Main Activities to do in Nyungwe Forest National Park
Main activities to do in Nyungwe forest national park Rwanda which is a home to a number of primates including chimpanzees, a series of Bird species and butterflies, and much more wildlife. The forest covers an area of over 1000 sq kilometers which habitats a number of tourist attractions and activities done in the forest that include chimpanzee tracking, canopy walk, hiking and nature walks.
Nyungwe forest is the largest tropical afro-Montane rain-forest in the east or central Africa and it receives more than 2000mm of rain each year and its Rwanda’s largest water catchment area having 75% of all Rwanda’s water. Nyungwe forest feeds both river Congo and River Nile with water.
When you approach Nyungwe forest, you come here on the turning roads through the vast tea fields and then there is Nyungwe forest national park. Like evolving its broadness like a national Geographic Video and only better since you are here in this large forest with its inexhaustible Kamiranzovu swamp, the trails throughout the Nyungwe forest canopy walk which is found only in this forest on the East Africa Region, the chances for bird watching activities, the primate tracking, and viewing. Taking a walk through the flowers such as the orchids that are found here and a series of butterflies that they attract.
Nyungwe forest is not a dense park but a large forest and the activities to do in this forest need to be planned well so that your time on a Rwanda safari is not wasted with drive times. The forest habitats over 300 different bird species, many butterflies, orchids, 75 mammal species including the 13 primates, and there have been sightings of the golden monkeys which are rarely seen in this forest. Also, the park has uncountable natural wonders which you will not like to miss touring if you are coming to Rwanda.
chimpanzee tracking in Rwanda
Hiking in Nyungwe Forest National park
Nyungwe forest national park is a hiker’s heaven having about 13 hiking trails with over 130 kilometers of the trails through this rainforest. Travelers to Nyungwe forest can spend a full week while hiking the many trails in the jungle, as you explore the ancient rainforest and discovering many habitats found in the forest.
Private hikes are in a range of one to eight hours in length and most can be completed in case you are in reasonable physical shape meaning we strongly encourage that you go hiking when you’re okay healthwise. Hiking in Nyungwe National Park is the time of discovering in a primal rainforest that will simply be amazing to many visitors because of it’s fairytale-like appearance, its wildlife, bird species, primates like Chimpanzee, plants, flowers, series of butterflies, and the trees.
Chimpanzee Tracking in Nyungwe Forest National Park
Nyungwe forest is also a good destination where you can go for chimpanzee trekking to its depth after your gorilla trekking activity within volcanoes national park without driving long distances. Chimpanzee trekking in Nyungwe forest starts in the morning and its best to carry a daypack where you have to carry enough water, have long trousers, a long-sleeved shirt, rain jacket, hiking boots, and the hat.
The maximum number of people to track chimpanzees in the Nyungwe forest is 8 people in a group. These chimps at Nyungwe forest have been and are used to human beings. Even though gorilla tracking is so interesting and selling, many tourists are set out to track these closest cousins as they play in Nyungwe national park.
Monkey Tracking in Nyungwe Forest National Park
There are about 13 primate species found in Nyungwe forest park including unconfirmed sightings of the golden monkeys that have been reported. Apart from chimpanzee trekking, you can also trek Owl-faced monkeys, grey-cheeked Mangabeys, Ruwenzori colobus Monkeys, and many more primates in Nyungwe. These monkeys can also be seen in large numbers of up to 300 colobus monkeys.
Also as you track any of the primate group in the forest you are likely to see some other monkeys along the trek. These might include; L’ Hoest’s monkey, the Owl faced monkeys, Mona monkey, and the blue monkeys. The forest is also a primate country and you can also trek the chimps, the gray-cheeked and Colobus monkeys in the ancient forest.
Canopy Walk in Nyungwe National Park
Canopy walk in Nyungwe Forest National Park
Canopy walk in the first treetop forest canopy walk in East Africa and the third in the whole of Africa. This walk is an activity not to be missed in Rwanda when you adventure Nyungwe forest. In case you are coming to Rwanda to trek the mountain gorillas in Volcanoes National Park, your safari will always be memorable if you add on some days to spend in Nyungweand enjoy the canopy walk as part of your Rwanda safari itinerary.
The canopy walk is 50 meters above the ground and this can also be bewildering heights for some people, you will see monkeys move around in the treetops, the birds that are flying above you and below, and a beautiful view of the huge Nyungwe. Canopy walk is 90m long which is not a long-distance, however, it’s when you are 50 m above the ground.
Bird Watching in Nyungwe Forest National Park
Nyungwe Forest Park has over 300 bird species and 27 of them are endemics and are part of the species that are found in the forests of the Albertine Rift. For example, Grauer’s Warbler which is an Albertine Rift endemics can be found within the mountain swamps like the Kamiranzovou within Nyungwe. You can also find both the Rwenzori Turaco and the large blue Turaco.
The sunbirds of many types like the purple breasted and the blue-headed sunbird and can be found in flowering trees. Nyungwe is also a birder’s paradise and you will see many other things from the orchids to the primates during your birding walks within Nyungwe Forest.
It has some amazing and breathtaking scenery and is a vantage point for picturesque views of the Virungas and the Congo. Nyungwe is nature at its very best. It is lush and beautifully green, often seen with cooling mists in the early mornings and late evening.
One of its exciting attractions besides all the animals and birds and trees is the 50m high, 200m long canopy walk. This is a thrilling experience for many and this canopy walk is the only one of its kind in East Africa. There is also Mount Bigugu found inside the park.
