Tourists both local and international primed for mountain gorilla treks and Big Five game drives will soon have a new reason to break up the wildlife sightings on hilly, Nkombo sector, Rusizi District, thanks in large part to a new investment, Sextanio Lodge on Lake Kivu’s Nkombo Island.
The island, roughly 22 square kilometres, and also Rwanda’s largest island is set to host the Rwf250 million facility set to be unveiled by February, this year.
Speaking to The New Times in an exclusive interview, Daniele Kihlgren founder of the project, said that the development launches with two thatched-roof huts inspired by exhibits in the Ethnographic Museum in Butare.
This is the third property to have been developed by the conservation-minded hotel group Sextantio, whose other retreats, in Matera and Santo Stefano di Sessanio, have helped preserve the disappearing architectural heritage of rural southern Italy.
In Rwanda, he said, the infrastructure is built in a vernacular style with bamboo, and straw-like structures.
The huts’ arched entrances offer the only natural light, though each domed hut is equipped with modern comforts such as electricity and hot water.
"On our site in Nkombo there are two Huts one with a double bed the other with two double beds, capacity 6+2 possible extra beds. The property will only accept one booking at a time,” he said in an emailed response.
"In the center of the site we have a large convivial area for eating, socializing etc... A bungalow for the barbecue on one side where you can light a fire in the evening, another bungalow by the lake plus a pontoon for the arrival of the pirogue.”
Then there is all the part of the employees including a modern kitchen and a stable that will welcome the first Inyambo of Nkombo where all the traditional activities will also take place such as the production of banana beer, Sombe, Bugali among others.
‘The opening to the public is scheduled for the end of January 2023. The investment is around 250,000,000. Our strategy is to look for a development model based on the identity of places.”
Kihlgren says the construction was funded individually, and that its proceeds benefit Sextantio Onlus, a nonprofit he founded in 2008 to provide health insurance to area residents with treatable diseases like malaria.
Rates are by donation only, and visitors may have chance encounters with local fishermen, basket weavers and others who call Nkombo Island home.
"It’s a bit experimental, this is not the typical luxury African resort. You truly feel the day-to-day of the place.”
The huts contain traditional Rwandan beds with layered straw mats and mattresses.
Rwanda’s tourism industry is showing an early possible niche just weeks after CNN Travel staff put the country on their list of best destinations to visit in 2023.
Just last week, Cuban-American singer and songwriter Camila Cabello shared her excitement with her fans after visiting the "noble giants”- silverback gorillas in Rwanda’s most popular tourism destination, Volcanoes National Park.