A new dawn for ‘the land of a thousand hills’

Almost 25 years after the Rwanda genocide, Ben Ross finds a rejuvenated nation that offers visitors luxury on the cusp of the wilderness

‘Wherever you stop in this country,” said Alex Kagaba, “the ground will always produce people.” We’d parked on a dusty escarpment along the shore of Lake Kivu to take in the view. This time, I thought he might be wrong. A couple of breeze-block homesteads, tin roofs gleaming, stood out on a hillside swathed in deep green, but for once we weren’t passing through the settlements that lined our route, weren’t being waved at by neatly clad schoolchildren shouting “Mzungu!” (their go-to greeting for white visitors). Then, sure enough, an unheard signal: first one, then another, then half a dozen boys appeared, jogging down the asphalt.

Grinning, the first tried his luck: “Hello mzungu! Give me money!” before