Nyungwe Forest National Park

Nyungwe Forest National Park

Nyungwe Forest National Park gazetted in 2004 is located in south western Rwanda on the border with Burundi within the Albertine Rift valley stretch from Lake Albert to Lake Tanganyika.

Nyungwe forest national park covers an area of approximately 970 km2 of rainforest, bamboo, grassland, swamps, and bogs. The nearest town is Cyangugu, 54 km to the west. Mount Bigugu is located within the park borders.

Animal life

The Nyungwe forest has a wide diversity of animal species, making it a priority for conservation in Africa. The forest is situated in a region in which several large-scale biogeographical zones meet and the variety of terrestrial biomes provides a great span of microhabitats for many different species of plants and animals.

The park contains 13 primate species (25% of Africa’s total), 275 bird species, 1068 plant species, 85 mammal species, 32 amphibian and 38 reptile species. Many of these animals are restricted-range species that are only found in the Albertine Rift montane forests ecoregion in Africa. In fact, the number of endemic species found here is greater than in any other forest in the Albertine Rift Mountains that has been surveyed. The forest, which reaches its maximum altitude of 3000 meters above sea level, is of particular interest for the presence of colonies of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and Angola colobus (Colobus angolensis), the latter now extinct in Angola for the intense hunt to which they were subjected.

A 2 days Chimpanzee tracking trip to Nyungwe forest national park will give you a memorable experience around the park including a canopy walk.

Book your trek to Nyungwe forest national park with Bujuku Ecotours here;