Top 4 Best Rwanda National Parks For Your Self-Drive Tour
Located in East-Central Africa, Rwanda is a scenic landlocked country, home to 4 parks. There are 4 Rwanda National Parks to be explored: Akagera National Park, Gishwati-Mukura National Park, Volcanoes National Park and Nyungwe Forest National Park.
These offer a range experiences from the thrilling chimpanzee treks, gorilla trekking, big 5 game encounters, golden monkey tracking and birding, etc.
Rwanda National Parks:
Gishwati-Mukura National Park
Gishwati-Mukura NP is the newest park in Rwanda, established in 2015 after merging of Gishwati and Mukura Forest.
Spanning over 34sq.km, Gishwati-Mukura supports a total of 20 chimpanzees, blue monkeys, l’hoest monkeys, 232 species of birds and other species. It is a perfect place to enjoy primate tracking, birding and nature walks, etc.
Nyungwe Forest National Park
In the far Southern Province of Rwanda lies Nyungwe National Park is one of the Africa’s most sought for primate destinations. Created in 2004, this park covers 970sq.km inhabiting a total of 13 species of primates.
The major wildlife species to find within this park include olive baboons, blue monkeys, chimpanzees, vervet monkeys, l’hoest monkeys, red-tailed monkeys and others such as blotched serval, golden cats, carnival genet, giant forest hogs, duikers, klipspringers, buffaloes, impalas, and black fronted duikers.
Additionally, there are 1068 species of plants, 38 species of reptiles and 310 species of birds. The birds to identify here include the red-faced woodland warblers, handsome spur fowl, stripe-breasted tit, Dusky crimson wing, regal sunbirds, Albertine owlets, regal sunbird, black saw-wing, red-throated alethe, etc.
Chimpanzee trekking –Nyungwe is known for its uniquely remarkable chimpanzee trekking experience. Uwinka and Cyamudongo are the 2 important sectors in Nyungwe Forest National Park to start your trek to explore chimpanzees. Visitors embark on the morning or afternoon chimpanzee tracking.
When trekking with Nyungwe chimpanzees in this special location, you will also be in position to come across myriad of other interesting species. Besides chimpanzees, both the morning and afternoon chimpanzee trek allows you to see a range of other primates: olive baboons, red-tailed monkeys, blue monkeys, l’hoest monkeys, vervet monkeys, and silverback and Angola chimpanzees.
Birding –Nyungwe allows you to identify some other avifaunal species. The park has 310 bird species including black saw-wing, regal sunbird, Rwenzori tourists, Souza’s strike, sooty facol, slender billed weaver, slate-colored, ruaha chat, ross’s turacos, western reef heron, the red winged francolin, ring-necked francolin, short-dominated, yellow throated white-winged swamp warbler, yellow through eremomela, tabora cisticolas and more.
Note, all the 2 seasons offer great bird sightings, The dry season which runs from June to September allows you explore birds like francolins and different wetland species, owls and nightjars. The rainy season –March to May or October to November ideal period when migrating birds confine in the different spots. Most migrating species of birds are recorded from November to April.
Go canopy walking- grand guided walking excursion on suspended walkway set 60 from the floor and stretches up to 200m. Anyone above 6 years can be part of this amazing experience and fee charged is USD 60 per person.
Akagera National Park
Lying in Eastern province, Akagera National Park is the extensive protected area in Africa. The park was created in 1934 and has surface area coverage of 1122sq.km. It is the only place to find all the big 5 game species –lions, leopards, rhinos, buffaloes, and elephants.
Other recorded animal species include hippos, crocodiles, giraffes, zebras, primates like olive baboons, colobus monkeys; and birds such as shoebill stork, etc. Enjoy a guided game drive, boat excursion, hot air balloon safaris, helicopter tours, and birding. The park shelters some of the beautiful lakes including Lake Ihema, Shakani and others.
On a game drive within enjoy excellent sights in Akagera NP including the big five game, zebras, antelopes and birds.
Birding in Akagera NP Rwanda is about identifying diversity of birds including shoe bill stork, swamp fly catchers, Denham’s bustard, Blue headed coucal, Beaudouin’s snakes, Caspian plovers, Crested barbet, doves, martial eagle, pennant-winged nightjar, Northern brown-throated weaver, sooty falcon, slender-billed weavers, and papyrus gonoleks.
Boat cruise –embark on guided launch cruise or boat excursion in the morning from 7:30am-9am (for the morning session) and in the afternoon starting 3pm to 4:30. It is the special opportunity to encounter variety of aquatic life: hippos, crocodiles and birds.
Accommodation in Akagera National Park
The top lodges to consider for a night stay: Dereva Hotel, Akagera Game Lodge, Ruzizi Hotel, and Magashi Tent Camp.
Volcanoes National Park
Volcanoes National Park is the premier Rwanda safaris destination offering the most memorable gorilla trekking experiences. The park is 2 to 3 hours’ drive from Kigali capital. Volcanoes National Park is found in the Northwestern Rwanda and was created way back in 1925, spanning on the land area of 1510sq.km.
Volcanoes National Park is a unique destination with diverse animal species. They include the world’s rare mountain gorillas, golden monkeys, black and white colobus monkeys, more.
The various activities to do in Volcanoes NP include mountain gorilla trekking, golden monkey tracking, nature walks, visit the Dian Fossey tomb site, volcano climbing, birding and others.
Gorilla trekking is amazingly the most sought for primate adventure. This is for you to enjoy up close and personal with the rare mountain gorillas. Each day, there is only one trek which is done with a local guide.
At Volcanoes NP Rwanda, guests are allocated to the park guides first and gorilla groups. The real trekking begins at 8:00am lasting for 2-6 hours depending on guests’ walking speed, location of the park and other factors.
Rwanda gorilla permits to see mountain gorillas cost USD 1500 per person and should be obtained early enough at least 2-4 months before actual travel for a gorilla holiday.
When planning for a gorilla trip, guests can also incorporate most of the other experiences including birding, game drives, boat cruise, nature walks, cultural encounters, volcano hiking and others.
Accommodation to stay –the place to book on gorilla tour include Singita Kwitonda Rwanda, Bisate Lodge, Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge, One & Only Gorillas Nest, Kinigi Guesthouse, Five Volcanoes Boutique Hotel, Mountain Gorillas Nest Lodge, Best View Hotel, Faraja Hotel, Da Vinci Gorilla Lodge, Mountain Gorilla View Lodge and more.