Chimpanzee Trekking in Nyungwe

Chimpanzee trekking in Nyungwe National Park of Rwanda is one of the biggest game activities that are engaged in by travelers from all over the world. Nyungwe is the best destination for chimpanzee trekking and habituation in the whole of Rwanda. In fact, Nyungwe forest national park is the “saving grace” for Rwanda’s chimpanzee trekking safaris. Nyungwe national park is a home for over 13 primate species, the chimpanzees are the most famous primates in the forest totaling up to 500 individuals. Nyungwe national park has other primates that make the whooping sounds in the forest such as the l’hoest’s monkeys, and the black faced vervet monkeys plus others. Besides chimpanzee trekking, it is also a good destination for birding safaris and rich nature walks, plus a lot of other interesting activities.

A lot of people visit Rwanda mainly for mountain gorilla trekking in volcanoes national park, chimpanzee trekking has always been not taken as a core for many tourists who visit Rwanda yearly. However, the hiked cost for the gorilla trekking in Rwanda has diverted the interests of many other tourists to chimpanzee trekking in Nyungwe national park.

Even though there might be some similarity, chimpanzee trekking and mountain gorilla trekking have really interesting parallels, for example, the chimpanzees move faster than the mountain gorillas, so trekking is possible with some speed, and other interesting uniqueness about chimpanzee trekking in Nyungwe national park in Rwanda. Nyungwe national park has a lot of other animals and primates species, but the chimpanzees are the highlight for the safaris to nyungwe national park.

Nyungwe national park has quite a number of chimpanzees and the biggest group of the chimpanzees has over 60 habituated chimpanzees ready to be visited. There is another group of chimpanzees in Nyungwe national park at Cyamudongo; however, it is such a mobile group. Chimpanzee trekking in Nyungwe national park starts at Cyamudongo; Cyamudongo is just a four-hour drive from Kigali the capital city of Rwanda. It is said that Nyungwe national park harbors the oldest montane forest on the African continent.

The wildlife of Nyungwe national park is greatly attributed to the diverse habitats such as the rain forest, the montane forests as well as swamps, bamboo forest and perches of grasslands. The chimpanzees in nyungwe national park live in the tall trees of the tropical rainforest whereas other animals that roam the national park love to dwell in the savannah perches, such as antelopes, duikers, and birds among others.

Chimpanzee trekking

Chimpanzee trekking in Nyungwe national is extremely memorable and a must-do almost all the travelers that come to visit Rwanda. Chimpanzee trekking is conducted under the guidance well trained and experienced rangers; the rangers are well equipped with all the information in detail about the chimpanzees and other animals and birds in Nyungwe national park.

Nyungwe national park chimpanzee trekking starts early in the morning; it commences from three starting points, that is, Uwinika, Kitabi, and Gisakura. At the starting points for chimpanzee trekking in Nyungwe national park, the trekkers meet the guides early in the morning around 5 am and then move on to the forest to find the chimpanzees. The rangers go ahead of the other trekkers and find the spot where the chimpanzees might have built their nests for that night.

The chimpanzee trekkers are offered a 1-hour intimate interaction with the chimpanzee in their natural setting. The one hour with the chimpanzees is such a rewarding experience because your get to learn a lot about the chimpanzees, such as their communication skills, reproduction, copulation and a lot of other interesting ways of these human closest likenesses. You can also use the one-hour duration to take some photography to fill your gallery about Rwanda and the primate safari in Africa.

Cost for chimpanzee trekking in nyungwe

The permits for chimpanzee trekking are prepared by the Rwanda development board. The permits are your assurance for chimpanzee trekking in Nyungwe national park; they are sold at USD 100, which is much less than the usd1500 for mountain gorilla trekking in Rwanda. An amount of 64 permits are issued on a daily basis to the visitors to Nyungwe national park; since only 8 people are allowed to visit the chimpanzees per shift.

Therefore, you can trust your tour operator or travel consultant to book for you your chimpanzee trekking permits right on time. You can visit Rwanda the land of a thousand hills for your chimpanzee trekking safari any time of the year. However, the dry season is the best season for nature walks through Nyungwe Forest National park