Hiking Mount Jali
KING RUGANZU TRAIL IN KIGALI CITY Did you ever wish to visit Kigali City and do adventure tourism there? Many of people are debating about hiking in Kigali city, some of them say that hiking is not possible in Kigali because it is a city, but it is not right. Reality is that Kigali city has different mountainous regions where hiking is possible and is enjoyable. Example of mountains that are found on that place; Mount Jali, Mount Kigali, Kanyinya mountain, etc.…. Real Life Safaris is ready to take you at those places and help you to experience easy hike, tough hike, moderate hike and nature walk while doing scenic view of Kigali City on the same time. One of mountains that are found in Kigali we wish to hike with you is Mount Jali. The look of Mount Jali; it is mountainous, flat, rocky area with valleys. Mount Jali is one of the most eye-catching landforms that can be seen in the city. Mountain Jali hike takes about 5 hours go and back including stopovers. This gives you great views of Kigali City. The Hike Starts from Gatsata and Ends the same place by using looping trail. It takes about 3,5 hours to reach the top from the starting point and 1.5 hours slopping down until you reach to the starting point. This hike is possible the whole day or a half of the day like from the morning to the noon or from lunch time up to evening, the choice is in your hands, you choose depending on the time you are available. Equipment and other things Real Life Safaris provides to tourist are the following; hiking stick and Mineral water. It is important for a tourist to bring the following; hiking shoes and packed snacks. Mount Jali it is not a mountain as its name says, it is just a hill that has elevation between 2,000 and 2,080 meters above the sea level. It is located in the northern part of Kigali city, Gasabo district. On your way to up to the hill you will see residences and local people, some of them are working in their farms. Things you will see during hiking Jali by using King Ruganzu trail are big stones, rolling hills, valleys with different birds species, different kinds of reptiles and native or exotic shrubs/trees. On your way back from Mount Jali going to the starting point, you pass in village which is around the mountain and you meet local people from there who are friendly, some of them they approach you for talking with you. Most of them they don’t speak foreign languages, they only speak their mother tongue Kinyarwanda. Hence, translations made by tour guide are needed so that local people be able to communicate with tourists in easy way. They tell you many stories about what happened in that region long time ago. Ruganzu II Ndoli was Mwami (king) of the Kingdom of Rwanda since 1510 until death in 1543. He was the son of King Ndahiro II Cyamatare and Nyirangabo-ya-Nyantaba. King Ruganzu II is the most renowned king of Rwanda. He was a great warrior and was alleged to have performed miracles. His life and reign pervade many legends in the history of Rwanda. Real Life Safaris like to do hiking tours in the region of Mount Jali. In that mountain there is a source of water that always comes from the rock regardless of the season. Even in the summer season there is always a lot of water coming from the rock. We have been wondering the story behind that source of water, but fortunately on our previous trip there we met an old man who is called Kabiligi Pascal , he is aged between 103 and 105 years old. He narrated to us the following story “Once upon time, one day when King Ruganzu were fighting with the army from the neighboring country, but because of the way those army had special tactics of the battle, King Ruganzu lost the battle and decided to escape in the home of the citizen who lived near the place where the battle was taking place and hide him. After reaching home, he asked the citizen to give him water to drink. The citizen replied to him that she didn't have enough water because of the general problem of insufficient water in the region. Citizen gave King Ruganzu that little water in the cup and he drank it but kept being thirsty because that water was not enough. After that, the citizen requested King Ruganzu to do miracles because he was the greatest king who had supernatural power, she kneeled down and pleaded with the king to do miracles so that they could get enough water in the region. As they were sitting in the balcony of the house, there was a rock that was near that home, king Ruganzu observed the rock, suddenly took his bow and arrow, and then shot at the rock. After doing that directly a lot of water started to come from that rock. That lady was so happy for the miracles she was seeing; she jumped because of joy and happiness and appreciated King Ruganzu. From that moment, the lady passed in the home of every citizen from the village telling them a good story of what King Ruganzu had already done. There is a lot of information related to this trail which we did not put in this book. For any inquiry, please don’t hesitate to call us or reach us out.