Beyond the Rwanda Gorilla Trekking
Beyond the Rwanda Gorilla Trekking ;The Mountain Gorillas are an endangered species living in Rwanda; their home is in Volcanoes National Park (PNV). Many people visit Rwanda for gorilla tracking safaris, but there are numerous other activities available when visiting. This includes a great variety of safari options, from classic Big Five game drives to canopy walking and rabid chimpanzee watching. The circuit of attractions is compact and offers visitors the opportunity to experience the great treasures of tropical Africa in one short and easy trip.
1. Big Five Safari: Akagera National Park.
If you want to experience a typical African safari, with endless rolling savanna and the iconic Big Five, then head northeast to Akagera National Park in Rwanda. It is within a two or three-hour drive from Kigali.
Akagera is an incredible success story for conservation. After the genocide in the 1990s, Akagera lost a large portion of its animal population. However, after many years of concerted conservation efforts, African Parks successfully reintroduced black rhinos and lions, thus restoring the park to its Big Five status.
Nowadays, game drives are a great way to see animals like lions, elephants, buffalo, leopards, and many hippos and crocodiles that now flourish in the lakes and wetlands of Akagera National Park.
Distinctive Adventure: While game drives are great, nothing compares to the fantastic boat safaris on Lake Ihema.
From on board the boat exploration of this wide range allows for observing an overwhelming number of waterbirds as well as gaining close proximity to both the hippopotamus and the huge Nile crocodile.
2.Chimpanzee Tracking and Canopy Walk Through the Forests of Nyungwe National Park
Nyungwe National Park is one of the oldest and largest montane rainforest areas in Central Africa that is located in southwestern Rwanda. The park offers a different set of activities in contrast to Akagera National Park’s focus on wildlife; here the best safari activity is that of tracking chimpanzees and enjoying breathtaking views of the forest and the area surrounding them.
Tracking chimpanzees is the most popular tourist activity in Nyungwe Park. Tracking chimpanzees is a less-tiresome safari activity than gorilla trekking, but it provides similar rewards when it comes to tracking these active and sociable animals as they play and swing from the branches of trees that form the upper layer of the forest. Besides chimpanzees, there are also twelve other primate species that live in the forest, including the strikingly beautiful black-and-white Colobus Monkeys, most often seen moving in massive troops.
Nyungwe Park has many different features available for visitors including one of the most exciting parts, the Canopy Walkway. The Canopy Walkway offers an adrenaline rush and unique views of the many levels of the rainforest ecosystem.
The swinging steel bridge is 70 meters (230 feet) above the forest floor and allows visitors to walk across the treetops to get a bird’s eye view of the extraordinarily dense and beautifully mist-covered forest and its wildlife.
3. Golden Monkey Tracking in Volcanoes National Park.
While the majority of visitors to Volcanoes National Park (PNV) come just to see gorillas, there are also Golden Monkeys, another exciting and stunning animal. Golden Monkey tracking is full of excitement and energy because the monkeys are endemic to the Virunga Mountains, where they live in much larger herds than gorillas do (many more monkeys in one troop) and there is a lot of activity.
Unlike the quieter, unaided gorilla experience, Golden Monkeys are very much engaged with their surroundings and each other. They often leap from tree to tree within the bamboo forests of the volcanoes, which gives you many opportunities to get great photographs.
4. Cultural Reflection in Kigali.
The capital city Kigali is a must-see when visiting Rwanda. It is frequently considered one of the cleanest and safest cities in Africa and is an extraordinary opportunity for reflection. Visiting the Kigali Genocide Memorial: This memorial should be one of the first areas you visit when learning about Rwanda’s history.
It is an incredibly moving and educational experience detailing the events of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi and allows for a greater understanding of the incredible healing and reconciliatory efforts made by the people of Rwanda to date.
there is a distinctive safari experience available in Rwanda, from viewing the world-famous Mountain Gorillas, to experiencing the Big Five game drive in Akagera National Park to traversing the canopy of Nyungwe National Park to search for chimpanzees to experiencing culture in Kigali. Rwanda provides the entire African adventure in a small and easily accessible and hospitable country.
