Caplaki Crafts Village

Caplaki crafts village is located in Rwanda’s capital Kigali. It is made up of different temporary shelters that were built in the same location to form a craft village which was named “Caplaki craft village”. There are about 40 brightly colored huts with shelter from alpine trees over them. The huts look very similar but each of them is independent. They are filled with various African handmade crafts made in Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

There is a variety of beautiful craft items at Caplaki crafts village such as bags, jewelry, baskets, painted utensils to use in the house, wood carvings, home décor, dolls and many more. Their craft items are genuine and authentic, very colorful and eye-catchy and make the best gifts for your loved ones. There are cotton fabrics which leave you with all comfort when using or wearing them. Caplaki crafts village opens at 8:00am and closes at 8:00pm.

You can visit Caplaki crafts village on your city tour in Kigali and grab yourself a souvenir that will keep memories for the Rwanda safari. The stalls have a range of similar craft items but they may be of different colors and versions. Prices of items at the craft village are open for bargaining and your bargaining skills could enable you attain more items.

Apart from visiting ands shopping at Caplaki crafts village, there are much more things you can do around Kigali and in other areas of Rwanda outside Kigali.

Other places to visit in Kigali are;

• Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre is one of the sites where you can have a clearer way of learning about the 1994 Rwanda genocide that led to an estimated number of 1,000,000 people in Rwanda.
• Presidential Palace Museum, this was a home for Rwanda’s former President, Habyarimana whose death triggered the 1994 Rwanda Genocide. Moving around the house offers an opportunity to know how Habyarimana lived and the things he used to do.
• Kandt House museum of Natural History, this was a home to Dr. Richard Kandt who founded the current Kigali town in 1907. He was a German explorer and discoverer who situated his house on Nyarugenge hill in Kigali. The museum has three exhibits to present to you the history of Rwandan life before colonial time, the evolution of the standards of living, the flora and fauna and geological features in Rwanda, what Rwanda experienced during colonial period and things that happened during colonial and after time.
• Inema Arts Centre is an art gallery with paintings, sculptures and traditional crafts. You can also get entertained by dance and music performances on some days

There are a lot of areas out and far away from Kigali city that you can visit for adventurous and exciting activities. They include;

• Volcanoes national park: this is one of the best places to visit in Rwanda and things you can do there are gorilla trekking, golden monkey trekking, hiking to Dian Fossey tomb and enjoying the Iby’Iwacu culture.
• Nyungwe forest national park: this is one of the biggest tropical forests remaining in East Africa. The main activity here is chimp trekking and canopy walk which are all extremely thrilling things you can enjoy in Rwanda.
• Akagera national park: this is the only savannah game park in Rwanda and you can see a lot of animals such as zebras, buffaloes and lions during game drives.
• Lake Kivu: Lake Kivu is located in the west of Rwanda and you can go there to relax and chill at the beach, do some swimming, kayaking, boat cruise and many other activities there. This place offers spectacular views of Virunga volcanoes.