Iby’Iwacu Cultural Village | Gorilla Guardians Village

In addition to the breathtaking beauty of a land of a thousand hills, the Iby’Iwacu Cultural Village is a must-see on your African safari to the great Volcanoes National Park. They are considered guardians of the forest. Gorilla Guardians Village is the one of the places that make Rwanda a wonderful and breathtaking country. You will have the opportunity to get to know the locals. Wardens Village is another name for Iby’Iwacu Cultural Village. This is a new initiative by the Rwanda Development Board that aims to give a decisive boost to tourism in this beautiful country and make it one of Africa’s premier tourist destinations.

The cultural village is located in the Musanze district on the slopes of the large Virunga volcanic area within the Volcanoes National Park. The word ” Iby’Iwacu”, a traditional word meaning treasure of one’s homeland or heritage, describes the angelic cultural side of the Rwandan people, from dress code, food and herbs to accommodation. It represents the typical lifestyle of ancient traditions. Visitors have the opportunity to participate in community projects such as making baskets and preparing traditional meals from scratch.

The site serves as a community that connects the country’s settlers, including the Twa, Hutu and Tutsi. This encourages each person in society and avoids separation from each other. They perform traditional songs, drums and dances for travellers. Many of the locals, especially the Towa, were poachers in the forests, but learned to take advantage of tourism as awareness grew. The relaxed environment offers special entertainment and additional activities to your gorilla trekking experience.

One of the best ways to understand culture is through interaction with citizens. You can learn a lot about their norms, culture and customs by visiting mountain gorillas. Travelers always have the opportunity to meet community elders who share traditional stories and rich heritage of Rwanda. Walking will bring you great joy. Because you can be the center of every detail that is carried out. The musical tones that can be played include “amakondere”, “umduri”, and “agakenke”, each of which is played by a different instrument.

A popular and interesting activity is visiting the Royal Palace. In this area, you can see how the ancient kings lived and how the ancient councils were run. They made all decisions regarding the people they governed. This village has perfectly recreated the old layout. Your guide will be happy to guide you through all the symbols and meanings of all the collected ancient architecture you will come across. They are herbalists who will guide you through the use of local medicines and explain how to interact with each of the plants, shrubs, roots, seeds and forests they own. Visit the Batwa Community. They survived by living together with other forest animals, hunting in the forest, and gathering fruit. They explain how they traditionally started fires locally without having matchboxes.

This activity usually runs parallel to the gorilla trekking experience and lasts 2 hours or longer depending on the distance travelled by the gorilla family. Other activities include chasing gold monkeys. It is approximately two hours by car or helicopter from Kigali City. Travel time to destination is approximately 25 minutes.