Attractions & Activities To Do In Nyungwe National Park
Activities in Nyungwe; Find the 2024 top attractions to see & activities to do in Nyungwe Forest National Park including Chimpanzee tracking, Canopy walk, Bird watching, Colobus Monkey trekking & Nyungwe Forest Hikes.
The 1015 square kilometer expanse of Nyungwe Forest National Park encompasses 1050 plant species, 310 species of birds, 85 mammals, 10 butterflies species, and 38 species of reptiles. The park is situated 5 hours from Kigali, in Southwestern Rwanda, bordering Lake Kivu, Burundi & Democratic Republic of Congo. The park is open to be visited throughout the year, and is covered with unique features like the magnificent views of the mountain, pleasant water bodies, pristine tropical vegetation, among others that offers several activities for travelers who visit.
List Of Things To Do In Nyungwe Forest national Park
Chimpanzee tracking
Monkey Tracking
Canopy walks:
Bird Watching:
Colobus Monkey Trekking:
Biking through the Congo Nile Trail:
Forest Hike/Treks
Best Attractions To see & Activities To Do in Nyungwe National Park
Chimpanzee tracking
Chimpanzee Trekking & Tracking is tops all other activities in Nyungwe Forest National Park. Chimpanzee tracking in Nyungwe Forest National Park is done throughout the year. The chimpanzee population in Rwanda’s Nyungwe National Parks, ranks second after Uganda’s Kibale Forest National Park. The park has only 2 habituated chimpanzee communities ( one in Uwinka & and the other in Cyamdongo) that are often available for tracking.
Like Gorilla trekking, Chimpanzee trekking allows for a group of at most 8 individuals to track 1 clan of chimpanzees, which starts with an early morning briefing, about the rules & regulations for tracking chimpanzees. The procedure is then followed by navigating through the trails to look chimpanzees under the guidance of ranger guide. Chimpanzee trekking may range between 2 hours to 6 hours, depending on how far the chimpanzee family has relocated from the previous location. Upon finding them, visitors will enjoy beautiful sights of chimpanzees swinging from one tree branch to another, mother chimps carrying their own babies, feeding, grooming among other activities, all in one hour.
All trekkers, are advised to wear/pack appropriate chimpanzee trekking gear like long sleeve shirts and breathable pants, hiking boots, a hat, a rain jacket, a walking stick and binoculars for viewing the chimps on top of trees, not forgetting to pack more drinking water bottles, and energy snacks. Services of a porter is also available, in case you have heavy luggage, need someone to help carry.
Chimpanzee trekking is possible only if one has a chimpanzee trekking permit, which costs $100, which can directly be purchased from Rwanda Development Board or through a reliable tour operator like Aloyo Safaris Ltd. Chimpanzee trekking is for only person from the age of 15 years and above, below which is restricted like in our 3 day Chimpanzee trekking safari Rwanda of 3 days Nyungwe National Park safari Rwanda.
N.B: Chimpanzee trekking in Nyungwe Forest National Park lusts long hours to locate the chimpanzee family, yet the success rate of finding them is minimal compared to the 95% success rate of seeing them in Kibale Forest National Park, also known as the primate capital. Kibale National Park has more chimpanzee communities, which are less challenging to trek compared to Nyungwe national Park, as shown in the 3 days Chimpanzee trekking in Kibale Forest National park safari.
Monkey Tracking
Besides the dominant chimpanzees, Nyungwe Forest National Park protects other small primates such as the Angola Colobus Monkeys, Dent’s Mona Monkeys, Grey Cheeked Mangabeys, Hamlyn’s Monkeys, L’Hoest’s Monkeys, Olive Baboon, Red tailed Monkeys, Silver Monkeys, Vervet Monkeys, White and Black and Colobus monkeys.
A few golden monkeys have occassionaly been sighted in the park, but cannot be tracked because their numbers are not certain, yet the most popular are the arboreal Ruwenzori Colobus, that often wandering in the forest & eating leaves. They can easily be differentiated from the common black & white monkeys. Each monkey troop in the thick tropical forest has over 100 individuals.
Nyungwe National Park has 4 trails that is usually used to track these small primates, including: Kamiranzovu trail, Bigugu trail, Waterfall trail & the campsite trail.
The Kamiranzovu trail leads through Orchids and marshes, Bigugu leads to Mt. Bigugu peak to spot more Monkeys. While the waterfall trail, starts from Gisakura Guest House to the Tea estate offers sights of Colobus Monkeys, the Unwika Campsite Trail, splits into 2, with the red one measuring 10km Red and Grey one 1km.This trail offers encounters of various primate species and more than 400 Colobus Monkeys.
Canopy walks:
Nyungwe National Park offers the most ultimate Canopy walking experience like no other in East Africa. The walk happens on a 200m long ridge suspended over the trees, about 50m from the ground.
The 2 hour walk at $60 per person offers breathtaking views of the rain forest, bird species, beautiful butterflies, mammal creatures. This lifetime experience can either be done in the morning, starting from 9:00 am or in the afternoon from 2:00pm, but, it is restricted for children under the age of 6 years.
Bird Watching:
Nyungwe Forest National Park, is among the top bucket list gems recognized for the best bird watching experience in Rwanda by Birding International. The park harbors more than 315 species of birds, both Forest and Albertine Rift endemics.
The prominent birds that are hard to spot elsewhere, include: the great Blue Turaco, Re-throated Alethe, Paradise Flycatcher, Gigantic Forest Hornbill among others.
Other additional birds sighted in the forest include Archer’s Robin Chat, Barred long Tailed Cuckoo, Blue Turaco, Chapin’s flycatcher, Doherty’s Bush Shrikes, grey-chested kakamega, Handsome Francolin, Lagden’s Bush Shrikes, Mountain Sooty Boubou, Pockefellers’s sun bird, Purple Throated Sunbird, Red collared mountain Babbler, Rwenzori Double Collared Warbler, Rwenzori Nightjah, Rwenzori Turaco, Rwenzori Batis, White Bellied Robin chat, White Tailed Flycatcher and the Yellow Eyed Black Flycatcher.
Nyungwe National park has a number of trails, through which more birds can be spotted, therefore, avid birders can see more birds if they walk through several of them, which can only be achieved by the guidance of a professional guide.
The dry months are the best time of the year to go birding in the park because migrant birds usually flock the forest to search for food and escape harsh winter conditions in Europe.
Colobus Monkey Trekking:
Although Nyungwe Forest National Park is celebrated for protecting 13 primate species, almost have of them are monkey species, which are endemic to the park, most commonly the Rwenzori Colobus Monkeys.
A trek through the 13 nature trails, exposes you to a population of Grey-Cheeked Mangabeys, L’Hoest Monkeys, Owl Faced Monkeys, Blue-Monkeys and Mona Monkeys. Chances are high that trekkers can encounter over 200 Rwenzori Colobus monkeys, an incredible sight to behold for a lifetime.
Biking through the Congo Nile Trail:
Cycling along the Congo Nile Trail provides opportunities to fully explore the entire Nyungwe forest national Park. Sights to encounter during this excursion include numerous bird species, primates among other forest wildlife.
Apart from the animal life, floristically, cyclists also have the opportunity to see the spectacular tree and plant species that makes the forest beautiful to nature enthusiasts.
All biking excursions are accompanied with an exceptional camping experience, which then requires appropriate gear, including camping clothes, equipments, snacks, water among others.
Forest Hike/Treks
Forest walks are an alternative for those who are afraid of heights . Nyungwe has 13 established trails, attractively decorated for Forest nature walks. Hiking /trekking through these trails introduces to numerous sightings the lush forest has to offer, including; the forest animals and birds in the interior. All trails have different time schedules to complete, which range between 1 to 8 hours.
Among these trails include the shortest Igishigishigi Trail, which is sometimes seen during canopy walking, while the Bigugu Trail leading high up the mountain is the most challenging taking at least 5-8 hours to complete. Another thrilling trail is the water fall trail which introduces visitors to the attractive waterfalls of the forest.
Nature lovers with time to spare usually take time to complete each trail at a time. Exploring few trails out of the 13 trails in Nyungwe forest National Park helps visitors discover every detail about this ancient forest as well as the unique primate species.
Note: Activities in Nyungwe Forest National Park can be done throughout the year, although the best time of the year to visit is during the dry months of January February, March, June, July, August, September and December, because there are less rains, less muddy/slippery trails.
