Group Self Drive Trips in Rwanda

Rwanda self drive group tours are some of the easiest group safaris to pull off in East Africa. The Land of a thousand hills is not as big as her neighboring countries which means you can easily explore this country on a short trip. Rwanda is rich in cultural related experiences, wildlife excursions and aquatic experiences at Lake Kivu. If you are intending to pull off Group Self Drive Trips in Rwanda, you need to plan a few things in advance. Among these include:

Number of Cars

Self drive group tours help you cut the costs but sometimes it is hard to find a single car to accommodate a group of lets say eight people. In such instances you have to decide on whether you will hire two cars or you will opt to hire a safari Van.

Safari land cruisers tend to have better ground clearance and are more photogenic compared to the safari vans. Sometimes travelers prefer the classic safari Land cruiser. In that case, you might have to opt for hiring two safari cars in Rwanda instead of hiring one.

Most car rental agencies do not offer the Land cruiser extended (7/8 seater) on self drive basis. Therefore in your initial plans, you should not include it among the cars to consider even when it has the desired capacity for passengers.

Terrains

It is important to already have an itinerary in mind before contacting any car rental agency in Rwanda. The terrains of the places you are planning to visit will determine whether you can take a safari van or you can stick to a Land cruiser for your group self drive tour in Rwanda.

Land cruisers are designed with better off-roading capabilities than the safari vans. Therefore you will do well to only decide the car you intend to rent after analyzing your itinerary.

Plan For Your Accommodation

One of the challenges faced in group tours is finding lodges or guesthouses that can attend to your group. In most cases, lodges only have a few rooms available. In order to increase your chances of finding accommodation in your desired locations, it is recommended that you do your booking at least six months in advance.

For those considering a mix of lodges and campsites, you might have to consider hiring a car with a rooftop tent or ground camping. Most of the car rental agencies do not install rooftop tents on safari vans, you might have to stick to the Land Cruisers in case you are planning to pull off a rooftop tent camping trip.

Rooftop tent camping tends to be more expensive than ground camping. Unfortunately ground camping is not viable for large ground unless you intend to use inflatable mattresses. Most car rental agencies offer foam mattresses. It is close to impossible to fit seven foam mattresses in one car and still have some space left for luggage.

Pack Light

A self drive group tour requires passengers to pack light. Unlike couple safaris where you have the whole car for just a couple, in self drive group safaris you must plan for your luggage. In you intend to carry a great deal of luggage, then you might have to consider hiring a car with a roof rack.

Unfortunately there are a number of inconveniences that come with putting luggage on a roofrack one of which is making it impossible to access basement parking spaces as well as a likelihood of having your luggage spoilt by sudden rain in case it was not covered very well.

Power Line For Charging Devices

Though some car come with about three cigarette lighter ports, it is important that you hire a car that has a powerline. This is the only away to ensure that everyone can easily charge their phone or their electronic device while on the road.

In conclusion, Group Self Drive Trips in Rwanda are fun as long as they are planned very well. Many car rental agencies in Rwanda offer free travel consultancy. You can make use of their services when planning for your self drive trip in Rwanda.