Ruhengeri (or Musanze) is the fourth largest town in Rwanda and has the most popular location as the town closed to the Volcanoes National Park. The town has a stunning backdrop of the most Easterly mountains in the chain. Along the main road of Ruhengeri are several hotels, restaurants and the airfield. The road to the Uganda border is not far away.
The town itself sprawls for several kilometres through a criss cross of pot holed roads and a huge central market, which is worth a visit if you have time. The local area produces most of Rwanda's potato crop and many amazing sights can be seen around the area of local people balancing sacks on their heads and bicycles! There are several local handicraft shops and markets in Ruhengeri and Kinigi. There are some good cultural villages and a great ladies weaving association, if you are interested in the cultural and eco-tourism side of Rwanda then you can spend an extra day in this area visiting some of the projects.
Just outside Ruhengeri, winding up into steep hills again, lie the dramatically scenic twin lakes of Burera and Ruhondo. There is great birding in the area around Ruhengeri. You can also visit Musanze Cave, which is around 2km long and was created by lava flow from one of the volcanoes.
The ORTPN office is situated in Ruhengeri town but most visitors make the short drive further towards the Volcanoes National Park to the large village of Kinigi which is where the park headquarters are based and trekkers mass every morning with their guides to be allocated the days permits for gorillas, golden monkey and other mountain hikes.
