Nyungwe Forest National Park is a popular destination for primates in Rwanda. Chimpanzee Tracking in Nyungwe Forest National Park is one of the popular tourist activities in Rwanda. It hosts 13 primate types in Rwanda. The forest is one of the old places to see chimpanzee in the country it is an adventurous destination among the first conservation areas of Rwanda, and this straddles along borders with Burundi, the forest is a great water catchment area of Rwanda, originating many streams that supply water for use to the communities, the rich bio diversity of Nyungwe forest offer a beautiful home stead for the animals that call this home.
Tracking chimpanzee in the conservation area begins early morning from the Uwinka Visitor Center, as early as 5:30 am, this time is used to beat the long distance walk to the park headquarters, it begins with an morning briefing from the park rangers, these will take you the forest later in search of the primate, Chimpanzee are characterized by their social intelligent nature, they live in groups of up to 100 members led through by a male alpha, they spend a lot of time in the forest tree canopies than on the ground, they are much more active compared to the mountain gorillas, it takes 2-3 hours to do the activity an, hour is allowed while with the primate species. You will watch the chimps perform their activities without minding your presence as they have been habituated to contain human presence. Chimpanzee has been scientifically proven to share up to 98% of the human DNA.
Chimpanzee Tracking in Nyungwe Forest National Park is carried out all year round, it is best done during the dry season as the forest is much drier, and the walking trails easy to hike, this is specific when you enjoy the forest walks, the wet season is happy time in the forest as well, it is possible to view chimps easily, they are so loud in that you will know it is them from their charter sound and way of communication, through the walk, look out for other forest primates like the l’hoest monkey, the black and white colobus monkey, red tailed monkeys to mention a few. Tracking chimpanzee in the forest requires one to purchase a tracking permit, bookings are made through your tour operator visitors can spend time viewing the chimpanzee during the habitation process.
Other primates of the park to spot include the large troops of the black and white colobus monkeys, red tailed monkeys, these can be tracked as well other things to do while in the national park include the canopy walk, it is one place of east Africa where the activity is done, the walk will have you see the upper tree canopies via the suspended bride, birding in the park is incredible, explore through the endemic species of the national park.
Nyungwe Forest National Park can be accessed by rod for approximately 6 hours’ drive to arrive at the destination, helicopter flights can be arranged to the national park through Rwanda international airport.