Nyungwe Forest National Park is one of the few remaining tracts of African montane forest situated in the southern part of Rwanda in Cyangugu Town, it lies along Rwanda’s border with Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo, it is said to have survived for a long time from the ice age era. Currently,the Nyungwe forest covers an area space of approximately 1020 square kilometres, the largest of all national parks in Rwanda. The protected conservation area first started as a forest reserve in 1903 and was later recognized as a national park by the 2004 under the Rwanda Development Board an umbrella that brings together the conservation of national parks of Rwanda.
Nyungwe Forest National Park boats an incredible number of plant life and tree species, there are over 1000 planttypes that have been recorded present in the conservation area, and the vegetation varies from the growing climbing plants, bamboo, shrubs, and marshy swampy areas, the park composition is an impressive count beside the mentioned types, these combined with the hilly topographic natureare home to fauna, there are over a dozen species of primates that have been recorded notable is the Chimpanzee, black and white colobus monkeys, red-tailed monkeys, blue monkeys, owl-faced monkey, Mona dents monkeys,pottos, bush babies, olive baboons,vervet monkeys, mangabeymonkeys, forest buffaloes, forest elephants, antelopes, to mention a few and over 300 species of birds.
The main attractions of the Nyungwe Forest National Park include the many primate species present 13 kinds are seen in the forest trees,and more than 300 types have been recorded most of which are forest birds and endemics of the great Albertine Rift Valley region examples include the Rwenzori batis, handsome francolin, great blue Turaco, black saw wing, regal sunbirds,Bar-tailed trogon, Blue-headed sunbirds, Kivu ground thrush among others. the canopy walks of the long-suspended bridge in the forest and the mammals
Things to do in Nyungwe Forest National Park include Chimpanzee tracking, the activity begins at the Umwinka visitor centre with a morning briefing from the park rangers, the primates are scientifically proven to share up to 98% of the human DNA they live within the forest characterized by their social behaviour, intelligence, and the ability to use tools the tracking begins at 5:00 am with a briefing from the park headquarters with a morning briefing from therangers about the forest at large and how to conduct yourself while with the primates, in groups of 8, you will be guided into the forest in search of man’s closet relativesit takes 2-6 hours in search of the primates depending on how far they have moved.
Nyungwe Canopy Walk will offer you an opportunity to view the forest from above, the long suspended bridge is about 150 kilometers and 50 meters from the ground, it is the only place in East Africa to have such an experience, expect to see birds, primates, and the forest at large. Travellers up to the age of 6 years are allowed to participate in the activity.
Birding in Nyungwe Forest National Park, there are more than 300 bird species that have been recorded in the ecosystem to date, some of these are endemics of the great Albertine region, and the Virunga massif, through the distributed Forest trails you will be in a position to see some of the species, alongside amazing waterfalls, for example, the Isoma waterfall.
Nyungwe Forest National Park can be accessed from Kigali International Airport by flight or by car, it takes approximately/- 5 hours to drive through the amazing countryside of Rwanda, the backdrop of the rolling mountains, and tea plantations is not to miss. The park can be visited any time of the year but is best during the dry season between June- September and January –February, when the trails of the forest are much drier and easier to do tourism activities.
The Nyungwe Forest National Park has available accommodation for great beautiful places for guests to stay for example the one and only Nyungwe Lodge, Emerald Kivu Guest House, and Nyungwe Top View Hotel, to mention a few, these offer an angelic experience to travellers offering mouth-watering meals, drinks and comfortable accommodation to guests.