Discover the Best of Rwanda National Parks

 Nyungwe Forest National Park is found near Rwanda’s border with the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi. The park was established in the Southwestern part of the country in 2004. It is one of the two newest national parks in the county and covers an area of 270 square Kilometers. Nyungwe forest the largest and oldest montane forest in Africa, dating back to the time of the last Ice Age. The forest remains green throughout hence offering amazing scenery to those who visit. Nungwe forest is dominated by a group of mountains whose formations are related to those in Congo and Uganda. From these mountains one can have great views of Lake Kivu and the Virunga Volcanoes during certain times of the day. Nyungwe Forest National park is home to more than 200 species of trees including bogs, bamboo and grasslands. Nyungwe has been described by some as Rwanda’s primate capital with over 13 species including the Angola Colobus, Silver monkeys, L’Hoest’s Monkeys, Dent’s Mona Monkeys, Baboons, Vervet Monkeys, Golden Monkeys, Red-tailed monkeys, Hamlyn’s Monkeys, Grey-cheeked Managabeys, chimpanzees, black and white colobus. 

 The Volcanoes National Park is found in the northwestern part of the country. It borders Uganda National Parks and Virunga National Park. The park covers an area of 160 square kilometers and was established in 1925 to protect the mountain gorillas. The volcanoes national park sits on a higher altitude and is generally colder compared to Rwanda’s other national parks. It consists of 5 volcanoes/mountains (Karisimbi, Bisoke, Muhabura, Sabinyo and Gahinga), bamboo forests, rainforests, a few lakes, marshes and the Musanze caves. The Volcanoes national Park has the second highest population of mountain gorillas after Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. The park is also home to golden monkeys and mammals like forest elephants, spotted hyenas, bushbucks, buffaloes, smaller primates and 178 species of birds.

Despite the rich biodiversity, what really makes the volcanoes national park stand out are the mountain gorillas. Dian Fossey made the park known internationally because of her research studies with the gorillas from 1967 until her death in 1985. She built the Karisoke Research Centre and helped curb poaching in the park. Unfortunately, the civil war and genocide in the early 1990’s saw a return of massive poaching and encroachments on park land. The government later took serious steps to eliminate poaching and militias in the park such that there are virtually no threats to visitors.

 Akagera National Park is the largest and only Savannah park in Rwanda. It was established near the border with Tanzania in 1934 as the second national park in Rwanda. The park covers an area of 1,222 square kilometers and consists of Savannah, woodlands, montane forests and vast swamps. Akagera is blessed with water bodies but the most prominent are river Kagera, Lake Shakani and lake Ihema. Akagera national park lost most of its animal population after the Rwanda genocide in 1994.

 Thousands of former refugees stormed the park and opened up farms while at the same time poisoning all the 300 hundred lions in the park then.  Animal loss did not begin in 1994 though.

 Akagera once had one of the highest population of wild dogs in East Africa The colonial authorities found them a nuisance and killed most of them.

The new government in Rwanda after the genocide realized the huge potential of tourism. Since then the government has done everything possible to recover what was lost and promote tourism in the park. At the moment all the big five animals (Leopards, Elephants, Rhinos, Lions and Buffaloes) are once again roaming the park freely. Apart from the big five mammals, tourists can also spot zebra impala, oribi, bushbucks, eland, tsessebe, hippopotamus and crocodiles. Akagera National Park is one of the best places for birding in Rwanda. It has a great concentration of water birds which thrive on the park’s vast marshes and wetlands. 425 species of birds have been recorded including the shoebill stork and the papyrus gonolek.

Gishwati-Mukura national park is Rwanda’s newest national park. It was created in 2015 by combining the Gishwati and Mukura forests. The park was established to help preserve what was remaining of the Mukura and Gishwati forests while also protecting the chimpanzee populations therein. The park is also home to golden monkeys, blue monkeys and L’Hoest’s monkeys. Before the creation of the park, the two forests almost faced extinction as a result of human encroachment after the genocide in 1994. Refugees came back and cleared a large part of the forests to build homes and for subsistence farming. The forest corridor that connected the two forest to Nyungwe National Park disappeared leaving the chimpanzee population and other wildlife isolated. Over 60% of the forests wildlife species were lost by the time the national park was formed.

The government entered into a partnership with the Wilderness safari to restore what was lost, stop encroachment, sensitize the communities about the benefit of the park and turn it into a high-end eco-tourism site. The government is working with Wilderness safaris to introduce chimpanzee trekking, primates viewing and birdwatching. The story of Gishwati-Mukura is another example of how serious the government is about wildlife conservation. The government has partnered with international organizations like the World bank to plant trees in previously degraded areas.