW).
The eco-luxury concept works because the local population is involved through weekly meetings, the construction of classrooms and school scholarships. This creates alternative perspectives and strengthens the willingness to protect wildlife instead of living from poaching.
Ranger Venuste welcomes me at the park border in an open jeep. “Wilderness” has secured an exclusive 4,200 hectare concession in the north of the Akagera. The Magashi Peninsula Resort impresses with its exceptional location. Three luxury tent villas sit directly on Lake Rwanyakazinga, with a private pool and a stargazing bed on the terrace, while Nile crocodiles doze in the sun and elephants bathe below.
On the first evening, a night game drive reveals the wild activity in the darkness: hippos, lions, elephants, zebras and antelopes appear in the headlights. The next morning we witness a female impala giving birth and after just 40 minutes the baby is standing on shaky but independent legs. Later we glide in the safari boat past bathing herds of elephants, Nile crocodiles and countless hippos. In the evening we discovered a leopard on its nightly prowl just 50 meters in front of the villa. We end the day around the campfire.
Magnificent: Masai giraffes walk through the landscape in front of visitors.Image: www.imago-images.de
The next morning, the path to the park gate offers a grand finale. The wide plain opens up before us. Masai giraffes stride elegantly through the landscape, rhinos roll in the mud, lions doze in the sun, further back a herd of buffalo grazes, zebras and antelopes enrich the scenery.
We meet Bahati at the gate, he will now drive me to the north of Rwanda. Somewhere along the way you can see children playing football on a sloping meadow. With a broken ball that loses air. We stop and they immediately surround us. They ask – and I promise to bring them a real football on the way back.
Tourism as a driver for the community
At 2500 meters above sea level, the Sabyinyo Lodge nestles in the rainforest at the foot of the volcanoes. The lodge belongs to the local community foundation Sacola, and “Wilderness” is the only partner who runs the business – a pioneering project for socially sustainable tourism.
Rwanda’s varied hilly landscape combines green valleys, terraced fields and diverse nature.Image: The Image Bank RF
On Sunday morning the clouds hang in deep gray on the volcano flanks. I’m sitting on the terrace with a coffee. Singing comes from the valley. Beautiful male and female voices can be found in rhythmic harmonies – a service is being celebrated in the nearby village church.
Later, guide Leonard takes me into the village and shows me how deeply rooted the social commitment of “Wilderness” is here. We see community-funded stone houses for needy families, a chicken farm run by elderly women who survived the genocide, and a school for 3,000 children.
Families receive cows whose first female offspring is passed on to the next family in need. The principle is simple: people have become the owners of tourism.
Nestled in the amphitheater of an extinct volcanic cone, Bisate Resort’s futuristic, nest-shaped villas reinterpret traditional Rwandan palace architecture. Their organic shapes made from local bamboo literally merge with the slopes of the Virunga volcanoes.
Bisate shows the radical future of eco-luxury: The once bare agricultural land has been reforested by “Wilderness” with over 100,000 native trees – so sustainably that gorillas are even said to roam the garden occasionally. The resort also has its own vegetable garden – Félicien is responsible for its care and management.
The feeling of sleeping in this green cocoon is magical, but the volcanic night is short. At 5 a.m. there is a knock on the door. After a coffee I set off with guide Fabrice. We march past fields cultivated by farming families.
Golden monkeys live in the mountain forests of Rwanda and are mainly found in the Volcanoes National Park.Image: AP
After half an hour it’s time to stop, put your luggage down, put on your protective masks. These are mandatory for all visitors to protect primates from human pathogens. Just a hundred meters in front of us, a group of around 60 golden monkeys are feasting on the herbs and fruits. For an hour we watch the nimble, shiny gold primates, spellbound and amazed.
Before we take the curves back down to Kigali, we buy the promised footballs for the boys on the side of the road in Ruhengeri and hand them over shortly afterwards. A final, jubilant wave in the rearview mirror – as a symbol of a country that, despite a difficult past, is looking forward with remarkable optimism. Saying goodbye to Rwanda is difficult.
This report was created as part of a press trip at the invitation of Wilderness and Let’s go Tours. (schweiztoday.ch)