We arrived late in the afternoon at the Gisakura Gate Information Centre; we found out that they would like to charge 25 USD for the Tea Plantation visit without visiting the factory, so we skipped it and went back to the Gisakura Guesthouse in the little village Colline Ruvumbu. Next to it, we found the touristic Chimpanzee Lodge, where we had our dinner. The following day, we drove 21 kilometers to the gate where the famous canopy walkway is located (🎟️40 USD), but in the end, we did not do it because they wanted to pay the national park entrance fee of 100 USD and we found bit expensive to spend 300 USD in an hour. So we just made a scenic drive through the forest with some photo stops.
Covering 1019 sq km of dense, ancient forest, Nyungwe is Rwanda’s biggest and most attractive national park and one of Africa’s oldest and largest protected montane rainforests. Nyungwe Forest National Park features some of the nation’s most stunning biodiversity, including 13 primate species, among some 1,000-plus plant species, 300 birds, 75 mammals, and 300 butterflies. The chimpanzees are the main attraction here, and with a population of 500, it’s one of the best places in the world to see these extraordinary creatures, but since we did that already in Uganda, we skipped that option. Other highlights include the famous canopy walk high above the rainforest, where one can encounter the largest troop of Angolan Colobuses in Africa, spectacular nature trails leading to waterfalls, and the starting point of the Nile River’s epic 6700km journey.
Parking location – Colline Ruvumbu: 2.440578S 29.092350E (🚻,💦,🅿️25000 RWF)