Nyungwe forest national park is located in the southwestern parts of Rwanda close to Burundi borders. Constitutes one of the Afrotropical realm sub-regions.it is a pristine Afromontane forest, one of the last bits left in east and central Africa. it was gazetted as a national park in 2004 and covers about 1000sqkms. In this major forest habitat, are swamps, marshes, bamboo thickets, open woodland, health, and another macro habitat that support the park’s biodiversity.it is a refuge of over 10 primate species including the chimpanzees .within the Nyungwe forest is the 200-meter suspended bridge popularly referred to as the canopy walkway. Besides excellent chimpanzee tracking, bird watching, nature walks, and colobus monkey tracking nyungwe national park is a site for a canopy walk experience one of a kind around East Africa.

Wildlife in nyungwe

Nyungwe forest national park is a magnificent biodiversity hotspot in Rwanda best known for chimpanzees. These chimpanzees share a habitat with other 12 primates species, about 85 mammal species, and over 1050 plant species among which are trees and orchids .nyungwe forest national park boosts over 300 bird species 29 of which are endemic to the Albertine rift valley and this makes it one of the best bird-watching destination in Rwanda. Nyungwe’s magnificent bio-diversity is attributed to its location in the great western rift valley which stretches from Lake Albert to Lake Tanganyika. Within the rift valley is an array of lakes and rivers that flows west through Nyungwe up to the Congo River system. These water bodies not only enrich the different ecosystems in nyungwe forest park but also make a good water catchment area for Rwanda.

In nyungwe forest park, 2 chimpanzee families are habituated and so available for tracking by visitors. One group located at kyamudongo has 30 individuals, and the one at Gisarukawith with 60 individuals. Unlike in Uganda where tracking is in two sessions in the morning and evening, it is one session in nyungwe forest park.

Accessibility

It is accessed by both road and air transport.it is 200km from the airport city. It takes 5-6 hours by road and 1 hour by flight.