Have you ever thought of visiting Rwanda’s national parks? Did you know that Rwanda has only four national parks and each is unique in its way?

Rwanda is one of the East African tourist destinations neighboring Uganda to the north, Tanzania to the east, Burundi to the south and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Rwanda is referred to as the land of a thousand hills because it consists of different hills that are always seen in Kigali city. This country is also known as the cleanest country in Africa with green vegetation and beautiful people who are welcoming and hospitable.

Rwanda has four national parks but the three are the most visited ones and parks are well-gazetted, protected and managed by the Rwanda Development Board. The national parks are Akagera National Park, Volcanoes National Park, Nyungwe National Park, and Gishwati-Mukura National Park.

Visiting these national parks or any of the four will create memories for life. This means that there is a lot to explore or see while visiting these national parks such as the mountain gorillas, the golden monkeys, the big five animals and the rare bird species such as the shoebill stork.

Akagera National Park. This is the only savannah national park in this beautiful country covering a distance of 1,126 square kilometers. It’s located at the border of Tanzania making it possible for the animals to cross from one country to another.  Being a savannah national park dotted with different water bodies like river Akagera where it gets its name, lake Ihema, and many other water catchment areas, there is a lot of wildlife including the big five animals (lion, elephant, rhino, buffalo, and leopard). The park is also home to different and unique bird species such as shoebill stork, black-headed gonolek, marabou stork, and giant kingfishers among others.

Therefore these create different activities such as game drives, boat cruises, hot air ballooning, bird watching, and nature walks among others. Each activity lasts for 2 to 3 hours but of great memories. These experiences or activities are conducted under the great supervision of the park ranger guide who is well-armed to offer tourists security from any attack. While on any of these activities, you can opt to enjoy a picnic lunch in the bush.

Volcanoes National Park. Volcanoes National Park which is in the Virunga Mountains neighboring Mgahinga National Park in Uganda and Virunga National Park in DR Congo is home to the rare and endangered mountain gorillas and the golden monkeys. This park is unique in its way in that, the gorilla habituation process started here way back in the 1970s by Dian Fossey.

Apart from the primates, the park is home to big mammals such as forest elephants, bushpigs, duikers, spotted hyenas, buffaloes, and also birds like Rwenzori batis, Rwenzori turaco, strange weavers, Rwenzori double-collared sunbirds and many more.

While in Volcanoes National Park, visitors can take part in gorilla trekking, golden monkey trekking, birding, hiking Volcano Mountains like Mt Karisimbi and Mt Bisoke, nature walk to the graveyard of Dian Fossey and many more.

Gorilla trekking is the main activity in this park where visitors are introduced to the presence of gorillas for an hour but the overall experience takes about 4 to 8 hours of walking in the jungle.

There is a unique adventure while in this park which is visiting the gorilla guardian village also known as Iby’iwachu cultural village.

Visitors can also engage in both gorilla trekking and wildlife safaris in Serengeti National Park in neighboring country Tanzania

Nyungwe National Park. Nyungwe National Park is a tropical forest gazetted land covering an area of 1000 square kilometers sheltering 13 primates like Kibale National Park in Uganda. Among these primates, there are chimpanzees our close relatives that share 98% DNA. Other primates are black and white colobus monkeys, red-tailed monkeys, red colobus, vervet monkeys, olive baboons, and much more living with birds, butterflies, reptiles and big mammals.

Like any other national park, Nyungwe National Park offers a lot of activities such as chimpanzee tracking, canopy walking, bird watching, nature walks to the falls and many more. Visitors interested in chimpanzee tracking are advised to book the chimpanzee trekking permits that are booked at least 2 months before the day of trekking because they are in high demand. Visitors can opt to relax at Lake Kivu the largest water body in Rwanda after chimpanzee tracking.

Gishwati-Mukura National Park. The last national park is Gishwati-Mukura National Park which is newly gazetted and covers two forests that is Gishwati forest and Mukura forest. This park covers an area of 13 sq. kilometers with incredible bio-diversities such as serval cats, duikers, bushbucks, birds, reptiles and many more. While in this Park, you can take a primate-trekking experience, birding, hiking and nature walks among others. This is the least visited national park in Rwanda.

You can combine visiting any of these national parks and gorilla trekking excursions by booking already made itineraries.

For more information or clarity about Rwanda national park please feel free to contact our tour consultant team.