Nyungwe is one of East Africa’s remaining ancient rain forests in the small country of a thousand hills. The forest covers about 1000sq.km. The park is home to a large number of Chimps in East Africa after Kibale national park in Uganda. the park is also home to a wide range of plants, birds and monkey species . Some of the top activities to do in this park include;
Chimpanzee tracking
Meeting the real cousins of human beings is one of the most captivating tour activities in Rwanda. A group of 8 people are allowed to track a group of habituated chimps in their natural habitat to learn more about them. Chimpanzee tracking in Nyungwe can be done after gorilla tracking in Volcanoes National park without traveling for long. Nyungwe is second to Kibale National Park in Uganda in the high number of chimpanzees.
Canopy walk
Rwanda’s canopy walk is undoubtedly one of the greatest tour attractions in East Africa. It is one of the only 3 canopy walks in Africa in Nyungwe forest. Canopy is a suspended walk way 50 meters high above the forest as you watch from the top of the trees. You can have this 2 hour adventure on a 200 meter long walk way above the trees added to your trip.
Nature Walks
Nyungwe has a number of about 13 forest trails that reward you with an opportunity to see great wildlife of the monkeys, birds, butterflies and many plant species as you hike through the forest. Hikes of 2-8 hours are available and can be organized basing on your level of fitness.
Birding in Nyungwe forest
Nyungwe forest boasts in about 300 bird species and 27 of them are endemic to the Albertine rift. You will set your eyes on bird species like the Rwenzori turaco and great blue turaco.
Nyungwe forest is not far from Volcanoes and you can join your gorilla tracking trip with a visit to this park to have an encounter with the Chimps and the adventurous Canopy walk.

Nyakagezi gorilla family in Mgahinga

Nyakagezi is the only Gorilla family in Mgahinga gorilla national park in the Virunga area.
The family is dominated by a silverback known as Mark who overthrew his father Bugingo who is now about 53 years and still in the family which is unusual for mountain gorillas to stay with the family after being overthrown.
The name Nyakagezi originates from a place in the park where the group always spent their time, this gorilla family was always on the move and sometimes move far to the volcanoes national park in Rwanda and sometimes to Congo a few years ago. It was hard to track this group until last year 2018 when the family finally settled in Mgahinga and can be tracked with confidence that the family is in Mgahinga National Park.
Members of Nyakagezi gorilla family are Bugingo, Mathew, Nyiramwiza, Mafia, Nshuti, Rukundo, Mutagamba, and Nkanda all dominated by Mark. The group is fully habituated and was opened for tourism in 1994.
When visiting mount Mgahinga national park, tourists never want to miss to visit the local people. The Batwa trail reveals to you the forest people known as Batwa or pygmies-the first forest people. The Batwa lived in forests as hunter gathering for many years until they were displaced by government. Tourists enjoy learning about the lives and listen to ancient forest stories and also get entertained with local traditional dances.
A part from trekking the Nyakagezi gorilla family in Mgahinga, tourists can also go for golden monkey trekking, there are several troops of golden monkeys in park that have been habituated for tracking. Golden monkeys live in the Virunga mountains which includes Mgahinga and Volcanoes national parks. Golden monkeys are tracked at $100 per person and their permits are acquired from UWA headquarters or at the park headquarters in Kisoro. They are well known for their playful character as they go about their daily business.