The timeless Rwandan ceremony Kwita Izina, a traditional naming ceremony is one of the annual events that you should not miss in Rwanda. Kwita Izina is part of celebration of the birth of a new child in a family. For three decades, this same ceremony has been perfomed for Rwanda’s newly born mountain gorillas by rangers, researchers, and those charged with the safekeeping of these unique animals.

In 2007, the ceremony was officially named Kwita Izina and has become an exciting part of Rwanda’s tourism. On the conservation calendar, the Kwita Izina is to be celebrated in September every year. Though it was celebrated in June, the date was pushed to September from 2015 to harmonise events in the East African tourism sector. Visitors should not miss this event given that it is a celebration of Rwanda’s conservation efforts in protecting the mountain gorillas.

Gorilla Twins

The birth of twins is a rare event in the gorilla world. On 3rd February 2011 twins were born to Kabatwa. The birth of twins is a rare event for any population of gorillas and very few cases of twins have been documented in the wild or captivity.