Gorilla-Trekking and a Wilderness Safari in Rwanda During the Time of Covid

Seven days before I boarded the plane, I made the decision to go gorilla-trekking in Rwanda—my first journey abroad since February. I was ecstatic but anxious. I felt like I was holding my breath for the entire week. I had traveled to several American national parks during Covid last summer, but I had not left the country. For this trip, I officially put myself on lockdown, postponing dinners and skipping runs to take extra precaution in advance of my Covid test. To enter Rwanda now, travelers have to complete a simple Passenger Locator Form, including a negative RT-PCR test result within 120 hours prior to arrival, along with a hotel booking confirmation from one of 37 designated transit hotels, where a Covid-19 test is administered upon arrival and a 24-hour quarantine mandated. I breathed a deep sigh of relief when I passed the first of three tests that I was required to take over the next 10 days. Once the wheels left the tarmac at JFK, I felt like my 10-year-old self on her first trip to Disney World. My anxiety lessened by the minute, thanks to Qatar Airways’s QSuite business-class cabins, complete with closing doors and seats that fully recline to lie-flat beds. With Qatar’s best-in-class service and only five neighboring passengers scattered throughout business class, I actually felt much safer flying 13 hours to a layover in Doha than I had on more crowded shorter domestic flights out west in the U.S. this past summer. Immediately upon arriving in Kigali, I witnessed Rwanda’s Covid-19 response firsthand: Daily updates are shared with citizens, and the country has marked 42 deaths and 5,400 cases as of early November. Each traveler is assigned an ID number and unique QR code that tracks their health throughout their stay. The Customs agents swiftly scanned my QR code and granted my visa upon arrival. At baggage claim, I was greeted by an adorable robot that autonomously scanned temperatures and rolled away only after it deemed me fever-free. On the ride to the hotel, I first noticed the virtually 100 percent mask compliance in Kigali; fines and time served at the stadium detention center are enforced for not wearing a mask in public. Seconds after I opened the door of my quarantine hotel room, the phone rang with a request for me to report to Room 305, where I received my first Covid-19 test by mouth swab, a welcome reprieve from the nasal. Contact Indagare or your Trip Designer to learn more about private gorilla-trekking in Rwanda, other unique wildlife experiences in Africa or more advice on destinations and travel during COVID-19. Plus, secure a spot on our upcoming Insider Journey to Rwanda in 2021.Typically, when I arrive in a city for the first time, I stash my bags, freshen up, and leave the hotel as fast as I can. I prefer redeye flights to maximize daylight. Now, as I slammed the door shut to begin my mandated quarantine, I grinned as the “Do Not Disturb” sign ironically swayed back and forth on the knob. I surprised myself by how much I enjoyed this departure from my normal travel routine. I had time to finish the final chapters of Stephen Kinzer’s A Thousand Hills, a biography of Rwanda's current president Paul Kagame. On the coffee table, I found (and read) Rwanda: A Remarkable Turnaround of a Nation. I watched the 2005 film Beyond the Gates, whichdepicts events of the 1994 genocide. The quiet afforded me the chance to gain context. Even when quarantines might be in our past, I intend to replicate this slow-approach landing. Seventeen short hours later at 3:00 a.m., an email from the Rwanda Biomedical Centre reached my inbox with an accredited negative lab result. At our official welcome dinner at Repub Lounge, overlooking a beautiful view of Kigali, it wasn’t just our new freedom (or shots of local banana wine) that made us feel alive again. My fellow travelers and I were so energized by meaningful human connection in a foreign city, something we’d all terribly missed. The four of us, from Tel Aviv, London, Miami, and New York, and our Rwandan hosts discussed every topic under the sun, finding more common ground than differences, bonding over the similar challenges we faced this year—all before our 10:00 p.m. curfew. The next morning, we drove two-and-a-half hours northwest to Wilderness Safaris’s Bisate Lodge. Its six luxurious forest villas are built into an eroded volcanic cone outside Volcanoes National Park, and take their design inspiration from the King’s Palace at Nyanza, home to Rwanda's last traditional monarchs. It makes an ideal home base for gorilla trekking on the Virunga Massif. Roughly half of the world's population of approximately 1,000 mountain gorillas lives in this range, which spans Rwanda—home to five of its eight extinct volcanoes—Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. In November 2018, the status of mountain gorillas went from “critically endangered” to “endangered” as their numbers are encouragingly on the rise. Related Covid-19 Travel and Testing: Practical Tips for International Travel During Covid

On my adventure in Rwanda, I had come expecting gorillas and incredible wildlife sightings, but I was not expecting to be equally wowed by Gishwati Forest. Recognized as a national park in northwestern Rwanda, near Lake Kivu, Gishwati rivals the gorilla-trekking or safari in Akagera, and was a top highlight. An avid hiker and forest lover, I was mesmerized by the bountiful fungi, toads, critters, and exotic fruits. After a staggering loss of as much as 98 percent of its land, this magical forest—named after the native flowering tree called umushwati—is where Wilderness Safaris, Forest of Hope Association, World Wildlife Fund and others have teamed up to bring it back from the brink of destruction, restoring more than 2,100 acres of the 70,000 acre park so far. The main draw of the forest for visitors is approximately 30 chimpanzees, which are being monitored now. Three other types of primates can also be sighted here: the blue monkey, golden monkey and L’Hoest’s monkey. Visitors can travel less than three hours from Bisate Lodge and stay at the no-frills research center on site. I absolutely fell in love with the wildness of Gishwati and how incredibly untouched it is. I felt lucky to be a pioneer hiking raw trails, before many future tourists inevitably make their mark. A one-hour hike lasted over four, as we couldn’t get enough. And I couldn’t take my eyes off the endless, lush terraced tea plantations surrounding the forest, giving Rwanda its nickname—“land of a thousand hills.” At Gishwati, I started to fully grasp the level of Wilderness Safaris’s commitment to reforestation and community partnership. They invest in their conservation projects many, many years before they build their eco lodges. With limited chances to travel, I believe even more powerfully in our Indagare mantra: How You Travel Matters. We do our part to contribute to a better world, by traveling consciously with organizations like Wilderness that do the real, hard work. During the pandemic, Wilderness retained their entire team of over 3,000 across Sub-Saharan Africa. Supporting thousands of Rwandans in nine local villages, they donated food parcels containing 23 tons of dried beans, maize and soap. Their Children in the Wilderness Program, which offers eco-clubs and funding to students with promising futures in conservation and hospitality, just resumed, as schools reopened in early November after closing in March. Traveling to Rwanda now is one of the best direct, transparent ways to support the local community and wildlife conservation efforts. Related Indagare Matchmaker: African Safari