Discover Nyungwe National Park

Nyungwe National Park is one of the four national parks in Rwanda and among the top destinations in the country. This is not only the place for relaxation but also one of the places for adventure and insight into Rwanda‘s single beauty. This forest is one of the oldest rainforests in Africa and it is UNESCO World heritage site.

This protected and among oldest rainforests in Africa covers between 1020 sq meters and is a five hour of driving from Kigali capital city of the country , this long drive to Nyungwe also gives the guests an opportunity to observe the country’s diverse sceneries and the imposing landscape as you move to the main attraction. Once you get to the park, you will then prepare to join the most unbelievable adventures you may ever had such as the canopy walk, Hikings, waterfalls, chimpanzees trekking, black and white colobus monkeys etc.

In addition, the beautiful scenery large, centuries-old trees and the added thick forest, and this extraordinary tropical forest is a shelterer 13 species of primates, over 1000 plant species, and more than 300 bird species including famous Turaco(Great blue, Ross’s, and Rwenzori ). The bridge is 160m long and 70 m hight suspension canopy walkway that will give you the excitement that can hardly be compared to anything else.

Getting to the canopy is also about 2 hours from the starting point at Uwinka visitor Centre and can be done one hectic day from kigali . The forest is on a mountain and the hike is also slippery due to the mere fact that the ground on which the guests’ trek is moist, wet and muddy when rained. This bridge adjourned between the huge trees one on the feel of the fresh air and incomparable view . Apart from the freshness in the air and the wonderful aerial view of the trees, you will also enjoy the sights of the fantastic birds that fly across as you enjoy the walk. It was opened in 2010 and it’s the only one of its kind in East Africa and the third on the African continent. This bridge canopy walkway also gives a unique face to face meetings with the butterflies, different plant species, birds and the monkeys.

The hardwood trees also occupy the upper canopy as the lower part is dominated by the large selection of the purple orchids and the lush flora as well as fauna that curl better in the higher altitudes.

And apart from the canopy walk, this national park also offers many trails into the different parts of the forest for the hikers and the walkers. All the guided walks start from the central Uwinka reception Centre, the western Gisakura, Gisovu entrances as well as the eastern Kitabi entrance.

Since the view might be good from above, this attraction is also good from the forest floor. There is also a network of the ten mud trails that takes you deep into the heart of the forest.

And finally, you will reward yourself after the 10km hike with a visit to Nyungwe’s Ishuno waterfalls that are beautiful. It may also be small in size, but this calm waterfall strikes its way and the breeze to which one is also welcomed will feel one of life’s greatest pleasures. This walkway of about 200m also hangs across a steep and deep valley that is filled with thick forest. This walk gives breathtaking views across the misty forest and the sightings at the eye level of the variety of wildlife that lives in the canopy.

This canopy walk also takes close to 2 hours and its starting and endpoint being Nyungwe National park reception - the Uwinka tourist reception center. The first 200m is a walk along the forest trail under the thick canopies for an opportunity of viewing the ground level nature before taking on the canopy walkway to get to the top level of the forest. The prominent sightings here include; the monkeys, including the blue monkeys, L’Hoest monkeys, black and white colobus, the red-tailed monkeys and the birds. The minimum age for this walk is 6 years and the kids must be escorted by the adults. More so, the activity is present throughout the whole year. The chances of rain failing are high so, remember to carry a raingears, hiking boots, insect reperent, cameras to make your experience memorable, water, and hut or cap. The walking sticks are provided free of charge. About the difficulty, this hike is so easy and takes only 2 hours to complete it.

Chimpanzees tracking, also takes place in this park, and it is early morning activity so it is better to stay over night around the park or inside accommodation before the experience day. So after driving 30 min to 2 hours to the starting point depending of the location of your accommodation, visitors get briefing from park ranger and start, the activity can last for 3 hour to all 6 hours depending of the movement of these apes and then visitors spend one hours with them. The same necessaries are recommended as for canopy walk experience(rain gears, hiking boots, camera, insect repellent, hut or cap, and drinking water)

Hikings are differents accordingly, there steep, long, easy, medium and strong so depends to someone abilities and capabilities to choose so among these hikings includes the waterfall experience such as Kamiranzovu, Ndambarare,Isumo etc. This is not recommended to somebody with health complications such as heart shortness, lungs.

So beyond the above experiences, we can also do activities such as tea plantation experience, nature walk, traditional dancing, biking, bee keeping experiences etc.