2 Best Sights in Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda

The 12-acre Ellen Campus opened in 2022 providing the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund with a permanent learning and research facility. And while the campus is home to the Sandy and Harold Price Research Center, there are opportunities for the public to learn and explore making this an ideal pre- or post-gorilla tracking activity for young and old. Visitors can see the grounds via the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo Interpretive Trails, which features more than 250,000 native plants, and the Cindy Broder Conservation Gallery which contains an artifact-filled replica of Fossey’s mountain cabin as well as a 360-degree immersive theater; allow 1½ hours for the self-guided tour of the exhibit. There's also the Gorilla Café if you need a snack and the gift shop sells unique gorilla nose prints among other things. 

A 7-km (4-mile) trip from gorilla-tourism hub Musanze, this cultural exchange center offers an eclectic mix of diversions for the post-primate safari crowd and independent travelers alike. Get your cultural fix via an extensive itinerary of activities that includes classes in weaving traditional baskets, dance and drumming, painting with a local artist, brewing banana beer, or cooking local cuisine. Red Rocks can also arrange cultural heritage and wooden-bike tours, or a homestay with a local family. The extensive grounds include a boma fire pit, a gift shop run by a local women’s cooperative, a bar, an outdoor dance pavilion, and several campsites. Fifty percent of revenues from Red Rocks’ activities are channeled to the communities. The annual Red Rocks Cultural Festival celebrates culture and conservation throughout the week leading up to the Kwita Izina gorilla naming ceremony, which takes place in the first week of September.