Like any visit to a protected area, you should endeavor to travel responsibly during your safari in Rwanda. Here are some practical tips and guidelines that you should follow strictly. Rwanda has been at the forefront of promoting ecotourism.
Within Volcanoes National Park, Responsible tourism is all about keeping the environment as natural as possible, leaving a positive impact on not only the environment, and also making the local people benefit from your visit. Here is a quick guide to some of our top tips on how to be a responsible traveller.
The area can be preserved by following the single guidelines below:
Protect Nature
- During your visit, use the dust bins to dispose off any waster. Visitors should also carry all non-degradable litter to the different designated collection points.
- During your tour, do no pluck off leaves, flower, and tree branches and so on. In other words, vegetation should be left interact. Plants should be left to flourish in their natural environment-taking cuttings, seeds and roots are illegal in our community.
- In the course of gorilla trekking – you should follow rule and regulations governing the trek. Strictly follow the rules and regulations.
- Avoid trespassing – follow the right path or roads to avoid danger – you should be guided by a local guide.
Cultural Values
- When taking photographs, respect privacy, ask the community leader or guide if it is alright and use restraint. Please note that use of drone cameras is strictly prohibited from being used in Rwanda.
- Avoid giving to children directly – it promotes begging – it is not a good habit. A donation to the community project, an orphanage is a more constructive way to help. During your visit to any community, you are encouraged to only give any help to the community leader.
- You will be accepted and welcomed if you follow local customs. Use only your right hand when greeting and eating and eating. It is more polite to receive gifts and giving out by the use of two hands.
- Respect for local etiquette earns respect. Light weight clothes are preferable to revealing or see-through, skimpy tops and tight fitting action wear. Kissing in public is disliked by local people.
- Be patient, friendly and sensitive. Remember you are a GUEST to the community.
- We like to share our culture with you and learn about your culture too, so kindly let us know about your culture, you never know we might have something in common.
- In case of anything that is unusual to you, ask the community leader for interpretation, it might mean something important.