Rwanda is a famous destination when it comes to offering remarkable travel adventures. The most vibrant activities that Rwanda offers to travelers include; gorilla trekking, chimpanzee trekking, volcano climbing, bird watching, golden monkey trekking, canopy walk, genocide / historical tours and the cultural encounters.
Rwanda is visited by over hundred visitors on a daily basis either via Kigali international airport, via other border points or through Uganda’s Entebbe airport. Rwanda is a peaceful country with hospitable people. Despite of the country doing great in the tourism sector, still there are untapped tourism spots that very few travelers have yet explored over the years.
With the need to tap all the tourism potentials, Rwanda unleashed another charming rock of Kamegeri which is most ignored by visitors when having their Rwanda adventure. Locally the rock is called “Urutare Rwa Kamageri” meaning the rock of Kamageri.
The rock is situated in Ruhango district named in the memory of Kamageri who met his death on this rock. Kamageri was an advisor of one of the early kings of Rwanda called Mwami Yuhi 1V Gahindiro who was among the early rulers of the kingdom of Rwanda.
Mwami Yuhi 1V Gahindiro was one of the peaceful leaders who governed Rwanda in 1746 to 1853.
King Mwami Yuhi 1V Gahindirowas known for his peaceful skills of leadership. Kamageri was one of the king’s most trusted chiefs whom the local used to call Umula wahadasohoka in the Kinyarwanda. KingMwami Yuhi 1V Ghindiro was so intelligent, proving it out when Kamageri tried to give him a weird advice.
Kamageri advised the king that the isolated rock can help in ending violence and stopping law breakers and hence guiding the king from his enemies. His advice was that the rock should be used for punishing criminals by heating the rock using firewood until it turns red then the criminal is put on it to burn till he/she dies.
When he gave the advice the king looked as if he was happy with the idea. Therefore the king ordered the guards to heat the rock for the ready criminals, when it was ready the king instead instructed thatKamageribe tied and scraped on the hot rock and be burnt till his death.
What the king did shocked everyone present during the scene and those who heard it later. The king said Kamageri is the right person to kill because such characters cannot develop the kingdom.
During the king’s statement he said, how would Kamageri come with such kind of idea to his fellow people despite of the crime they might have committed? The king testified to the people that it was right for the kingdom to be free from the man who suggests weird things against other fellows despite of the crime. The king wasn’t a violent man who could kill anyone no matter the crime. The king believed in simple punishments that are only to correct the criminal to do the right.
Rwanda has taken this initiative to offer new travel experiences like the rock of Kamageri as one of the tourism sites that travelers can pass to before or after exploring the entire Rwanda. Travelers can touch the rock which is still believed to be warm despite the weather changes.
This rock can be accessed by road situated on good location just beside the road. Visitors can visit the rock using public means such as buses and taxis, boarding from either Ruhango Bus Park or Nyanza Bus Park where the buses and the taxis can pass via the rock. This rock adds a new experience on the gorilla experience from the Volcanoes national park, the primate safaris in Nyungwe or wildlife encounters in Akagera National park.
