Why this ride
From Kigali it runs 157 km to Gisenyi; allow about 2 h 08 of riding. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 2,300 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Rwanda Congo Nile Scenic Road: Kigali to Gisenyi
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 157 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 08
- Journey
- One way; return travel is separate
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Kigali
Rwanda calls itself the land of a thousand hills, and Kigali is draped over a good number of them, at roughly fifteen hundred metres above the sea. The city climbs and drops in short steep pitches, with red-earth lanes running off the tarmac and views across to the next ridge every time you crest a rise. It is clean, notably so, with a monthly community clean-up day and a ban on plastic bags that visitors notice at the airport. The roads are well surfaced, the lane discipline is better than in most capitals in the region, and the air at this altitude is cooler than the equator suggests.
Read the complete Kigali write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Kigali is where the day begins. Next is Musanze.
2. Musanze
Musanze is the town you go through to reach the gorillas. It lies at the foot of the Virunga volcanoes in the north-west of Rwanda, a high, cool town of tidy streets and bustling markets, with the cones of Bisoke, Karisimbi and Sabyinyo rising behind it like props from a film. The mountains are shared with Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the border lies not far off. The population is large, more than eighty thousand, so Musanze has fuel stations, banks, supermarkets and a whole industry of guides and drivers.
Read the complete Musanze write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Musanze comes up about 95 km into the recorded legs. Next is Gisenyi.
3. Gisenyi
Two countries share one shoreline here, and the border runs between the beach bars. Gisenyi, now officially Rubavu, is Rwanda's lakeside resort on the northern shore of Lake Kivu, and the Congolese city of Goma starts a few kilometres across the line, under the dark cone of Nyiragongo. The volcano is the dominant fact of the landscape: its 2002 eruption sent lava through Goma, and its crater holds one of the world's largest lava lakes, glowing red at night when the sky is clear. Cross-border crowds, market women with baskets on their heads and boda riders weaving between them give the town a restless energy.
Read the complete Gisenyi write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 157 km.
Leg by leg
Kigali to Musanze
Kigali → Musanze is 95 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Musanze to Gisenyi
Musanze → Gisenyi is 62 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.