Ethnographic Museum of Rwanda

The museum in Huye was built in the 1980s as a gift from Belgium and holds the country's main ethnographic collection: agricultural and craft tools, basketry, pottery, dress, musical instruments, hunting and beekeeping equipment, and a full-size reconstruction of a traditional house showing how it was framed and thatched. It is arranged by theme across seven galleries and remains the best single place to understand Rwandan material culture.

What you actually see

• The house reconstruction - a full-size traditional dwelling showing its framing and thatch.
• The basketry - the woven work Rwanda is best known for, in its older forms.
• The instruments - drums, zithers and other traditional instruments.
• The tool collections - farming, hunting and craft equipment arranged by theme.

When to go

Year round; the museum keeps daily hours. Mornings are quietest. Huye is cooler than Kigali and pleasant in any season.

Honest expectations

Photography inside is restricted or charged. Labelling is uneven and a guide adds a great deal. The drive from Kigali takes about two and a half hours each way.

Nearby

Huye town surrounds it, and Nyungwe Forest is west.