Nyungwe Forest National Park is a national park in southwestern Rwanda, located south of Lake Kivu on the border with Burundi. The park was established in 2004 and covers an area of approximately 970 km² of rain forest, bamboo, grassland, swamps, and bogs. The nearest town is Cyangugu, 54 km to the west. Mount Bigugu is located within the park borders.

It has a wide variety of animal species. It is situated in a region where several large bio-geographical zones meet, this provides a great span of micro habitats for many species of plants and animals. The park contains 13 different primate species, 275 bird species 1068 plant species, 85 mammal species, 32 amphibian species and 38 reptile species.

There are many walking trails going throughout forest with beautiful waterfalls and mesmerising viewing points. The large number of flowering plants including orchids provide a superb playing ground for a photographer. The accommodation facilities available currently are not sufficient and you are advised to find accommodation at Cyangugu or Butare, however it is best to use a tour operator to do your bookings. It a bird watchers heaven and we suggest you specify your intentions to your tour operator so that they can design the tour accordingly. For those interested in bird watching or chimp tracking a minimum of two to three days is recommended.

It is also not recommended to use public transport while you are staying at Nyungwe Forest National Park, the main reason for this is that the options are highly limited and unreliable. It is recommended to hire a Car from Kigali for this trip.

There are three accommodation facilities available in and near the Nyungwe Forest National Park. The first one is the Nyungwe Forest Lodge the other is Gisakura Guest House and the Uwinka Rest House, the first one is a luxury lodge and the second and third budget facilities.  It is highly recommended that you do your bookings at least a month before your travel as the number of rooms in the facilities are limited.

Suggested Activities at the park

• Bird watching
• Primate tracking
• Taking the various trails in the park
• Climbing Mt Bigugu
• Photography
• Excursion to Gisakura tea factory
• Excursion to Kamiranzovu Marsh

Activities on the way :

• Butare (Nyanza) has the National Museum and many other places of cultural interest.
• The Kings Palace is also on the way .

The Nyungwe Forest National Park is around 6 hours away from Kigali and it is recommended that you give one day for the transfer.  Nyungwe Forest National Park is around 9 hours from Ruhengeri by proper roads so it is also possible to come directly to Ruhengeri or Kinigi for continuing with Gorilla trekking etc but that too will require one day for the transfer. There are buses plying from Cyangugu to Kigali and from Kigali you can get buses to all over the country or beyond.

All activities start from Uwinka tourist center at 6:00 AM, some activities do start later in the day.