Travel Guide for Nyungwe National Park

Travel Guide for Nyungwe National Park will give a traveler an insight into what to expect when they get to the park for tours. Nyungwe national park is known for its ultimate primate safaris because it is home to over 1000 chimpanzees and a number of monkey species. However, there are other activities that can be carried out in the park making it the ultimate tourism destination and it is also among the top10 tourist destinations in East Africa that should not be missed out on visiting because of a number of reasons. For any tourist interested in visiting Nyungwe national park, here is a travel guide they should follow to have an amazing time in Rwanda.

Packing list

Hiking shoes to ease your hiking adventure in the park. Some of the hiking trails in the park tend to be slippery therefore you should get good hiking shoes easy hiking.
Light clothes, during hiking in Nyungwe national park it is advisable to put on light clothes to make hiking easy because heavy clothes can slow you down during the different activities in the park
Insect repellent should not miss out on your packing lists because, in Nyungwe national park, there are a number of insects like mosquitoes among others that can spread diseases, therefore, an insect repellent is a very important item that should not be forgotten.
Rain jacket, since the park is characterised by a number of trees and because it is on a high altitude, there are many chances of rain within the park, therefore, a tourist should not forget to carry a rain jacket
A Camera is an optional item but for purposes of keeping memories, you should carry a camera to capture beautiful moments while in the park for a memorable Rwanda tour.

Activities in Nyungwe National Park

Chimpanzee trekking: The park is home to 1000 chimpanzees of which two chimpanzee troops are habituated for chimpanzee trekking. Tourists can trek the chimpanzees from either cyamudongo forest or Nyungwe forest but regardless of where they carry out the activity, they will have an amazing time in the park because they will get the chance to spend time with the playful primates observing their behavior in the wild which is quite interesting.
Birding: Birding is another amazing activity that can be carried out in the park to have amazing wildlife safaris while visiting the park and among the different bird species that can be seen in the park include; Rockefellers’ sunbird, Chapin’s flycatcher, Rwenzori Batis, strange weaver, red-throated alethe blue turaco, Ross’s turaco, coqui Francolin, long-tailed cisticola, bubbling cisticola, Miombo wren warbler, Chubb’s cisticola, Red-billed Teal, Paradise Flycatcher, African Hobby African Spoonbill, and many other bird species.
Monkey tracking: Nyungwe national park is a home to different monkey species that can be seen within the park and these include the red tailed monkey, Dent’s Mona Monkey, De Brazza’s monkey, Olive baboon, Red colobus monkey, Grey-cheeked Mangabey, Hamlyn’s Monkey, Blue Monkey, black and white colobus monkeys among other monkey species that can be seen within the park.
Canopy walk: Canopy walk can be carried out while you hike the igishigishigi trail in Nyungwe National park where you will have amazing experiences and exceptional views where you will see a number of attractions in the park like the numerous bird species, primates swinging in the tree branches among other attractions.
Hiking: There are a number of hiking trails in Nyungwe National park that lead to a number of attractions when hiked and some of these include the karamba birding where you can carry out birding from, the Isumo waterfalls trail where you can carry out the Isumo waterfalls hike among other hiking trails in the park which will make your tour in the park memorable.

Best Time to visit Nyungwe National Park

While planning for your trip to Rwanda, you should always consider the activities you’re going to participate in and the best time to participate in them. This is because of the need to have a smooth Rwanda tour without any inconvenience from the weather conditions in the time of travel.

Rwanda is characterised by two seasons the dry and wet seasons whereby the wet season is characterised by the two wet seasons these are from the months of Mid February to the month of mid-May the second wet season is from the month of mid-September to the month of December. The dry seasons are from the months of June to the month mid-September and from December to February which will either influence or favor your participation in the different activities in Nyungwe National Park.

The best time to visit Nyungwe National park is dependent on the activities you want to participate in. For anyone interested in carrying out chimpanzee trekking, they should visit the park during the dry season in order to ease your movement in the park. During the dry season, the hiking trails in Nyungwe national park are easy to climb as compared to the wet season when they tend to be slippery.

However during the rainy season food is readily available for the primate, this makes their movements limited compared to the dry season when they have to move from one place to another looking for food. Therefore the rainy season is a perfect time for a tourist to participate in Nyungwe National park for chimpanzee trekking because the primates will be easily located.

Birding in Rwanda is one of the fastest-growing tourism activities in the country that has attracted tourists from different countries across the world because Rwanda has over 1000 bird species that can be seen in different destinations and among the different destinations. Nyungwe National park stands out because it is the ideal birder’s paradise with over 300 bird species that can be seen when you participate in the rewarding activity.

Birding in Nyungwe National park should be carried out during the short rains from mid-September to December when the forest is full of life, availability of food, when plants have flowered which is the source of food to the bird and for this you will be able to see a number of bird species.

There are a number of activities that can be carried out in the park for you to have an amazing experience during your wildlife safaris in Nyungwe National park. The best time to visit Nyungwe National Park is all year throughout because the different activities can be carried out in the different weather seasons. Therefore the best time is dependent on what the tourist is going to do in the park.

For tourists from outside countries, they should have the necessary travel documents to access Rwanda and failure for having the documents, they will not be allowed to enter the country. Therefore you should read the Rwanda VISA and entry requirements in order for you to have the opportunity of accessing the park.