African Safari Trails · Travel Guide
Nyungwe National Park is Rwanda’s great montane rainforest in the southwest, famous for chimpanzee tracking, a canopy walkway found nowhere else in East Africa, and thirteen primate species. African Safari Trails arranges chimp treks, the canopy walk and forest hikes here, with lodges and transfers handled. About five to six hours from Kigali, Nyungwe is one of Africa’s oldest rainforests and the source of much of the country’s water.
Nyungwe is Rwanda’s deep forest, an ancient montane rainforest spilling across the southwest near Lake Kivu and the borders with Burundi and the DR Congo. It is one of the largest high altitude forests in East and Central Africa, home to chimpanzees, huge troops of colobus monkeys and more than 300 birds, threaded by over 130 kilometres of trails and crossed by the famous canopy walkway. This is a forest for walkers and primate lovers rather than savanna game. African Safari Trails arranges the chimp trek, the canopy walk and the hikes around them.
Chimpanzee tracking is Nyungwe’s signature outing, a forest hunt for one of two habituated communities, one near Uwinka in the main forest and another in the Cyamudongo fragment. Briefings start early, around half past five, because the chimps move fast and an early start improves your odds of catching them before they travel.
The trek can take two to six hours over steep, sometimes slippery ground, rewarded with up to an hour watching the chimps feed, groom and call high in the trees. Groups are small, capped at eight, and you may see other primates along the way. African Safari Trails secures the chimp permit and arranges the early start.
The canopy walk is the park’s most photographed experience, a suspended walkway found nowhere else in East Africa. The bridge runs about 160 metres across a forest valley, hanging some 60 to 70 metres above the floor, reached on the Igishigishigi trail from the Uwinka visitor centre, with the whole outing taking around two hours.
From the walkway you look out across the canopy ridges and down on tree ferns and tall hardwoods, watching for colobus and blue monkeys and birds like turacos below. It is guided only, suits ages six and up, and the bridge sways gently but feels secure. African Safari Trails books the canopy walk and the guide.
Colobus monkey tracking is the easier primate outing, and Nyungwe’s black and white colobus gather in extraordinary numbers. A super troop of more than 300 to 400 Angolan colobus is tracked from Uwinka, moving through the trees like a current of black and white fur, with a smaller group near Gisakura easier still to reach.
The forest holds thirteen primate species in all, around twelve percent of mainland Africa’s total, including L’Hoest’s and Hamlyn’s monkeys, grey cheeked mangabeys, red tailed and silver monkeys and olive baboons. The colobus trek is shorter and gentler than the chimps, a fine half day. African Safari Trails arranges colobus tracking as a lighter companion to the chimp trek.
An early forest hunt for one of two habituated communities at Uwinka or Cyamudongo. Two to six hours, an hour with the chimps, groups of eight.
A 160 metre suspended walkway 70 metres above the floor, reached on the Igishigishigi trail from Uwinka. About two hours, ages six and up.
The easier primate outing, tracking a super troop of 300 plus black and white colobus from Uwinka, or a smaller group near Gisakura.
Over 130 kilometres of trails, from the easy Igishigishigi to the all day Bigugu peak, the Kamiranzovu marsh and the Isumo waterfall.
Forest hiking is reason enough to come, with more than 130 kilometres of trails for every level. The easy Igishigishigi trail leads to the canopy walk in about an hour and a half, the moderate Kamiranzovu marsh trail crosses a swamp full of waterbirds, and the Isumo waterfall trail makes a fine half day to a falling stream.
For the fit, the Bigugu trail climbs over thirteen kilometres to Nyungwe’s highest peak with wide views, a full day’s work. Several trails pass waterfalls like Isumo and Kamiranzovu. A guide comes on every route. African Safari Trails matches a trail to your fitness and the time you have.
Bird watching puts Nyungwe among East Africa’s best forests for birds, with around 300 species and some 30 endemic to the Albertine Rift. The great blue and Rwenzori turacos, paradise flycatchers and forest hornbills all live here, and a dedicated guide helps find the specials along the trails.
After dark, a guided night walk turns up galagos, pottos and tree hyraxes, while by day a zipline, one of Africa’s longest at nearly two kilometres across three sections, sends thrill seekers flying through the canopy. The forest rewards slow looking and fast gliding alike. African Safari Trails arranges birding, night walks and the zipline.
The country around Nyungwe is tea and coffee land, and the contrast with the forest is part of the appeal. Tea plantations press right up to the park boundary near Gisakura, their bright green rows running into the dark forest, and a plantation tour shows how the leaf is grown, picked and processed.
Rwanda’s high grown coffee is some of Africa’s finest, and coffee shops at Gisakura, Gisovu and Uwinka pour a cup before or after a trek. The Congo Nile Trail also passes through, drawing hikers and cyclists. African Safari Trails adds a tea or coffee tour to the forest days.
Nyungwe is cool and wet year round, but the drier months make the trails firmer and the chimps a little easier to find. Rain is always possible in a rainforest, so a good jacket comes whatever the season.
The long dry season and the best window, with firmer trails for trekking and hiking and generally better chimp sightings.
The shorter dry spell, also good for chimps, the canopy walk and the trail network, and easy to pair with the gorillas in the north.
The wetter months, the forest at its greenest and quietest, with muddier, more slippery trails. Strong for birding and flowering plants.
Nyungwe is the far southwest of Rwanda, about 225 kilometres and five to six hours from Kigali by road, or a 40 minute flight to Kamembe airport near the park. There are no hotels inside the forest, only around its edges, with camping at Uwinka, so most visitors stay two nights to fit a chimp trek, the canopy walk and a hike or colobus trek.
Lodging runs from the ultra luxury One&Only Nyungwe House and Nyungwe Forest Lodge to mid range and budget guesthouses near Gisakura. The park is managed with African Parks and has clear safety and trail systems. African Safari Trails arranges permits, lodge and transfers as one trip.
A chimpanzee tracking permit in Nyungwe is around 250 US dollars per person for foreign visitors, which buys the guided trek and up to an hour with the chimps. The canopy walk is charged separately, at roughly 40 dollars for international visitors including park entry and guiding, with a resident rate of about 20 dollars. African Safari Trails confirms the current fees and secures the permits for you.
It can be demanding. The chimps are wild and mobile, so the trek runs two to six hours over steep, sometimes slippery forest with an early start, and finding them is never guaranteed. A reasonable level of fitness helps, and the colobus trek or canopy walk are gentler alternatives if the chimps sound too hard. African Safari Trails advises honestly on fitness and can arrange the easier outings instead.
Yes. The walkway is well maintained and feels secure, though it sways gently, and it is guided at all times with unguided visits not allowed. The minimum age is six, with children escorted by adults, and focusing on the horizon rather than the drop helps anyone nervous of heights. African Safari Trails books the guided walk and confirms the age rules for your group.
Most visitors stay two nights, enough for one chimpanzee trek, the canopy walk and one more outing such as a waterfall hike or colobus trek. Keen birders and hikers often add a third night to explore more of the 130 kilometre trail network and allow for weather. African Safari Trails sets the right length within your wider Rwanda safari itinerary.
By road it is about 225 kilometres and five to six hours through Rwanda’s hills, often with a lunch stop and sometimes a halt at Lake Kivu or a memorial site on the way. A faster option is a 40 minute flight from Kigali to Kamembe airport near the park, then a short transfer. African Safari Trails arranges the road transfer or the flight to suit your plan.
Yes, and it makes a full Rwanda trip. A common route runs Kigali, south to Nyungwe for chimps and the canopy walk, north to Volcanoes for gorillas, and east to Akagera for the Big Five, sometimes with Lake Kivu in between. It is a fair amount of driving, so pacing matters. African Safari Trails maps the circuit at a comfortable speed.
Fitting a rainforest leg into a wider Rwanda trip, choosing between the chimps and the gentler primate walks, and deciding whether to drive or fly all go better with someone who knows Nyungwe, so the forest days land at the right pace. African Safari Trails has spent years arranging Nyungwe trips, from chimpanzee and colobus tracking to the canopy walk, the waterfall and peak hikes and the tea and coffee tours at the forest edge. They will line the permits up with your gorilla and savanna dates, and the lodges and transfers are handled quietly in the background.
Want a proper quote, or just a steer on chimps versus the canopy walk? Reach out to African Safari Trails and a real person gets back to you.
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