2 Days Nyungwe Forest Safari

You should get up early enough and get ready to meet your guide or driver for a tour briefing. The pickup will take place either at your home, hotel, or airport. The guide will give you a quick tour of Kigali after the briefing. The trip will include stops at the genocide memorial center, the local market, and the former presidential palace. The driver/guide will then begin the trip to Nyungwe Forest, but firstly he will make a stop at the Butare Museum. One of the best places to learn about the cultural heritage of the Rwandan people is at this museum. You’ll have the chance to purchase regional crafts and mementos. You can also make a stop at the Nyanza King Palace and Kamegeli Rock if time permits. Lunch will be served at Huye. You will then proceed on your journey through the stunning countryside of Rwanda. You’ll understand why Rwanda is referred to as a land of a thousand hills.

After checking into your hotel, you’ll have lunch before being driven to the Uwinka visitor center to begin hiking along the Igishigishigi trail, which leads to the canopy walkway. You can spend about thirty minutes at the Igishigishigi trail viewing various tree, bird, and primate species. Then you will enter the canopy walkway for even more breathtaking views of the forest. A 60-meter-long suspended metallic bridge that is constructed on top of the trees serves as the walkway. It provides a bird’s-eye view of the forest and its inhabitants, which include birds, colobus monkeys, grey-cheeked mangabeys, baboons, and numerous plant species. You’ll relax by the waterfalls after the canopy walk. Depending on your pace and that of your group, the canopy walk lasts about two hours.

Since chimpanzee trekking begins at 6 am, you should get up early and eat breakfast as you get ready for an exciting day of primate tracking. Meeting the primates is not guaranteed, so that is why the activity starts early. Your chances of finding the primates are higher if you start looking early. The driver will drive you to the park’s administrative offices and visitor center in Uwinka, where you will receive a briefing and meet the park rangers and guides who will accompany you into the forests. You will receive a briefing from the guides or rangers on the guidelines and requirements for chimpanzee trekking. If there are a lot of visitors scheduled for the day, you will be split into two groups; one will begin the trek from the Cyamudongo area, and the other from the Uwinka Visitor Center. In the Nyungwe forest, there are about 500 chimpanzees. You will be greeted by the lovely sounds of birds, primates, and insects as you enter the forest. Just like gorilla trekking in Volcanoes National Park, chimpanzee trekking in Nyungwe Forest is unpredictable. Depending on where the primates are that day, the activity could last up to four hours. You must follow the chimpanzees through the forest as they move as they please. The fact that chimpanzees are vocal is a plus. Even before seeing one, it is simple to locate chimpanzees due to their constant loud screams, hoots, and barks.

You will keep running into stunning scenery, animals, birds, insects, butterflies, primates, waterfalls, and much more as you search for the chimpanzees. Before even coming across the chimpanzees, the nature enthusiast and birder will be very impressed. You will only be permitted one hour with them after you discover them in a stationary position. Because chimpanzees can move around a lot, this hour does not include the time spent pursuing them. You should observe them feeding, playing, building nests, mating, and teasing each other during your hour-long encounter with the primates. Each chimpanzee is an individual with a distinct personality. Some individuals are more aggressive, while others are relaxed and unconcerned.