June 2025

Car With a Roof Top Tent for Hire in Rwanda

Rwanda, known as the “land of a thousand hills,” offers a breathtaking landscape for adventurers seeking an immersive outdoor experience. One of the most convenient and adventurous ways to explore this beautiful country is by renting a car equipped with a rooftop tent. This guide provides comprehensive details about car rental services offering rooftop tents in Rwanda, including features, pricing, rental terms, and suggested itineraries, ensuring travellers have a memorable and comfortable journey.

1. Overview of Car Rental Services in Rwanda

• Rwanda boasts several car rental companies offering a variety of vehicles, including those equipped with rooftop tents.
• Major cities like Kigali and Gisenyi host numerous rental agencies catering to both tourists and locals.
• Prior reservation is recommended, especially during peak tourist seasons, to secure the desired vehicle and tent setup.

2. Types of Vehicles Available

• Rental agencies in Rwanda typically offer a range of vehicles suitable for various terrains, including compact SUVs, 4x4s, and pickups.
• Vehicles are equipped with sturdy roof racks designed to support rooftop tents, ensuring safety and stability during travel.
• Popular vehicle models for rooftop tent setups include Toyota Land Cruiser LX, V8, Prado among others

3. Rooftop Tent Features and Specifications

• Rooftop tents provided by rental services are designed for durability, comfort, and ease of setup.
• Most tents accommodate 2-3 people and come with a high-density foam mattress for a restful night’s sleep.
• Tent materials are weather-resistant, capable of withstanding rain and wind, ensuring a cozy shelter in various conditions.
• Setup and dismantle instructions are provided, along with necessary accessories such as tent poles, stakes, and a ladder.

4. Pricing and Rental Terms

• Rental rates for vehicles with rooftop tents vary depending on factors such as vehicle type, rental duration, and included amenities.
• Prices typically range from $10 to $30 per day, with discounts available for longer rental periods.
• Rental terms usually include comprehensive insurance coverage, unlimited mileage within Rwanda, and 24/7 roadside assistance.
• Additional charges may apply for accessories such as camping chairs, tables, and cooking equipment.

5. Booking Process and Requirements

• Booking a car with a rooftop tent can be done online through the rental agency’s website or by contacting their office directly.
• Required documents usually include a valid driver’s license, passport, and a refundable security deposit held on a credit card.
• Rental agreements specify the terms and conditions, including insurance coverage, liability, and vehicle maintenance responsibilities.

6. Recommended Itineraries and Camping Sites

• Rwanda offers a diverse range of attractions, including national parks, scenic landscapes, and cultural experiences.
• Popular destinations for camping with a rooftop tent include Volcanoes National Park, Nyungwe Forest National Park, and Lake Kivu.
• Campsites within national parks and private reserves offer basic facilities such as toilets, showers, and designated cooking areas.
• Travelers are advised to adhere to park regulations, practice responsible camping, and respect the environment and local communities.

7. Safety and Security Considerations

• Rwanda is generally considered safe for travellers, with a low crime rate and friendly locals.
• However, it’s essential to exercise caution and common sense, especially when camping in remote areas.
• Secure valuables and lock the vehicle when unattended, and avoid isolated camping spots, particularly at night.
• Emergency contact numbers for local authorities and rental agencies should be readily available for quick assistance if needed.

MERITS OF A RENTAL CAR WITH A ROOF TOP TENT

Renting a car with a rooftop tent offers several merits, especially for adventurous travelers or outdoor enthusiasts looking to explore nature while enjoying the comfort of a mobile accommodation. Here are the detailed merits of renting such a setup:

1. Mobility and Flexibility

One of the biggest advantages of a rental car with a rooftop tent is the mobility it provides. You’re not tied to specific campsites or lodging locations, allowing you to explore a wider range of destinations, including remote or off-grid areas where traditional accommodations might be scarce.

2. Cost-Effectiveness

Compared to renting an RV or booking hotel rooms along your journey, renting a car with a rooftop tent can be more cost-effective. You save on accommodation costs, especially in areas where lodging options are limited or expensive.

3. Close to Nature

Sleeping in a rooftop tent brings you closer to nature. You can enjoy the sights and sounds of the outdoors while still having a comfortable and secure place to rest. This immersive experience enhances the overall adventure and allows you to truly appreciate the natural beauty around you.

4. Ease of Setup

Most rooftop tents are designed for quick and easy setup, usually within minutes. This convenience is particularly valuable after a long day of driving or outdoor activities when you just want to relax and unwind without spending time setting up a traditional tent on the ground.

5. Safety and Security

Rooftop tents provide an elevated sleeping platform, offering protection from ground-level hazards such as insects, animals, and inclement weather. Additionally, many rooftop tents come with built-in locks or security features, providing peace of mind when camping in remote or unfamiliar areas.

6. Comfortable Sleeping Arrangements

Rooftop tents typically feature a high-density foam mattress or similar sleeping pad, offering better comfort compared to sleeping directly on the ground in a traditional tent. Some models also include additional amenities such as ventilation, windows, and built-in lighting for added comfort and convenience.

7. Space Efficiency

Renting a car with a rooftop tent maximizes space efficiency, especially for small groups or solo travellers. The tent occupies the roof of the vehicle, leaving the interior space available for storing gear, luggage, or additional passengers.

8. Versatility

Rooftop tents are compatible with various types of vehicles, including SUVs, trucks, and even some sedans with roof racks. This versatility allows you to choose a vehicle that suits your preferences and travel needs while still enjoying the benefits of a rooftop tent.

9. Experience Freedom

With a rental car equipped with a rooftop tent, you have the freedom to travel at your own pace and explore off-the-beaten-path destinations. You’re not constrained by rigid travel itineraries or accommodation reservations, allowing for a more spontaneous and adventurous journey.

10. Memorable Experience

Ultimately, renting a car with a rooftop tent offers a unique and memorable camping experience. Whether you’re embarking on a road trip, exploring national parks, or simply seeking outdoor adventure, sleeping under the stars in a rooftop tent creates lasting memories and fosters a deeper connection with the natural world.

In conclusion, renting a car with a rooftop tent in Rwanda provides adventurers with an exciting opportunity to explore the country’s natural beauty and cultural heritage at their own pace. With comprehensive details about rental services, vehicle options, pricing, booking process, and safety considerations, travellers can embark on a memorable journey filled with breathtaking landscapes and immersive experiences.

Rwanda – The East African Community Cultural Destination

A Gorilla is both a blessing and a handicap. It is a blessing because Rwanda has been able to create a dynamic tourism industry around these primates.

Not only has it been responsible for generating around 90 percent of the US $ 175 million in 2009 annual tourism revenues, but it has done so in a sustainable way with Rwanda being known for its world class conservation efforts with regards to the 380 mountain gorillas in the Virunga volcano range.

Developing a vibrant tourism activity around gorillas has been a brilliant strategy and none can question its positive impact. However, it is a handicap, as Rwanda tourism industry is perhaps over-reliant on gorillas and re-examining this dependence on a single attraction is vital.

For Rwanda to overcome the single attraction challenge and to sustain its tourism growth momentum, more efforts are required to diversify product offerings. This is crucial in order to leverage other avenues where the country is well positioned to compete and to significantly augment its tourism receipts. One of these avenues is cultural tourism.

Cultural tourism is a critical component to Rwanda’s tourism product diversification agenda, and has projected annual revenues of $31M by 2015.

The foundations to support cultural tourism are being developed. Rwanda has a rich cultural heritage and investments are being made to ensure the necessary infrastructure and the development of clusters, especially in strengthening the creative industries which include handicrafts, dance and music.

Mayor Winifred Mpembyemungu of Musanze district, one of the most dynamic areas in terms of tourism development, declared “The number of hotels increased from six in 2005 to 15 in 2009, and we have eight registered cooperatives with over 400 members involved in making arts and crafts.” This illustrates the successful development of a cultural tourism foundation.

Rwanda understands the potential of cultural tourism and it is the rationale behind organizing a biennial event, launched in 1998, dubbed the “Pan African Dance Festival (FESPAD).” It was mandated by the 67th Council of ministers of the former Organization of African Unity (OAU), now the African Union (AU).

Under the auspice of the Rwanda Development Board (RDB), the seventh edition of FESPAD welcomed participants from ten countries in Africa, Europe and Asia. During the seven-day festival, there was a wide range of activities including art exhibitions, concerts, dance workshops, conferences and a national dance competition.

The newly introduced dance competition was inspired by Rwanda’s rich cultural heritage.

More than ninety dancers from nineteen districts registered and proudly represented their hills and demonstrated their skills, passion and enthusiasm to an entertained public. Dancers performed both traditional and contemporary dances. The traditional dance forms included Igishakamba, Ikinimba, Gusama, Umushagiriro, Imishayayo, Ikinyemera, Urusengo, Icumu, Intwatwa, and other dances that testify that traditions are still very much a part of today’s Rwandan culture.

The very talented young Rwandans surprised many with hip hop, free style and Ndombolo, demonstrating that Rwanda has traditions but is also part of global movements.

I was reminded of Milton Berle’s quote:”If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.” Each dance competitor built an eye-catching and solid door which I hope will soon be noticed and knocked on by the right visitors. Dance is a perfect means for Rwanda to showcase her culture and can be packaged as a product of cultural tourism as through its different forms, we see the Rwanda of yesterday, the continuation of tradition and how Rwanda has integrated its unique character in order to function in the global village.

The dance competition helped visiting participants discover the rich Rwandan culture, through several experiences that were offered by means of a single one-stop shop. The shop was a tent that was transformed into a cultural village, with a view to demonstrating the abundant opportunities that arise when public and private sector partnerships (PPP) are deployed to their full capacity.

Lao-tzu once said, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Rwanda fully understands this, as it is developing PPP (Private Public Partnership) mechanisms and has commenced its journey by taking strides in nurturing meaningful partnerships between the public and private sector.

This is demonstrated with the recent dance competition and gives hope that such partnerships will increase in new avenues. Each group helped to build the foundation for this event; the RDB organized the venue while the private sector organized concessions.

This partnership provided a full cultural experience to visitors. They were invited to a fully furnished traditional house, with a professional guide from the Rwanda tour and travel association (RTTA). This was free of charge, but supported the purchase of Rwandan handicrafts from more than 35 local handicraft associations. This platform also enabled the handicraft association and tour operators to showcase and sell their products and services, while the enchanting dancers performed on stage.

In the long run, the impact would be twofold. First, there could be an increase in the number of private sector entrepreneurs that would earn a living from leveraging Rwandan culture. The second is that there would be an increase in the number of tourists attracted by dance, but also drawn by the marketing initiatives of cultural tourism entrepreneurs, and by a curiosity to experience Rwanda’s unique history and culture.

FESPAD is the ideal teaser to remind all tourism stakeholders about our cultural heritage and its hidden potential, which can boost Rwanda’s hopes of becoming the East African Cultural destination.

It is, therefore, not surprising that after three nights and four days in Rwanda during FESPAD, Lauryn Hill, the first woman or hip-hop artist to win five Grammy Awards declared to the press, “The culture is rich, the people are beautiful and I would like to come back.”

Rwanda is So much more than ‘Just Gorillas’

Ms. Rica Rwigamba, head of tourism and conservation within the Rwanda Development Board, during her visit to the World Travel Market in London last week made it plain to stand visitors and the media, that Rwanda had a lot more to offer than ‘just gorillas’. While admittedly Rwanda is still best known for the tracking of the rare mountain gorillas in the ‘Parc de Volcanoes’ in the West of the country along the common borders with Uganda and the DR Congo, RDB has in recent years made a determined efforts to opening up new areas and attractions, to offer visitors a wider range of tourism products.

The effort has largely paid off with more and more visitors coming to Rwanda and spending more time in the country, in the process pushing the tourism sector to the top of the economic performance list.

A canopy walk at Nyungwe Forest National Park, said to be the first in any of East Africa’s rain forests, the expansion of tracks and viewing points in this particular park, the partnership with ‘African Parks’ which is now managing the Akagera National Park and investing over 20 million US Dollars there to improve infrastructure, but also the introduction of suitable boats to take tourists on trips along the shores of Lake Kivu, have all made an immediate impact on the tourist itineraries now offered to visitors, keeping Rwanda at the cutting edge of the East African tourism sectors.

It was also ascertained that the average stay in country has now gradually moved towards the 6 day intermediate target, and with the recent start of KLM flights, operating from Amsterdam via Entebbe to Kigali five times a week, more and more tourists are expected to visit ‘the land of a thousand hills’.

Kigali round about; Modern structures are sprouting up; Centenary house is among the new structures

If one is assigned to depict Kigali City to people who have never been here, and he’s supposed to tell it as it is, he would easily be indicted of exaggeration or even risk losing his writing job.

No one would believe him, he would be rubbished as a fascinated dreamer describing a fairyland city. As for people who live in it, some don’t notice the beauty of their city until they visit other cities outside Rwanda.

Thus the common saying, “One can’t know what they’ve got till when it’s gone”.

Kigali is an attractive city during day and a sleeping beauty in the night. It is characterized by well manicured roads and pedicured sidewalks and clearly marked lanes. Street and security lights (that work), green turf, palm trees and flowers give it a lovely arresting look.

The roundabouts and the magnificently created fountains put a marvelous magic touch to this vibrant city.

The cleanness of this city is beyond description; it’s also easier to find a polar-bear in the desert than finding a polythene bag in Kigali and Rwanda at large.

They do not allow polythene bags in the country, so, there are no roadside eyesores that continue to rustle and float around in the wind like you can find elsewhere.

Like officers on duty, poles that hold trash cans stand erect on all road sides in the entire city. The cleanliness of Kigali is partly made easy by the Rwandan culture of not eating in public, Rwandese believe that eating should be done in appropriate places.

Another facet that makes Kigali an amazing city is the sociability of the people. There is no hostility, violence or edginess that you find so common in other countries.

Asking for direction, unlike other cities where if one doesn’t turn a blind ear when you ask him for direction before asking for a’ little something’, people in Kigali will get out of their way to give you the right direction, if possible even accompany you, to make sure you don’t get lost, not because they have a lot of time or are trying to impress you, but I guess that’s how they are wired naturally.

Another rare thing about Kigali and Rwandan citizens is their obedience to traffic laws. It’s a well known-open secret that in most African countries nobody follows traffic rules, not even pedestrians, but in Rwanda traffic laws are respected and of course this is made easy by the fact that traffic lights are in working order and zebra-crossings are well marked and repainted at any sign of fading, traffic officers also doing a terrific job 24/7.

(But although this is the case, here I don’t give our drivers 100% credit. I believe they should add a little more respect to zebra-crossings. Pedestrians also need to know and practice their rights here.)

Kigali city is also a bicycle free city! The only bicycles you can spot in Kigali are sports bicycles, bicycles were gently pushed to city suburbs and were replaced by motorbikes, operated by qualified riders in uniforms.

It’s also a rule to have a helmet both for the passenger and for the ‘motari’. It’s also believed to be easier to see a refrigerator in an Eskimo’s igloo than seeing a taxi-Moto in Kigali ferrying two passengers.

Another thing that makes Kigali worth writing about is the security. Whether on leisure or business, day or night you can walk anywhere without fear of being mugged or your purse being snatched

Let alone petty thefts, car thefts, burglary and bank robberies in Rwanda are only read in Grisham novels and seen in movie scenes.

There are army patrols, police patrols and community security patrols. These can be seen patrolling peacefully without bothering a soul! Today, one can’t be wrong when one says Kigali will soon be a match for any Western city.

Rwanda Safaris Are a Dream Come True

Rwanda has done much over the past decade and a half to recover from its violent history. Today, Rwanda is a stable country and is rapidly growing economically. Because of the country’s beauty is has especially grown in terms of tourism. The lush mountains and vibrant plains are home to a variety of wildlife, making Rwanda a prime destination for safaris.

Go Gorilla Trekking in Rwanda

People venturing on Rwanda safaris are especially drawn to the famous mountain gorillas. Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park is home to the world’s largest number of endangered gorillas. It is actually one of the few countries in Africa where these magnificent creatures can still be found.

Experience Game Viewing in Akagera National Park

The country is also famous for its range of other types of wildlife. Safaris can be taken through places like Akagera National park where there are elephants, buffaloes, giraffes, zebras, and more. If planning to stay in Rwanda for several days, the small size of the country makes it ideal for taking a variety of tours as everything is in relatively close proximity. This convenience, along with the beauty and diversity of wildlife in Rwanda, makes it a dream safari destination.

Experience Nyungwe Forest

Nyungwe Forest is a high-altitude, mountainous rainforest in southern Rwanda established as a forest reserve in 1933. The conservation area consists of approximately 378 square miles (970 square kilometers). The forest is located in the Albertine Rift, a series of mountain ranges beginning at the Rwenzori mountains in western Uganda and Congo, continuing south into the Lendu Plateau in eastern Congo. Contiguous with Kibira National Park in Burundi, Nyungwe is one of the largest mountainous rainforests remaining in Africa. Just recently the Nyungwe forest received National Park status, making it East Africa’s largest protected high-altitude rainforest.