Nyungwe Forest National Park is one of the few last remaining tropical rainforests of Rwanda it straddles the country’s border with Burundi it is famous for its resident species of the Chimpanzee these have been scientifically proven to share up to 98 % of the human DNA, the forest is not only home to Chimpanzee but also other 12 primate types, it is said to have survived during the ice age era endowed with several Flora and fauna species, the park was established in 2004 as a way of protecting animal species that call this home, the forest is among the largest tropical forests of east Africa covering an area space of approximately 970square Kilometers it is alleged to be the source of the world’s longest river Nile it overlooks the beautiful Lake Kivu and the Virunga National Park of Congo.
The topography of the park presents an excellent plant life with trees raising high above the unending valleys and hills of the southwestern part of the land of many hills! The Biodiversity of the ecosystem is phenomenal with over 1000 plant species, popular types include the hagenia, mosses, and ferns to mention a few, within the ever-growing forest there exists several fauna notable is the chimpanzee, black and white colobus monkeys, owl-faced monkeys, red-tailed monkeys, red colobus monkeys,vervet monkeys, and a few groups of golden monkeys, animals like forest buffaloes, forest elephants, giant forest hogs are present within the park although they tend to be shy are rare to see, there are over 300 birds present in the national conservation area 27 of which are endemics of the destination it is a rich birding site of Rwanda example species to be sighted include blue turaco, bush shrikes, Rwenzori double collared warbler, Rwenzori night Jar, yellow-eyed black flycatcher to mention a few.
The main activity of the national park is chimpanzee tracking, there are approximately400 troops of primates present in the park, 2 of these troops have been habituated for a guest visit the tracking activity begins at 6:30 am with a transfer to the Uwinka Visitor Center and reaches out to park for a walk of 2-3 hours depending on how far the primates have moved, they have been scientifically proven to man closest relatives, tracking chimpanzee will require you to buy permits to enable you to participate, an hour is allowed while with the primates returning to meet your guide, the Canopy walk is super catchy in the country, it is the only place of east Africa to go on a walk, the long suspended bridge will have you view the beautiful forest from the above, guests up to those of 6 years, expect to see many birds at the bridge and a few primates along the walk. Birding in the park is an angelic thing to do expect to meet many birds in the forest, there are many populations of black and white colobus monkeys tracking these primates is one of the great things to do while in the park imagine seeing many creatures all tucked in black and white. Nyungwe Forest National Park is situated in the southwestern part of Rwanda, it is approximately a 6 hours drive from Kigali Rwanda’s capital, and it can be accessed by air or by road.