Black and whi te co lobus m onkey in Nyungwe Fores t

Nyungwe Forest: A Hidden Gem in Rwandamonkeysandmountains.com /nyungwe-f orest-rwanda

Be honest, have you ever heard of Nyungwe Forest in Rwanda?

I hadn’t, which in retrospect is rather surprising given it’s the largest high altitude montane forest in East and CentralAfrica. Even more impressive to me, it’s also home to an incredible 13 species of primate – 25% of primate speciesfound in all of Africa! So it was rather surprising that I had never heard of Nyungwe Forest.

Not only that but four species of primateare habituated (used to people). As aresult, the park offers guided tours to seechimpanzees, black and white colobusmonkeys, Blue monkeys andMangabeys. I did guided tours to see thechimps and the colobus monkeys andloved every single minute of both tours –so much so that I’ll be writing in moredetail about them in a later post – withsome photos of the cutest baby monkey Ihave ever seen!

Nyungwe Forest is not just for primatelovers though. It’s also an exceptionalplace for bird watching. It’s home to 275species of birds and 25 endemic birds,including the Turaco. You will hear itsloud call before you see it, making itrelatively easy to seek out. It’s a crestedbird, who when it spreads its wingsreveals beautifully colored red feathers!

I would also recommend one of theguided hikes offered. No solo hiking isallowed in the park, and there arescheduled hikes (check with the parkoffice), or book your own in advance.

I was rather excited when David my guideasked if I wanted to take a small detour tosee the source of the Congo River whileon one of the guided hikes. Of course Idid. But somehow it looked ratherdifferent from I had anticipated:

There’s also a three day hike which is thefurthest source of the Nile. After seeingmy disappointment over the wee sourceof the Congo River, David warned me thatwhile the hike is beautiful, the Nile sourcewas even smaller than the Congo source. Still, I would love to come back and

I watched th is 30 year o ld m ale ch im p for a fu l l hour .

Still, I would love to come back andspend more time in theforest. There’s nothing likehearing pant hoots fromwild chimps or with a littlebit of luck come across amonkey or two!

Nyungwe is also home toEast Africa’s only canopywalk. If you’re afraid ofheights forget it. Davidsaid that about half ofvisitors take the detour aftertaking one look at thebridge which towers over avalley in the rainforest. This includes the PrimeMinister of Rwanda! Ofcourse being a politician,I’m sure he had a goodexcuse.

Turaco, a b i rd endem ic to Nyungwe Fores t in Rwanda

The s ource o f the Congo River is m uch s m al le r than I was expecting.

Eas t Afr ica ’s on ly canopy walk is in Nyungwe Fores t.

I spent two days in Nyungwe but wish I could have spent three more. I would have loved to have done the Blue monkeyand Mangabey guided treks which are only done in the morning. I also would have liked to have done a full day hike orperhaps even the three day hike to the source of the Congo.

The only downside to Nyungwe is that it’s not cheap. Guided hikes start from $40, a trek to see Colobus, Blue monkeyor Mangabeys is $70 and a visit to the chimps will set you back $150. Discounts are provided if you do the activitiesover multiple days. accommodation is also not cheap. There are only three different options. I stayed in the cheapest,which was VERY basic, with a shared bathroom. It cost $70 a night, which was a LOT for what it offered. I didn’t see theother two hotels, but my guide Omar from Amahoro Tours told me that the one hotel had rates starting from $200 a night,while the other was over $300.

Still, I felt my money was well spent to see the primates. Nyungwe is one of only a few places in the world wheretravelers have the incredible opportunity to observe rare primates in their native habitat. In addition, a portion of themoney goes back into the local community and community members are given jobs in the park. As a result, poachingis relatively rare in Rwanda, unlike in most other parts of the world. Conservation has a price.

Amahoro Tours, a locally owned Rwandan company can arrange your own personalized trip to Nyungwe. Omar, mydriver guide was kind enough to even stop when we saw monkeys on the side of the road!

Thank you to Amahoro Tours for their support in my visit to Nyungwe Park. As always all opinions expressed are myown.