Kyanika Border
Kyanika Border is another gateway point where travelers cross from Uganda to Rwanda and back and is a major city in the tourism sector.
Though a number of people in the community is not aware of the Kyanika border tourism growth. Kyanika border is also a town in Kisoro district in the south western region of Uganda.
Kyanika Border is located in the district of Kisoro in the Kigezi sub-region. This region is across Uganda’s international border with Rwanda. The border is approximately 11 km south East of the town of Kisoro and this is where the district headquarters are found.
Kyanika border is approximately 499 km by the road in the southwest of Kampala the capital city of Uganda. The average elevation is 1960 metres which is above the sea level.
The border is an immediate transit point between Uganda and Kisoro and the other two include Katuna/Gatuna and Kagitumba/Mirama Hills.
The border is easily connected to Lake Mutanda and Nteko in the south part of Bwindi Impenetrable National park, one can as well connect to Mgahinga National park near the Congo border.
There is an airfield in Kisoro which is tarmac, and the daily flights start from Entebbe Airport by Aero link for tourists.
There is a number of travelers using bus and tour vehicles, which bring tourists and visitors to Rwanda and Uganda and cross this border post. There are no issues with crossing the border from Uganda same as Tanzania and Kenya.
Rwanda at the border one needs safety equipment like the fire extinguishers and insurance certificate, however, there are no issues at the border.
Via Kyanika border, it is a 1-hour drive to Volcanoes National park a very amazing gorilla safari destination in Rwanda, and it will take more than an hour’s drive to reach Lake Kivu. One needs to have a tourist visa in order to cross the border. The visa fees in Uganda and Rwanda are cheap and this was brought up as a good idea for the growth of tourism between the two countries. There was a common stop border which was built for tourists and traders across the borders.
The East African VISA is for contrast to other East African Community member states, and it’s only the Burundi region that has slammed the door into the face of every tourist to cross, for instance, from Rwanda into Burundi, one needs to visit Burindi after obtaining the VISA.
If one has an itinerary for both Rwanda and Uganda, you will need to cross at the Cyanika border. One can trek mountain Gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable National park or Mgahinga Gorilla National park and then cross over to Kigali. If possible you will trek the mountain Gorillas of Rwanda at Parc de Volcanoes.
Gorilla trekking can be done with Golden Monkey at the border and during the peak season, if Gorilla permits are sold out in one country tour operators can easily trek the Mountain Gorillas in the other country which has the availability of permits.
Another reason to cross over to another country is the high rate of Gorilla permit in Rwanda which costs’ 1500USD well in Uganda the Gorilla Trekking Permit costs 600USD thus makes one cross the border of Kyanika too Uganda to trek the Mountain Gorillas.
Kyanika Border can be crossed by all East African countries.
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