Rwanda is a landlocked East African country with a green, mountainous landscape. Its renowned Volcanoes National Park is home to mountain gorillas and golden monkeys. The park encompasses 4,507m-tall Mt. Karisimbi and 4 other forested volcanoes. In the southwest is Nyungwe National Park, with ancient montane rainforest that's a habitat for chimpanzees and other primates.

Kigali, the nation's capital, has a vibrant restaurant and nightlife scene. The Kigali Genocide Memorial documents the 1994 mass killings in Rwanda, associated with the civil war that ended the same year. In the northeast, bordering Tanzania, is sprawling Akagera National Park and its savannah – uncommon in Rwanda – which shelters wildlife including zebras, giraffes, hippos and elephants. Deep, crystal-clear Lake Kivu sits on the country’s western border with Democratic Republic of the Congo. On the lake's northern shore is Gisenyi and its beach resorts.

Rwanda has much to offer visitors, most notably the tracking of endangered mountain gorillas in the lush Virunga National Park, which extends across the peaks and jungle-covered slopes of the volcanic Virunga Mountains. Such up-close encounters with these surprisingly gentle great apes would be impossible today if not for the groundbreaking research of Dian Fossey, the iconic primatologist who was immortalised in the 1988 film "Gorillas In The Mist'. Fossey’s actions helped save the gorillas from extinction, and her death remains a mystery.

Other major tourist attractions include ancient Nyungwe Forest with its rich population of primate species.