Bistate Lodge Rwanda

If you don’t have Rwanda on your travel radar, you should: The central African nation might be better known for a turbulent, violent recent past, but it’s come far since its day in the international headlines.

It’s since become a standout destination in the region, and home to some of the world’s most endangered animal populations. If you can go, you should.

And where you should stay? We have the answer: Bistate Lodge in the country’s Volcanoes National Park.

lodge (8 images)

The new eco-resort — a new offering from African safari operator Wilderness Safaris — sits in the middle of an old volcano crater. Stress on the word “old.” So, y’know, inactive.

There are just six lodges, all designed by Nicholas Plewman. True to the name, it looks out on three other volcanoes: Bisoke, Karisimbi and Mikeno. And it offers once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to visit with and experience mountain gorillas.

If you have kids and are looking for a way to teach them about a world that needs protection, it’ll be hard to do better than this.

Meet your guide

Diane Rommel

Diane Rommel has written for The Wall Street Journal, Outside, Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, Travel + Leisure, Wallpaper and Afar, as well as The Cut, Buzzfeed, Huffington Post and McSweeney’s. She once drove from London to Mongolia, via Siberia.