Nyungwe Forest National Park
It is located in the Southwest of Rwanda and is dominated with a flourished tropical forest tree species which make a high and compacted canopy. The park is the biggest natural mountain rainforest in Africa with a space of over 1020 sq.km. Nyungwe forest national park, is also the most protected and conserved natural forest in Africa. Nyungwe forest has proved to be the most important bio diverse area in Africa as well; nyungwe forest national park is a home for about 310 bird species, 75 mammals and 13 primates, including the chimpanzees and the unique golden monkeys.
History of Nyungwe Forest National Park
Nyungwe forest national park was gazetted in 2004 after the government of Rwanda recognized the need to boost the energy of tourism and also improve the tourists’ experience beyond just mountain gorilla trekking in volcanoes national park; the decision followed the realization of the spectacular endowment of the forest in the south corner of the country. Nyungwe forest national park has a visitor center at uwinka where you can find all the information about the national park, like the trails and the different attractions there in, before you embark onto hiking through this vast jungle of Africa.
How to get to Nyungwe
Nyungwe national park is a 4 to 5 hour drive from Kigali the capital city of Rwanda. The journey to the forest wonders around the hills with beautiful scenery of the flowering eucalyptus trees, the terraces on the hillsides, distant houses in the mountains, and magnificent valleys on the other side of the road. The thrilling experience, therefore, starts even before the actual surprises held in the pockets of the forest. Nyungwe is the best destination for tourists according to Rwandan safaris statistics.
Activities In Nyungwe Forest National Park
Hiking
The nyungwe forest hike is the best activity according to visitor views about nyungwe forest national park, to the extent that the forest is called the hikers paradise with several hiking trails; about 13 hiking trails inside the forest long enough, about 130 km, to bring on the thrill. Hiking in nyungwe forest national park, can be a day’s activity but also can take longer up to a whole week. This is possible because, nyungwe forest is a home of over 1000 species of creations from a diverse of habitats.
The hiking starts from the visitor center at uwinka and it always lasts from 1 to 8 hours; the hike duration is based on the visitors interest and mainly dependent on the physical fitness of an individual. Hiking in Nyungwe forest is the perfect time for you to discover the best rain forest, across the long raised metallic bridge suspended almost 50m high above the forest offers the best view of the forest below you.
Chimpanzee Trekking
Chimpanzee trekking and monkey trekking is another interesting activity done in Nyungwe forest. Nyungwe forest national park is the perfect location where you can do your chimpanzee trekking. This can be compared to the epic gorilla trekking in the nearby volcanoes national park. It is located in just a stone throw away from Nyungwe forest national park. Chimpanzee trekking in nyungwe national park is best done in the morning. This is because the chimpanzees are just going down from their tree nests. Chimpanzee trekking is done by a maximum of eight people in a group; this is aiming at maintaining the ecology of the forests.
Nyungwe forest has many chimpanzees, many of which are habituated to give you a spectacular experience. Since the chimpanzees are familiar to human encounters. You can enjoy sightings of golden monkeys, grey cheeked mangabeys, rwenzori colobus monkeys. Also there are L’Hoest’s monkey, the owl faced monkeys, mona monkeys and blue monkeys among others.
Birding
Birding Safaris are also one of the activities that visitors love about nyungwe forest. The forest is home to over 300 species of birds. Almost 27 of them are endemic to this national park only, others are Albertine area birds. The birders to nyungwe enjoy sightings of the grouers wobbler. Other birds include; the giant hornbill, great blue turacos, weaver birds, herons, and sun birds. Furthermore, you get a chance to watch a wide range of butterflies and other insects, snakes and other forest creatures.
Nyungwe Forest National Park Climate
Nyungwe is the best and largest afro Montane rain forest in central Africa. It sits on the altitude of 1600m to 2950m above sea level, quite a high altitude. The forest receives over 2000 mm of rainfall around the year annually. Nyungwe forest is the big water source for Rwanda. It holds almost 2/3 of the water in Rwanda. Nyungwe forest also shares its water with Congo River. And also a portion of its water flows into the Nile through River Akagera. Furthermore, the climate of Nyungwe should be an alert and a reminder for your dress code. It is good to wear thicker clothes because the forest is coldest during the morning hours.
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