Chimpanzee Trekking in Nyungwe National Park

The chimpanzee, also known as simply the chimp, is a species of great ape native to the forest and savannah of tropical Africa. The chimpanzee is humans’ closest living relative. The chimpanzee is covered in coarse black hair, but has a bare face, fingers, toes, palms of the hands, and soles of the feet. The chimpanzee lives in groups that range in size from 15 to 150 members, although individuals travel and forage in much smaller groups during the day. Nyungwe National Park is the only one in Rwanda that has chimpanzees and offers opportunities for meeting them in their natural bedding. Chimpanzee Trekking in Nyungwe National Park is a real life experience as you will be able to meet them in their Natural bedding, see how they are organized, how they behave and make their life.

A chimpanzee trekking day in Nyungwe National Park, starts very early in the morning at 5:30 AM with a briefing at the park Headquarter to learn from the does and don’ts before starting the trekking through the natural forest of Nyungwe. Trekking chimpanzees in Nyungwe is conducted at two points where chimpanzees have been habituated to be visited: Cyamudongo and Uwinka trekking points. The chimpanzee trekking is a guided tour by the park guide who will take you to the trekking point. On meeting the chimpanzee, you are entitled to one hour with them. You will have a chance to see their daily activities, where they sleep, how they wake up, what they feed on and how socially they behave towards their fellows. Within the one hour, you will have a chance to take their pictures to keep the good memories with you the rest of your life.

You may ask yourself when is the best time to trek chimpanzee in Nyungwe National Park? Well chimpanzee trekking in Nyungwe National Park is an activity that is taken any time of the year as the park is always open for visitors and chimpanzee are always available for trekking as long as you have booked and paid the chimpanzee trekking permits as they are limited in number, only 16 permits per day are issued as only a group of 8 people is allowed to visit each chimpanzee group. The months of June, July and August are good times as fruits, which is the preferred food for chimpanzees, are available in full and chimpanzees do not travel long distances in search of them making it easier to trek them.

Also another question to ask is how many days are for a chimpanzee trekking in Nyungwe National Park. Well, most of the tours start from Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda. Most of the tours are using road transfers and it is almost 5 hours’ drive from Kigali to Nyungwe National Park. The chimpanzee trekking in Nyungwe National Park starts at 5:00 AM. That means that you will need to transfer a day before and have an overnight around Nyungwe to do the trekking on the following day. Therefore, a minimum of 2 days is required to do the chimpanzee trekking in Nyungwe National Park. Also helicopter transfers are possible and take 45 minutes from Kanombe International Airport. But still, you will need 2 days unless you take the transfer at 4:00 AM to meet the briefing at 5:00 at the park headquarters.

If you are doing chimpanzee trekking in Nyungwe National Park and staying overnight, you don’t need to worry about the accommodation. Nyungwe has got a lot of good hotels and lodges starting from standard, mid-range, luxury as well as high end accommodations.

The chimpanzee trekking in Nyungwe National Park can be combined with other activities like Gorilla and Golden Monkey trekking in the Volcanoes National Park, game drive to see the big five animals in Akagera National Park or simple visiting other attractions like king’s palace museum in Nyanza, ethnographic museum in Huye, visiting Kivu lake and its beautiful Irelands and beeches and many more others.

The chimpanzee trekking in Nyungwe National Park price is 90$ for international visitors and 60$ for Foreign residents of Rwanda. The Canopy work being 60$ and the waterfall hike at 50$. These prices are valid until December 31^st 2022. Starting on 1^st of January 2023, the following are new rates. To enter in Nyungwe you need to pay an entrance fee of 100$ for one night, 150$ for 2 nights and 200 for 3 nights for international visitors whereas the foreign residents in Rwanda and the east Africa in 60$, 90$ and 120$ for 1, 2 and 3 nights consecutively. Other activities offered by Nyungwe National Park like Canopy Walkway, Guided Birding, Other primate trekking and night treks) Minimal group size 2 (if one then pays for 2) and maximum 8 is 40$ for international visitor and 20$ for foreign resident in Rwanda and the East Africa.

To make sure that your chimpanzee trekking in Nyungwe National Park is well organized and well thought about, you need to work with a well experienced tour operator. We at Unique Rwanda Vacations Experts, we make sure every single detail is well taken into consideration to make your trip to Rwanda a once in a lifetime experience. Reach out to us and let our experts take care of the rest as you park for your chimpanzee trekking in Nyungwe National Park experience.