Rwanda’s untouched tropical rainforest
Almost 200km from Kigali in the southwestern corner of the country, Nyungwe Forest National Park covers over 1020km². Nyungwe became a National Park in 2004 and has the largest remaining swathe of montane forest in Eastern/Central Africa. It’s home to about 310 bird species, hundreds of butterflies and over 75 species of mammals, including 13 different primates.
After a 6 hour drive from Kigali with Nicholas, our Kazinga Tours guide, we checked in at Nyungwe Top View Hill Hotel. That evening JJ and I were the only guests in the hotel and had a lovely dinner, just the two of us.
Peaceful Nyungwe Top View Hill Hotel
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- View from the hotel
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- On our own for dinner!
These amazing sunbirds were everywhere in the hotel grounds
DAY 3 – FRIDAY
Chimpanzee tracking!!! We had to be ready to go at 4:30 AM, I was so excited I had no problems getting up ridiculously early. After about an hour of driving, we met up with another 4 people, trackers and a guide to start the journey into the forest on foot.
Long before you see the chimps, you can hear their loud screams and rustling in the canopy. They’re constantly on the move, both high in the trees and on the ground so it’s quite tricky to get clear photos of them. Here are some of my favourites…..
First sighting!
We were back at our hotel by lunchtime and had the rest of the afternoon free to relax.
DAY 4 – SATURDAY
Our first activity of the day was visiting the Angolan colobus monkeys, we left the hotel after breakfast at about 8:00 AM. Nicholas drove us to a tea plantation near an area of forest where some of the monkeys were found on that day. We walked with a guide through the tea plantation and into the colobus habitat.
The Angolan colobi in Nyungwe Forest are the largest group of tree-dwelling primates in all of Africa. The troop consists of around 400 individuals. Unlike the chimpanzees, the colobus monkeys seemed fine with us being quite close to them and didn’t move around as much. They were a lot easier to photograph.
Adult male Angolan colobus
In the afternoon we were able to choose an additional activity. After lunch back at our hotel, we opted to head out on a canopy walk (USD$60 per person). On the way there, a chimpanzee ran across the road in front of our car which was pretty crazy.
The walk started at Nyungwe National Park headquarters and was about 2km each way. The canopy walkway itself is about 170m long. It was great to get a different view of the forest and learn more about various plants that the local people use. However, although I don’t have a fear of heights and love adventure, I found the walkway quite scary – it swayed and creaked a bit too much for my liking!
JJ trying to look cool and calm on the walkway
As we were leaving National Park headquarters, we came across a very naughty L’Hoerst’s monkey raiding the bins.
The following day JJ and I made our way to beautiful Lake Kivu, read all about our time there below.
More posts from this trip:
Kigali Memorial + Nyanza King’s Palace Museum
Kibuye, Lake Kivu – Christmas Eve celebration
Volcanoes National Park – Gorilla trekking
7 Days on Unguja Island – Exploring Zanzibar, Tanzania
3 Day stopover in the United Arab Emirates
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This would be such an incredible experience! Everything here looks so great and unexpected! The wildlife viewing opportunities in Africa are something I really want to experience one day!
There’s so much to see in Africa, it’s difficult to decide on which countries to visit first! Rwanda had always been high on the list because of my love for mountain gorillas.
Such a wildlife-packed adventure, Freya! I adore all creatures so this itinerary suits me perfectly. I’d love to see the iridescent sunbirds and chimpanzees in Rwanda, but the Angolan colobi are the most fascinating to me. I love their two-tone coloring and their hair looks so soft! Thanks for sharing your amazing experience…makes me want to book a trip once we’re able. (Plus, your photography is fantastic.)
Thanks so much Jackie! The colobus monkey encounter was amazing, they were just doing their thing as if we weren’t there so it was pretty interesting. I hope you get to book a trip soon.
Nyungwe National Park is so beautiful.We had been there a couple of years ago. We did the Chimpanzee tracking while another group did the Colobus Monkey one. We absolutely loved the Canopy Walk, it was around evening when we went there and were able to see a glorious sunset.
How great that you saw a beautiful sunset on the canopy walk. Did you see the colobus monkeys on a different day, or miss them?
You’re really having a grand adventure in Africa. I love the pictures of the different primates. How fun that you found a naughty one. I totally agree about those walkways. They always make me uneasy. I wonder how exactly they stay together.
The L’hoest’s monkey was SO cheeky, he didn’t care at all that we were watching him 🙂
Wow, what an amazing experience! Love the pictures of the chimpanzees in their natural habitat!! The colobus monkeys are pretty cute, too. 🙂
The colobus monkeys are so cute, especially the fluffy white babies. The chimpanzees were really wow.
Since my husband went to see the chimpanzees in Rwanda almost two decades, I’ve always wanted to visit too. Hopefully some day we’ll get to go back. This time is love to see the monkeys too. It’s probably a lot more developed now too.
I guess Kigali would be more developed, but Rwanda in general still feels quite undeveloped. I hope you get to see the chimpanzees too someday Jyoti.
I would so love to do this, although admittedly that walking canopy would have terrified me. It’s funny how when it’s for something exciting, getting up at silly o’clock is not so bad. Looking forward to reading more about this adventure as looking for interesting options for next years Africa adventure.
Hahah yes, can’t say that I’m as excited about getting up at 5am to go to the gym! How great that you’re planning an Africa trip for next year.
The first picture got me really. Its like planet of the apes. I guess that is from your day 3 diary, following the trail of chimpanzees. The stay is equally beautiful. The lit interior set the perfect ambiance for a relaxed stay.
Yep, that was my one photo of chimpanzees on the ground 🙂 Nyungwe is a pretty magical place.
This would be such an amazing experience. I always love seeing monkeys, but seeing a chimpanzee in its natural habitat would be amazing!
Seeing the chimpanzees was unreal, I’d love to go again.