Did a mini-tour of Rwanda. I did no training beforehand and was pretty unfit before I set off, so I decided to trim down my original plan to more manageable distances to make sure I could cope with the heat, road surfaces and heat. I also planned to stay in hotels every night so I could have a bit of privacy as there are so many people in Rwanda, wild camping would likely involve staying in villages as every piece of flat land is cultivated.
Days 1 and 2 were on tarmac as I headed east from Kigali to Kibuye. This was fine, but nothing special. I took the tarmac route simply because it was my first tour in Africa and wanted to make sure I was always close to a shop where I could buy water or food.
Days 3, 4, and 5 followed the Congo Nile Trail north to Gisenti. These three days were outstanding. I would recommend this route to anyone who likes cycling or hiking. It was simply stunning. Having said that, I took the hiking route accidentally on the first day and ended up pushing my bike up a horrid path for 1km in baking heat. Still, it was great and involved a couple of bare-foot river crossings.
Day 6 headed east to the volcano region and Kinigi. This was a bad day because of the road surface. The day started with a 25km climb, which I chose to do on tarmac as I am really slow at climbing and thought I wouldn’t have time to climb and descend off-road. As it turned out, I almost didn’t have time to descend off-road either as the surface was almost unrideable for long sections. I would not recommend this route to anyone, especially if you were climbing it rather than descending. Didn;t get to my hotel until after dark.
Day 7 was another beautiful day. The path started fairly level and ran through the picturesque landscape with the twin lakes and the volcano in sight most of the time. It then took a great dirt road around the biggest of the twin lakes. Great day.
Day 8 was an easy day with gentle climb up to a tea plantation for a rest day.
Day 9 started with a bit of hike-a-bike but it was beautiful and well worth it before an undulating road and eventual long decent into Kigali. It was a dirt road almost all the way into central Kigali. A great off-road route in or out I think.
If I was doing it again, I would skip the two days at the start and get public transport to the very start of the Congo Nile trail and do the whole trail rather than the top half.
1 Comment
Distance + Climbing
Day 1: 57.18 km, 1,515 m
Day 2: 78.02 km, 1,436 m
Day 3: 28.50 km, 972 m
Day 4: 30.77 km, 667 m
Day 5: 40.33 km, 905 m
Day 6: 73.00 km, 1,639 m
Day 7: 57.10 km, 947 m
Day 8: 37.42 km, 510 m
Day 9: 50.22 km, 1,033 m
Total 452.54 Km, 9627 M
Did a mini-tour of Rwanda. I did no training beforehand and was pretty unfit before I set off, so I decided to trim down my original plan to more manageable distances to make sure I could cope with the heat, road surfaces and heat. I also planned to stay in hotels every night so I could have a bit of privacy as there are so many people in Rwanda, wild camping would likely involve staying in villages as every piece of flat land is cultivated.
Days 1 and 2 were on tarmac as I headed east from Kigali to Kibuye. This was fine, but nothing special. I took the tarmac route simply because it was my first tour in Africa and wanted to make sure I was always close to a shop where I could buy water or food.
Days 3, 4, and 5 followed the Congo Nile Trail north to Gisenti. These three days were outstanding. I would recommend this route to anyone who likes cycling or hiking. It was simply stunning. Having said that, I took the hiking route accidentally on the first day and ended up pushing my bike up a horrid path for 1km in baking heat. Still, it was great and involved a couple of bare-foot river crossings.
Day 6 headed east to the volcano region and Kinigi. This was a bad day because of the road surface. The day started with a 25km climb, which I chose to do on tarmac as I am really slow at climbing and thought I wouldn’t have time to climb and descend off-road. As it turned out, I almost didn’t have time to descend off-road either as the surface was almost unrideable for long sections. I would not recommend this route to anyone, especially if you were climbing it rather than descending. Didn;t get to my hotel until after dark.
Day 7 was another beautiful day. The path started fairly level and ran through the picturesque landscape with the twin lakes and the volcano in sight most of the time. It then took a great dirt road around the biggest of the twin lakes. Great day.
Day 8 was an easy day with gentle climb up to a tea plantation for a rest day.
Day 9 started with a bit of hike-a-bike but it was beautiful and well worth it before an undulating road and eventual long decent into Kigali. It was a dirt road almost all the way into central Kigali. A great off-road route in or out I think.
If I was doing it again, I would skip the two days at the start and get public transport to the very start of the Congo Nile trail and do the whole trail rather than the top half.