Le Pays des Mille Collines is how Rwandans refer to their own country, and it’s an apt description. There are eleven hills in the capitol city of Kigali alone.

And as you leave the city behind, that hilliness only continues.

Rwanda is also mostly a very green country, due to a healthy rainy season, and that leads to a veritable bounty, but those hills can either help or hinder when it’s time to get to market.

Of course, it’s not all green hills.

And it’s not all domesticated animals, either.

Sometimes the animals can be a bit difficult to see, especially in the long grass.

Do you see him there? Let’s take a closer look.

You see him now, yes? One must remain vigilant! Of course, when he finally stands up, it’s a bit easier.

At the end of the day, back in camp, it’s time to stop worrying about the lions and just enjoy the scenery.

Meanwhile, other parts of Rwanda are higher, steeper…

… wetter, and definitively more lush with rainforest growth.

But this is what you must tackle if you want to meet this fellow.

Thank you for coming along with me on my recent trip to Rwanda. My wife and I traveled there at the end of December 2019 and beginning of January 2020, and while in-country, besides the city of Kigali, we visited two of four big national parks, Akagera (where the savanna wildlife photos are from) and Volcanoes (where we met a family of six (out of twelve) gorillas). Akagera is in the eastern part of the country, bordering Tanzania, while Volcanoes is in the Virunga Massif highlands in the northwest, bordering Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

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All photos used in this post are either my own or used with permission from Carole Bianquis, copyright 2019, with all rights reserved. However, please feel free to reblog or share the post and the photos, as long as you include attribution and a link back to this original.