Rwandans Called Upon to Join Bird Tourism

Rwandans are being called upon to visit birds so that they can see the different types and also the beauty of Rwanda.

Jean Pierre Rwasa,the head of Terintambwe Tourisme Bugesera cooperative[TTBC],a cooperative concerned with birds tourism, said that “the tourism done in Bugesera district is most times done by foreigners and therefore asks Rwandans to also come for it.

“We do not want this tourism to be done by foreigners only, but Rwandans also should come for it since they are many types of birds that they have not seen and they can get to see the from here, “said Rwasa.

Jean Pierre Kangabe one of the leaders of tourists of birds, said that since they started birds’ tourism  in Bugesera district in 2011,there have been few Rwandan that go to visit.

He adds on that “Rwandans have now known what tourism is since they visit parks of different types, but they have not done much bird tourism. They should come and we show them the different types of bird they have not seen, that are mainly in western countries, and other parts of the world, and are now here in Rwanda”.

To visit these birds foreigners pay 10,000Rwf per person while Rwandans pay Rwf3000 per person ,adding on that the best time to visit the birds is in the early morning hours like at 5:30am-7:00am and also at 5:00pm.

TTBC was started with an aim of promoting bird tourism and it works in four sectors which include Rweru, Rilima, Gashora and Juru.

Since tourism started in Bugesera district, 200 tourists have come to visit the bird park but Rwandans are really few yet even most of them that come are just escorting the foreigners.

Some of the birds that are visited mostly include, ibishuhe, Nyirabarazana, amafundi, imisure, imisamanzuki among others.

Bugesera district comes the first in bird tourism in Rwanda. It has mainly birds of the water and seasonal birds, because of the swamps around with about 200 types of birds.