Are you a lover of Primates and looking for that unbeaten destination with Variety for Primate Species? Nyungwe National park in Rwanda is the Answer to your quest.

 Nyungwe Forest is strategically situated in southwestern Rwanda, and bordering Burundi, to the south, and Lake Kivu and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. This parks rainforest is probably the best preserved montane rainforest in Central Africa thoughtfully positioned in the watershed between the river Nile in Congo way through to the west and the east. This forest has been in existence for thousands of years.

During the colonial era in 1903, Nyungwe forest which was Colonial crown land was pronounced a forest reserve by the German colonial government; this was a period between 1958 and 1973 which saw the forest reduce due to deforestation, fire outbreaks and poaching of animals. However, this did not affect the number of elephants since they remained quite large. Unfortunately In 1974, the last of the buffaloes was killed; Though Tourist and research facilities were later set up in Uwinka, the 1994 Rwanda Genocide destroyed them.

However 1995, A wave of restoration blew and saw efforts put in place to rebuild this destination till 2005 when Nyungwe forest was declared a national park and officially protected. The park ranks as Rwanda’s highest protection level in terms of nature conservation following its establishment as a national park in 2004. This Declaration happened at a time when Rwanda was ranked among the list of top ten tourist destinations by Lonely Planet. Rwanda was in a verge of expanding its tourism sector as well as the tourist numbers thus preferably Nyungwe Forest cam as a perfect destination.

Nyungwe Forest acts as a very important water catchment for Rwanda and contains several natural resources that are useful to the Rwandan people. The magnificent ever- green forest plays a very vital role to two of Africa’s great rivers, the Rain that falls on the eastern part of the park feeds the Nile whereas that on the west runs to the Congo River.

This destination possesses a wide diversity of animal species, making it a priority for conservation in Africa, the forest is positioned in a region where a diversity of large-scale biogeographically zones meet and provide a great span of microhabitats for many different species of plants and animals.

Nyungwe national Park is home to over 13 primate species (25% of Africa’s total), 275 bird species, 1068 plant species, 85 mammal species, 32 amphibian and 38 reptile species. Many of which are endemic to Albertine Rift montane forests ecoregion in Africa. Also, the number of endemic species found in this park outnumbers those in any other forest in the Albertine Rift Mountains that has been surveyed.

Some of the primate species that can be found in this park include among others, Common chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes),Ruwenzori colobus (Colobus angolensis Ruwenzori),L’Hoest’s monkey (Cercopithecus LHoest),Silver monkey (Cercopithecus Doggett),Golden monkey ,Red-tailed monkey (Cercopithecus ascanius),Dent’s Mona monkey, Vervet monkey (Chlorocebus pygerythrus),Olive baboon, Grey-cheeked mangabey.

One pace that visitors pay visit to is the Uwinka Visitor Centre; this is the headquarters of the park and the same place where guides and potters can be got.

 Primate Trekking

With over 13 different primate species living here, Nyungwe national park is an ideal place for tracking primates such as the chimpanzees, monkeys, baboons and a few gorillas that might come your way as you traverse the forest. This activity commences early in the morning with a pre-trekking briefing before storming the jungle in quest of these human relatives, you will need long sleeved clothes and camera among others.

Hiking trails

This is one nice activity tourists engage in while at this destination, approximately 130 kilometers of hiking routes have been put in place in Nyungwe Forest National Park, allowing visitors to explore its interior and its fascinating habitats. The trails tend to last for roughly one to eight hours but covered with fun and real adventure.  It is true that the Igishigishigi is the shortest hike yet includes the fascinating East Africa’s highest canopy walk with views across Nyungwe Forest, whereas the 6 hour Bigugu Trail leads visitors to the highest mountain in the Park at 2950m.

Nyungwe Forest Canopy walk and the Hike

It is only at Nyungwe forest national park that we find East Africa’s first built, tallest and longest canopy walk. Interesting, this canopy walk exposes you to a real magnificent view of Nyungwe national park, the surrounding places and many more experiences. It is a 50 meter walk above the ground as you see the different primate’s move on top of the tree branches.

Birding in Nyungwe forest

With approximately 300 bird species, with over 27 that are endemic to the place, Nyungwe Forest is that perfect destination for all birders, some of these bird species include Grauer’s Warbler which is an Albertine rift endemics hat can be found within the mountain swamps like the Kamiranzovou with in Nyungwe Forest , Rwenzori Turaco and the large blue Turaco among others, The sun birds like the purple breasted and the blue headed sun bird and can be found in flowering trees so let this be your next birding paradise.