About Rwanda
Rwanda is known throughout the world mostly for its recent genocide and war, in which nearly 1,000,000 of Rwanda's 8,000,000 people were killed in 100 days from April to July 1994. Despite this unimaginable tragedy, Rwanda has been steadily growing economically during the past 11 years due to good leadership, which in turn has led to peace, laying the ground work for increased prosperity.
The number of tourists visiting Rwanda has been increasing year after year as more and more people discover the astonishing beauty of this small land-locked country. They come in their tens of thousands each year to see the mountain gorillas, made famous by Diane Fossey's 'Gorillas in the Mist', climb active volcanoes, see African wildlife at Akagera's national park, soak in the atmosphere of the thousands of lush green hills, or walk in Nyungwe forest with monkeys swinging overhead!
There are many excellent books written about Rwanda you could read if you'd like to learn more about the country, including the following:
- Hope for Rwanda by Andre Sibomana - a Rwandan Catholic Priest, journalist and leading human rights activist
- Rwanda - The land God forgot? By Meg Guillebaud
- A people betrayed - The role of the West in Rwanda's genocide by L R Melvern
- Shake hands with the devil - by Romeo Dallaire, the UN Commander present before and during the genocide and war.
There are also some good films you could watch to learn more:
- Hotel Rwanda
- Sometimes in April
- Shooting Dogs
- 100 Days
And this website is well worth checking out if you're interested in visiting this amazing country: www.rwandatourism.com
