Bisate Lodge is one of the luxurious lodges you can ever stay in as you take on your gorilla tour. The lodge is strategically located in a natural amphitheater of an eroded volcanic crater of an ancient volcano outside volcanoes national park.
This Wilderness Safaris lodge is Rwanda’s most beautifully designed, luxury retreat, set in 42 hectares of land and with stunning views of Mount Bisoke.
Location
Just outside the Volcanoes National Park in north Rwanda, Bisate Lodge is a 20-minute drive to the park headquarters – the starting point for gorilla treks. The capital city of Kigali (nearest airport) is 105km (65 miles) drive; the nearest city, Musanze, is 6km (under four miles) away.
Service & facilities
Of the 45 staff, more than 50 percent are from the local area. Service is always smiling, swift (hiking boots left on the doorstep are cleaned and returned before you’ve even noticed that they’ve gone) and the fact that there are so few guests here means there’s plenty of time for chatting to barman Clement Manzi over drinks or agronomist Jean-Moise Habimana, who helps anyone who wants to plant a tree before they leave (it’s part of the hotel’s ongoing indigenous reforestation project). Guests can also go with in-house guide Aline Umutoni on nature walks around the property and to meet the nearby villagers.
Rooms:
The six round villas perched on the hillside each have a tipped roof, walls clad with dried and woven grass matting, wooden floors and black-framed steel doors that open onto a bamboo balcony facing Mount Bisoke. In the living room, a pair of custom-made armchairs sit on a cowhide rug in front of a log-burning fire. There are also clusters of birdcage lights by the minibar, green geometric pattern cushions on the beds and trunks for bedside tables. Huge bathrooms have a black oval, resin bath tub in the centre, a walk-in shower and double sinks with round, leather-framed mirrors and Africology products. There are no televisions in the rooms but there is Wi-Fi.