Ingagi Lodge

Kinigi, the village at the foot of the Virunga Volcanoes, is where Ingagi Park View Lodge is set, close to the point where gorilla treks into Volcanoes National Park begin. Founded in 2014 by Rwandan native Herbert Gato, the lodge takes its name from the Kinyarwanda word for gorilla. It is a family-run stay. Rooms range from Deluxe Forest Cottages at 56 square metres to an Ingagi Villa family suite of 97 square metres, each built with local timber framing and traditional Rwandan craftsmanship. The Muhoza Cottage, tucked into forest, has its own porch, sauna and massage room. An organic garden supplies more than 28 varieties of vegetables to the kitchen, and roughly seven in ten staff are drawn from the surrounding community. The upstairs Panoramic Bar looks out over the national park and pours local banana wine and Rwandan beer alongside its cocktail list. You can hear birdsong from the cottage porches, and volcano views recur through the property, from the bar terrace to the dining room. Beyond gorilla trekking, guests reach golden monkey tracking, a hike up Mount Bisoke's crater, and cycling routes around Lake Burera and Lake Ruhondo. A spa offers massage and a eucalyptus sauna. The lodge works as a base for the trek and a stop worth lingering at in its own right.