Nyungwe Forest National Park is located in the South Western region of Rwanda bordering Burundi in the South with Lake Kivu and the Democratic Republic of Congo situated in the western part of the park. Nyungwe National Park also is found in the district of Rusizi which is located in the south western of Uganda. Rusizi district is a home to the park as well as Africa’s great river on the east side of the Nile and west part of Congo.
Nyungwe Forest National Park is a safari destination it is one of the only three existing national parks in Rwanda and is well known as the largest rainforest in East Africa that has existed for over 1000 years, as the national park is well known as the habitat for the wild chimpanzees and other related primate species.
Nyungwe forest national park covers an area of about 1016 square kilometers with an altitude of about 1600 to 2950 meters above sea level where it extends across the border of Parc National de la Kibiri in Burundi. The Nyungwe Forest National Park was established in 2004 with the rainforest, bamboo, grassland, swamps, and bogs and among others.
Attractions in Nyungwe Forest National Park.
Nyungwe Forest National park has got various attractions that the tourists spot during their Rwanda safari in the park as they includes.
Plant species.
Nyungwe forest national park has got over 1,060 plant and tree species as these can be found in the park with the most attractive ones that are such taller tree species such as the Carapa, Cyathea, Manniana, Newtonia, Prinaria that are exelsium standing at a height of 1,900 meters above the sea level, while other species like the Hagenia, syzygium, podocarpus, macaranga are at a heights of 2500 meters and above, while the sub alpine vegetation consisting of the shrubs and Bamboo such as the podocarpus, Phillipia and others can live at the height of 2950 meters above the sea level, other vegetation species like the mosses, ferns can also be tressed in the forest these are such amazing and the tourists can be greatful after observing those various plant species in the Nyungwe Forest National Part and at the same time they can serve as medicinal extracts.
Wildlife.
Nyungwe Forest national park is a wildlife haven with various animal species that can be attracted by various tourists, these include the primates mammals, insects, birds. Nyungwe National Park animals include the primates such as the Angola colobus monkey, Red tailed monkey, silver monkey, Golden monkey, Dents Mona monkey, olive baboon, Vervet monkey, Grey-cheecked manabey. In the park the Chimpanzees are the main tourist’s attraction and also chimpanzee trekking safari as the main activity in the park.
Though most of the Nyungwe national park animals are found in the Albertine Rift montane forest of the ecoregion in Africa, other Nyungwe forest national park animal species that can be observed includes the duikers, golden cats, impalas, bushbucks, buffaloes, elephants, bush pigs, Gant forest hog, Mongoose, carnival genet, Congo clawless, western tree hyrax and many others.
Bird species.
Nyungwe national park is well known as the important bird area by the Birdlife international, the park has over 300 bird species recorded. Here the forest bird watching is never easy, but the wide road running through the park offers a great vantage point into the canopy, of special interest are the many Albertine Rift endemics ( birds restricted to the Albertine Rift), the bird species that can be spotted in the Nyungwe Forest national park includes the Blue-headed sunbird, Buff-throated apalis, Dwarf crimson wing, Handsome francolin, Kivu ground thrush, Mountain masked apalis, Neumann’s warbler, Purple-breasted sunbird, Red-throated alethe, Regal sunbird, Ruwenzori batis, Strange weaver and many others.
Activities done in the Nyungwe Forest National Park.
Chimpanzee trekking.
Nyungwe Forest National park, animals include the chimpanzees that share the 98% DNA with human beings, during the chimpanzee trekking you watch them as they continue with their day to day activities in the forest such as the grooming each other, feeding, playing and among others these can be witnessed during the chimpanzee trekking activity in Nyungwe Forest National Park.
Canopy walk.
Canopy walk is among of the major activities that are done by the tourists on their safari to the Nyungwe Forest National Park that is on feet of 50 meters above the ground level, the canopy activity enables the tourists to walk and see a number of animals and bird species in the rain forest.
Monkey trekking.
Nyungwe Forest national park is such amazing one in that it is very interesting, encounter on a monkey trek and see a number of large and different monkeys as mentioned above.
Forest walk.
Forest walk safari is done during your visit to the Nyungwe national park, here the guests can be able to spot various animal species, bird species as they identifying their different characteristics.
Camping.
Camping is another of the amazing activities in the Nyungwe National Park, like when it comes to the accommodation inside the park, camping is the only option to be able to spend the night in the Nyungwe Forest National Park as a tropical rain forest, the visitors do enjoy the wild nature of the park during the camping safari, the only campsite inside the park is tented and the tents are pitched on the wooden made of platform not like the house because it has no walls but covered on top to prevent rain, the campfire is always there during the night and the toilets plus the bathrooms.
Nature trail hiking.
The hiking trail is in the Nyungwe Forest national park that takes 4 hours to 3 days to hike, there are 130 kilometers of well-constructed hiking trails that are found in this park like the Congo Nile divide as the longest one, Imbaraga as the difficult one and Igishigishigi trail as the shortest one. A tourist should remember the National ID or passport, permit, hiking boots, drinking water, hiking stich, raincoat, and camera when going for the hiking trail safari.
Bird watching.
Birding is one of the most done activities in the Nyungwe Forest national park which is untouched tropical rain forest and it is a home of over 300 bird species of which 29 are endemics in the Albertine like Kungwe Apalis, Shelley crimson wing and among others, during the bird watching the bird lovers are excepted to come along with their binoculars, cameras, guiding book and among others.
Cultural tours.
To complete your Rwanda safari experience of Nyungwe Forest national park, you should engage in the rich Rwandan culture, the communities along the boundaries of this forest have co-existed with it and helped to some extent in its preservation after understanding its importance to the Rwanda’s eco system. There has been efforts to launch community-based experiences to preserve the culture of Rwanda and offer the guests a rich experience, once at the village you can be part of the activities like the dance ceremony, banana beer production, a bow-and-target shooting, traditional medicine making and also maize-grinding.
Best time to visit Nyungwe Forest National Park.
The best time to visit Nyungwe Forest National Park in the southern Rwanda is during the drier months of June to August or December to January. Even though June to August or December to January are categorically referred to as drier months, it still does rain the Nyungwe forest national park almost all year around. Nyungwe Forest National Park is open for the chimpanzee trekking and hiking throughout the year, the wet months from October to May are the best time for chimp trekking and forest birding, but general hiking and spotting other primates might be easier in the drier months, from June to September.
