Chimpanzee trekking experience in Nyungwe Forest National Park
Chimpanzee trekking experience in Nyungwe Forest National Park is an exciting activity and the second most popular activity in Rwanda after gorilla trekking in Volcanoes National Park. Nyungwe Forest is located in Rusizi District, southwest of Rwanda, and it’s famous for hosting over 25% of the total population of primates in Africa. The park is one of the best places to see primates in Rwanda. The park hosts over 500 chimpanzees with two habituated groups that are fully accustomed to human presence, available for trekking including the Cyamudongo group with about 30 chimpanzees and Uwinka group with around 60 chimpanzees.
The trek involves moving into the dense forest in search of the playful apes, which are believed to be our closest relatives on earth, as they share over 98% of human DNA. Apart from Nyungwe Forest National Park, there are other places where chimps can be found, Kibale Forest National Park, Ngamba sanctuary, where orphaned chimpanzees are taken care of, Kyambura Gorge, Budongo Forest, and Kalinzu Forest in Uganda. If you are a primate lover and planning a primate safari in Rwanda, Nyungwe Forest National Park should be considered, as it offers exceptional chimpanzee trekking experiences.
Chimpanzee Trekking Experience in Nyungwe Forest.
Chimpanzee trekking in Nyungwe Forest National Park is one of the rewarding activities in the park, which begins with a briefing about the rules and regulations of the trek and meeting your assigned park guide, who is more knowledgeable about the park’s inhabitants and will give more insights about the park’s inhabitants that you will encounter in the park. The trek involves hiking on a steep slope, so we encourage participants to assess their level of fitness before joining the activity.
Participants are grouped into groups of 8, led by an experienced park guide, to search for the playful apes. Chimp trekking takes about 1 hour to 6 hours, depending on their movements as they keep on moving from one place to another in search of food and once you locate them you are given 1 hour to observe them, You will have a chance to see how they feed, mothers cuddle the young ones, how they protect themselves just like humans which provides an awesome experience and learning more about their behaviors. While on the trek, you will have a chance to see other forest inhabitants such as blue monkeys, butterflies, various bird species, colobus monkeys, red-tailed monkeys, mona monkeys, and more species that spice up the trek and provide an unforgettable chimpanzee trekking experience in Nyungwe Forest National Park.
The Best Time to do a Chimpanzee Trek
Chimpanzee trekking experience in Nyungwe Forest National Park can be enjoyed throughout the year; however, the best time depends on the visitor’s preferences. The park experiences two seasons dry season and the wet season, which both provide a memorable trekking experience. The wet season which runs from March to May and October to November is the best time to do a chimp trek as this season is characterized by enough rainfall, the hiking trails are muddy and slippery making it challenging to walk in to the forest, the enough rainfall that the forest receives during this season provides abundant food for the chimps which prevents them to move deep in the forest to search for food and its easy to locate them and the trekking doesn’t take a lot of time. This can be combined with a birding safari, as it’s a breeding season for birds, since the forest has plenty of food, it’s easy to spot various bird species.
Chimpanzee trekking experience can be done during the dry season, which runs from June to September and December to February. During this season, there is little to no rainfall, and the hiking trails are dry, making it easy to penetrate into the forest.
