Experience the best of Ruhengeri

Ruhengeri lies at about 1,850 metres in northern Rwanda, on a fertile plain below a line of volcanoes in the Virunga range. The town, also known as Musanze, is a market and transport centre in a region of potato fields and pyrethrum farms. Its cool, misty climate comes from the altitude, and the cone-shaped peaks of Bisoke, Karisimbi and Sabyinyo loom on the skyline.

Volcanoes National Park, a short drive away, protects a stretch of bamboo forest and misty slopes where mountain gorillas live, along with golden monkeys, and the research station founded by Dian Fossey stands between Karisimbi and Bisoke. Trails climb to Bisoke's crater lake. Near the town, the Musanze caves are a network of lava tubes, and Lakes Burera and Ruhondo, a pair of deep lakes among terraced hills, lie to the north-east.

Rwandan food is built on beans, potatoes, plantain and cassava, with brochettes of grilled goat or beef, isombe, cassava leaves cooked with groundnuts, and local tea and coffee. Banana beer is brewed in villages. Two dry seasons, from June to September and from December to February, alternate with two rainy seasons.