2 Day Rwanda Cultural Tour Where Waste Becomes Hope

What's Included

Meeting and pickup

Itinerary

Day 1
Kigali - Nyanza
4 stops
1
Urumuri Pottery
First stop at the women's pottery cooperative Urumuri, before visiting the men's Gatagara pottery. The Batwa members of the Urumuri Cooperative are harnessing their famous traditional skills—historically renowned for their pottery, figurines, and performances as court jesters and entertainers. Be welcomed by vibrantly drumming and dancing women and smiling children in this experience aptly named "the dancing pots" for their infectious energy. You'll join a hands-on pottery class learning traditional craftsmanship as the women demonstrate ancient techniques, all while music and dance fill the air around you.
1 hour 30 minutes • Admission ticket included
2
Gatagara Pottery
Then proceed to the men's Gatagara Pottery cooperative to learn modernized techniques from their husbands. Rwanda's first modern pottery establishment offers a unique opportunity to witness this community's transformation from marginalization to empowerment. Your hosts share their historical and cultural background before guiding you through a pottery class where you'll mix clay, form products, and learn about firing in traditional kilns. This exemplary community now stands fully integrated in all areas of social life, proudly sharing both their heritage and their future.
1 hour • Admission ticket included
3
After experiencing the pottery, visit HVP Gatagara to discover the inspiring story behind the man who created what you just witnessed. Father Joseph Fraipont Ndagijimana, known as the "father of people with disabilities" in Rwanda, founded the pottery cooperative in 1977 as one initiative within his far greater mission. His life's work began in 1960 when he established HVP Gatagara on "the hill of hope"—Rwanda's first orthopedic and rehabilitation center. Here, this Belgian priest dedicated himself to providing medical care, education, and dignity to people living with disabilities. Walk through the center where he lived, worked, and ultimately was laid to rest. The pottery project you just experienced was his vision to provide employment and integration for marginalized communities, particularly the once marginalised Batwa. Witness how his compassionate calling continues to empower lives today, as HVP Gatagara remains the cornerstone of disability care and rehabilitation in Rwanda.
45 minutes • Admission ticket included
4
King's Palace
Your journey continues to the heart of Nyanza, where the King's Palace Museum stands as a testament to Rwanda's royal heritage. The highlight of your visit will be meeting the magnificent Inyambo—the legendary Long Horned Royal Cows adorned with traditional jewelry. These sacred cattle, trained to respond to their keeper's songs, embody Rwandan culture where cattle represent wealth, status, and social bonds. Watch their graceful ceremonial displays, performed for centuries at royal celebrations. Step inside the meticulously reconstructed traditional palace of Mwami Musinga and explore pre-colonial monarchy customs. Then visit the contrasting Western-style palace of Mwami Rudahigwa, Rwanda's first Christian monarch, where tradition met modernization. Through the majestic Inyambo, royal artifacts, and architecture, you'll gain profound appreciation for how Rwanda's monarchy navigated change while honoring its cultural identity.
2 hours • Admission ticket included
Day 2
Nyanza - Kigali
2 stops
5
After this visit, you'll never see waste the same way again. In 1994, Godfrey found a community shattered by genocide, where neighbors couldn't look at each other. He spoke of using waste to restore the soil. Everyone walked away except two women who sat under an acacia tree and listened to this crazy man's dream. That tree still stands at the entrance. What began beneath it transformed everything. At the Women Environment workshop, watch women who've learned to see treasure in what others discard—paper becomes art, seeds become jewelry. At the demonstration farm, every banana stalk, every bit of dung, every scrap has purpose. Meet Betty at the sanitary pad workshop giving girls their dignity back. Meet John, whose infectious love for bananas will have you planting your own tree with soil-covered hands. Twenty-six years after that conversation under the tree, COVID locked down Rwanda. While the world panicked about food security, Dufatanye fed 20,000 people.
2 hours • Admission ticket included
6
Begin at the lodge gate, where two routes lead to Dufatanye waste-wise demonstration farm. Option 1: Remera Hill Cultural Trail (The Big View Trail - 4km) This easy hike along natural paths has only one steep climb; the rest is gradual. Your guide interprets Rwandan culture through the landscape, pointing out hills once occupied by different kings—the land itself becomes your history lesson. The summit rewards you with 360-degree views stretching over 50km, revealing how geography shaped royal power across the valleys below. Option 2: Nyamagana Man-Made Lake Heritage Walk (1km - 20 - 30 minutes) A contemplative stroll around this man-made lake built during the colonial period. It played a crucial role during Rwanda's devastating famine, its still waters holding stories of survival and resilience from one of the nation's darkest chapters. Both paths conclude at Dufatanye, where you'll witness how a conversation under a tree transformed an entire community's relationship with waste.
1 hour 30 minutes • Admission ticket free

Additional info

• Public transportation options are available nearby
• Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
• Suitable for all physical fitness levels

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