Kigali to Sorwathe Tea Estate
2-3 hours from Kigali to Sorwathe Tea Estate
Visit the Sorwathe Tea Estate, one of Rwanda's finest highland tea plantations perched in the dramatic hills above the Nyungwe Forest. A guided estate tour walks you through the full tea production process: the emerald rows of Camellia sinensis bushes plucked by hand by skilled women workers, the withering, rolling, oxidation, and drying processes in the factory, and the tasting room where you compare the estate's extraordinary range of black, green, and white teas. The views from the estate over the surrounding hills are spectacular.
Spend the afternoon exploring the surrounding area. The tea estate's community ecotourism programme often includes a home visit to a local tea-farming family and an introduction to the traditional Intore dance performance. The drive back toward Kigali offers continued views of Rwanda's extraordinary agricultural landscape, one of the most intensively farmed and meticulously maintained countries in Africa.
Return to your lodge or continue toward your next destination. Rwanda's cultural tourism experiences, from the tea estates to the gorillas to the genocide memorials, combine to create one of Africa's most thoughtful and rewarding travel itineraries.
