Nyungwe National Park

At 1,019 square kilometers, Nyungwe National Park is found in the southwest of Rwanda. This is a biodiverse forested destination, known for housing 13 primate species especially the chimpanzee. In 2023, Nyungwe became one of Rwanda’s 4 UNESCO World Heritage sites. However, it became a national park in 2004. Prior, it had become a forest reserve in 1933. With Kibira National Park in Burundi, they form a continuous tract of rainforest, one of Africa’s oldest. Afromontane vegetation and other habitats like grassland, peat, bamboo dominate.

What to see at Nyungwe?

Mammals,

Nyungwe National Park is rich in mammalian species. There are 85 species of mammals that have been recorded in the rainforest. They include mongooses, genets, duikers, bats, bushbucks, servals, pottos, giant forest hogs, mona monkeys, olive baboons, African golden cat and otters.

Primates,

Out of the 85 mammal species in the park, a massive 13 of them are African primates. This positions Nyungwe as one of the destinations with a wide range of primate species. These comprise the well-known chimpanzees, L’hoest’s monkeys, Angolan colobus monkeys, red-tailed monkeys, blue monkeys, bush babies and grey-cheeked mangabeys etc.

Birds,

Home to 345 bird species, Nyungwe is a bird paradise, with 29 of them endemic to the Albertine rift. To name but a few, you can see the red-throated alethe, Ruwenzori turaco, Neumann’s warbler, purple-breasted sunbird, Kivu ground thrush, red-collared mountain babbler and Shelley’s crimsonwing among others.

Hiking trails,

Multiple hiking trails exist in Nyungwe National Park to offer some of the most exciting hiking tours. The rainforest has a total of 13 kilometers of hiking trails, with varying levels of difficulty. They lead to mountain Bigugu, waterfalls, canopy walkway and wetlands etc. Visitors can choose to hike across any of Karimanzovu Marsh trail, Igishigishigi trail, Uwinka trail, and Bigugu trail etc.

Flora,

The diversity of flora in Nyungwe is so underestimated by almost everyone. The plant species alone are 1,100, and this is so far what has been recorded here. But there are many lower plants like ferns, mosses and algae etc.

Cultures,

The forest is surrounded by people with cultures they have preserved for centuries. They express this in a diverse range of ways. This is through food preparation, dressing, banana bear making, household hierarchy, and treatment using local herbs etc. Many people in the communities engage in tea growing as a source of livelihood. The Batwa can be found here.

What to do at Nyungwe National Park

Chimpanzee Trekking,

This is Nyungwe National Park’s most known tour activity. Visitors enjoy the guided tour by searching for a habituated community of chimpanzees to watch them for an hour. Each chimpanzee trek costs $250 for international visitors, but for Foreign residents in Rwanda or East African Community it is $135. For Rwandans or East African Community citizens, you pay an fee of $35. The rate includes guiding and park entrance.

Colobus monkey Tracking,

The colobus monkey tracking in Nyungwe National Park is quite similar to how chimpanzee treks are done. Typically, it involves searching for a habituated troop of Angolan colobus monkeys in Nyungwe Forest. When these black and white monkeys are found, only one hour is offered to spend with them. Its cost of a colobus monkey tracking tour is $40 for international visitors. Then, $20 foreign resident in Rwanda or East African Community and $5 Rwandans or East African community.

Canopy Walk,

This is a guided experience which starts along the Igishigishigi trail. The walkway itself is 70 meters suspended from the ground and spans 160 meters. Learn a lot about the vast forest whose canopy you will observe clearly. In the upper layers of trees, you can see plenty of interesting primates, birds and so many plant species etc. A canopy walk is at $40 for international visitors, while foreign residents in Rwanda or the East African Community pay $20. For Rwandans and East African Community citizens, the fee is $5.

Hiking Tours,

With its several hiking trails in the Nyungwe Forest, explore on foot in a guided tour. From the park guide, get firsthand insight into the complex forest and its residents. The advantage of a hiking tour is that you can also observe birds, primates, trees and any other wildlife in the forest. Besides the ones mentioned above, other trails include Isumo, Irebero, Muzimu, Nbambarare, Rukuzi and Congo Nile Divide etc. To experience a full fay hiking experience in the forest, you will need $25 per person. This is exclusive of park entrance. Park entrance is at $100 international visitors, $60 foreign residents and Rest of Africa and $10 Rwandans or EAC citizens.

Birdwatching,

With several birding trails in the forest, the hundreds of bird species can be explored by visitors on any day. It is better you participate in the guided birding tour in Nyungwe Forest in the morning hours. This is when they are most active as they forage. You must have a pair of binoculars to observe some from a long distance. Your guide will ensure that you get insight into the calls and any other sounds they make. Birdwatching costs $40 for international visitors, and $20 for foreign residents in Rwanda or the East African Community. Rwandans and East African Community citizens pay $5.

Cultural tours,

A guided village visit ensures that you learn a lot about life outside Nyungwe Forest. Explore a tea plantation to engage in tea planting, harvesting leaves and how to produce tea. Craft shops have been established among the community members. Visitors have the privilege of buying locally produced crafts and many items for souvenirs. Also you will learn more Rwandan culture through entertainment. This is through traditional songs and dancing.

When to Visit Nyungwe National Park?

Any day you wish to travel to Rwanda is a favorable for a visit to Nyungwe National Park. First of all, there is no day that the gates to the park are closed, which implies daily entrance. Then, even during public holidays, visitors are allowed to travel to Rwanda’s iconic destinations including Nyungwe. But if you want to access the park with less challenges, travel in the dry season. The dry season is known for little rainfall in comparison to wet seasons Therefore, access roads, forest trails and the forest floor are mostly dry and less slippery or muddy.

Nevertheless, you can, if you want, visit Nyungwe National Park in the wet season. This is when heavy downpours occur almost every day. Your tour might be interrupted when it starts to rain. But, the dense vegetation and numerous water paddles offer shelter to more bird species than during the dry season. Meanwhile, the vegetation offers plenty of cover to the primates, therefore more challenging to see. The months when Nyungwe experiences the dry season range from June to August and December to February.

How to Travel to Nyungwe National Park?

To get to Nyungwe National Park you can achieve this in 2 ways, using road or flight. Transportation by road covers 177km from Kigali, 263km from Akagera National Park and 236km from Volcanoes National Park. Numerous stopovers can be made for lunch or lovely views of the countryside and physical features. Stopovers can also be made for visits to the Kings Palace Museum, Ethnographic Museum, Lake Kivu, coffee and tea plantations etc. Traveling by road might prove to be quite inconveniencing for you, especially if you have very limited time in the destination.

Air transport should be considered for the trip to Nyungwe National Park to reduce travel time. Helicopters by Akagera Aviation are readily available for your chartered domestic flights. From Kigali Airport, fly to Kamembe Airport for only 50 minutes. Alternatively, fly to One&Only Nyungwe House in only 45 minutes. These are chattered flights with plenty of benefits besides the short duration of travel. Additional benefits of this mode of transport is the aerial views of Rwanda. But, on arrival at the airport, reach the forest by road, that we shall organize for you.

Why visit Nyungwe with us?

We at Standard Safaris guarantee immersive, hassle-free tours because we coordinate all things. This is from private road transport, or even domestic flights straight from Kigali into Nyungwe. On your behalf we can book premium accommodations for you to have a comfortable stay. These range from budget friendly guesthouses to luxury ones such as One&Only Nyungwe House. The tailor-made itinerary we make with you includes expertly curated meals that feature local and international dishes.

Talking about your itinerary, we make sure that a thrilling lineup of activities are included. They are chimpanzee tracking, canopy walking, birding, colobus monkey trekking, and hiking tours etc. On the TripAdvisor platform, visitors who have traveled with us have had a lot of compliments in the raving reviews for us. Praise has been aimed toward our team leaders and driver guides among others. To experience these best things in life, kindly contact us to begin your Nyungwe National Park safari.

E A

My wife and I had the trip of a lifetime, an unforgettable experience from start to finish. From gorilla trekking to game drives, every moment was magical and the wildlife encounters were simply breathtaking. Our guide Godwin was knowledgeable and attentive, and every detail of the trip was perfectly organized. Uganda’s beauty exceeded all our expectations, and the team took wonderful care of us throughout. Thank you for showing us the Pearl of Africa, we’ll cherish these memories forever. Highly recommended

KLAU conde

I LOVE MY SAFARI WE DID GORILLA TREKING AND WE WERE LOOKING FOR THE BIG FIVES, Everything was phenomenal the drivers the lodges my favorite one was Acacia Lodge, where you open the door of your lodge and you have the Elephants and hippos there . we also went to the Ecuatorian line very cool

Elisa Peralta

We spent a WONDERFUL time in Rwanda, thanks to Standard Safaris and especially thanks to our amazing driver George. If you plan to go on safari in Rwanda with Standard Safaris, ask him as your driver guide. He will share all his knowledge and experience about animals, nature, people, food etc… He drives very safely and is friendly. Thanks to him we saw a lot of animals ( especially the big 5😃 in Akagera NP) and Know so much more about Rwanda. We were travelling with our 2 children (7 and 11 years old), and they were delighted. We feel very lucky and we are grateful for this wonderful safari in East Africa.

Susana Lara Valenciano

We booked a 9-Days safari in Uganda with Standard Safaris, all-inclusive with a driver guide, all tour activities, permits and lodges. Honestly, we were very happy to have George as our guide. He drove us safely around the country and explained many things along the way. Thanks to him, we were able to spot many animals in the national parks, and we always stayed on track with our itinerary. The jeep was new and well maintained, however, the seats in the back were quite high with small windows, which made it difficult to look outside. But nevertheless, we still had a 10/10 safari experience in Uganda. We look forward to returning for another safari next year and telling our friends about Standard Safaris.

Pablo Sanchez Rubio

My wife and I had a gorilla safari of a lifetime in Uganda late last month. Our driver/guide Denis was incredible. He gave us so much information about Uganda and was so knowledgeable about the wildlife, cultures, people, politics, the geography, etc. By the end of the week we considered him a friend and we will recommend him and Standard Safaris to anyone looking to go to East Africa. Thank you so much guys!

Salome Ochando

If there were 10 stars I would give them. From my first "Hello" with Coleb to our last set of selfies on the equator with Denis, this tour company out-did themselves!! Absolutely professional and helpful from beginning to end. We're already booking another trip for next year! They had organised everything- gorilla permits, chimpanzee permits, all national park entrance fees, lodgings, every meal included. It was so easy I didn't even know where we were going until we were there! Pure relaxation. We had a few extra free days at the end so Coleb suggested adding on Mabamba Wetland and this was a wonderful experience with the shoebill and all these beautiful birds. Denis is the best tour guide I've ever met. 100% knowledgeable and professional and accommodating and..a new friend😊.. Thank you Standard Safaris!!

G L

Everything was great Amanya and Ian the drivers are amazing they take good care of us i highly recommended this tour

Jennifer Johns

Denis is such a fun ball of energy. He was always on time and nothing was too much work or a hassle for him. He takes everything as a learning opportunity and has an eternal optimism that is infectious. Organising our different tours etc through Coleb was also seamless. He responds so quickly and always has great advice on how to best travel in Uganda

Niklas Freese

We booked a very last minute gorilla trekking tour from Kigali with Standard Safaris, and everything was perfectly organized from start to finish. The booking process via WhatsApp was incredibly easy, fast, and uncomplicated. Our guide, Ian, picked us up right on time at our hotel in Kigali. The entire tour was an amazing experience, but Ian truly made it unforgettable. From the beginning, he told us to let him know anytime we wanted to stop for photos, which made the drive much more enjoyable. He also introduced us to traditional Ugandan food along the way and shared interesting information about the country and its culture. Ian is genuinely one of the kindest and warmest people we have met. His friendliness, enthusiasm, and care made us feel welcome throughout the whole trip. Thank you, Ian, for making this experience so special:)

Vanessa Paola Varsallona

I had a fantastic experience on this tour and would highly recommend it. Everything was very well organised, and the highlight was, of course, the unforgettable gorilla trekking experience. Ian was my driver and Frank was my guide. They were both incredibly helpful, professional, and friendly throughout the trip. Ian was always punctual and reliable, making every transfer smooth and stress-free, while Frank was an excellent guide who made sure everything went perfectly. They went above and beyond to accommodate all my requests and helped me secure a gorilla family with babies, which made the experience even more special. Their kindness, flexibility, and dedication truly made a difference, and I couldn't have asked for a better team. I highly recommend both Ian and Frank!