The best and only way of encountering the chimpanzee primates in their natural habitat of Nyungwe National Park in Rwanda for at least an hour is known as chimpanzee trekking. There is no doubt that chimpanzee trekking is the major tourist activity in Nyungwe National Park, attracting visitors from all over the world. The primate world in Rwanda is a high-selling venture, and chimpanzee trekking has also made a name for itself. Visitors are met with an enticing experience where they get to traverse the dense canopies of lush vegetation undergrowth, with tropical rainforest, before they encounter the chimpanzee primates. Although this chimpanzee trekking experience may sound physically demanding, the light is at the end of the tunnel when you come face-to-face with these incredible chimpanzee primates. The nature of Nyungwe Forest National Park, being a vast tropical forest, favors the chimpanzees by providing not only shelter but also constant food.
Spotting and meeting chimpanzee primates in Nyungwe National Park is not a direct process, as it sounds, as some tasks are done to pave the way for this activity. As visitors assemble in the park before their chimpanzee trekking adventure, they are taken through a pre-trekking briefing. This short pre-trekking briefing lasts about 30 minutes, and here the park officials or rangers walk the visitors through the various rules and regulations they should follow when embarking on this chimpanzee trekking experience. This briefing also highlights the expected code of conduct of the visitors when navigating through the forest, and also when in the presence of the chimpanzee primates. Nyungwe National Park hosts a sizeable number of chimpanzee individuals, with more than 400 individuals calling this park their home. Chimpanzee primates are so intelligent, with over 98.8% of their DNA similar to humans. It is because of this factor that the chimpanzees portray social behaviours similar to humans, such as social living. Chimpanzees in Nyungwe National Park live in groups known as communities, and these communities can host up to 100 individuals. The park harbors two chimpanzee communities, with one living in Nyungwe Forest and the other in Cyamudongo Forest, hosting about 60 and 30 individuals, respectively.
Trekking chimpanzees in this park is not as hard because these chimpanzee primates, in most cases, give out their cover with loud chants that spread across the park. Adding this to the knowledgeable trackers and game rangers, the trekking process is made easy. An average of only 8 people per group is allowed to trek these chimpanzees daily for an hour. This limited number of visitors per day is done as a sustainable mechanism. Allowing many visitors in the park can destroy the natural concept of the park since the people can wear it down by destroying the forest as they step on the vegetation. Many people may also stress the chimpanzees, forcing them to flee deeper in the forest, making them hard to find. Chimpanzee trekking is surely a life-changing experience where visitors spend an hour in the presence of the chimpanzees as they watch them engage in their daily activities, such as feeding, playing, and the females grooming their young.
How much does it cost to trek chimpanzees in Nyungwe National Park?
Visitors embarking on a chimpanzee trekking experience in Nyungwe National Park need to understand that this tourist activity comes at a cost. This cost is paid to the Rwanda Development Board through a local tour company. Visitors are given a chimpanzee permit, which is a document that grants them access to the park to engage in the chimpanzee trekking experience. The chimpanzee permit prices vary according to the nationality of the visitors and their regions of origin. For example, a foreign non-resident pays USD 150, a foreign resident USD 75, and East African citizens USD 25. These costs support the sustainability, protection, and conservation efforts of the chimpanzees and also the communities neighboring the park.
Why is the dry season the best time for chimpanzee trekking in Nyungwe National Park?
The dry season is always the best time for a chimpanzee trekking adventure in the park because of its weather conditions. The dry season is associated with humid temperatures with dry weather, which is attributed to the little or no rainfall received during this time. These conditions are ideal for trekking in a way that the trekking trails are left dry and very easy to navigate through, with sparse vegetation and a clear sky, which aids visibility. This makes encountering and spotting the chimpanzees even when they are in the top forest canopies. With plenty of ripened fruits in the forest during the dry season, the chimpanzees don’t have to move, thus also adding to the ease of trekking chimpanzees in the dry season.
What are the other activities to do in Nyungwe National Park?
Although chimpanzee trekking is the main tourist activity in Nyungwe National Park, there are also other activities that visitors can combine with chimpanzee trekking for an exciting time in the park. Some of these activities include the following.
Canopy walk
The adventurous canopy walk is one of the main exciting activities in Nyungwe National Park. The height of 70 meters and length of 160 meters of the suspended canopy trail stretching above the forest make it a must-do for many visitors, given the aerial views of the park it gives, and also the adventure. The trail gives a panoramic view of the entire park with eyes stretching as far as Burundi. The natural sounds of the primates chanting and birds singing give a relaxing atmosphere to the visitors as they fall in love with nature.
Birding
Nyungwe National Park is a bird sanctuary with more than 300 bird species nesting in its vast ecosystem of montane rainforest. With excellent and professional birding guides with years of experience, make your birding venture an easy one by helping you spot and identify most of the birds in the park. The birding trails scattered across the forest also aid in this birding excursion. Keep your eyes peeled for birds like Kungwe apalis, handsome francolin, Ruwenzori nightjar, Neumann’s warbler, Shelley’s crimsonwing, and Ruwenzori batis, among others.