Famous national park in Rwanda
5-Day Safari in Akagera and Nyungwe National Parks
Well-known national parks in Rwanda: Rwanda is known for its thousand hills, covering about 26,338 square kilometers. Rwanda is located next to Uganda, Burundi, Tanzania, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Rwanda has four interesting national parks: Volcanoes National Park, Akagera National Park, Nyungwe Forest National Park, and Gishwati-Mukura National Park. Rwanda is famous for its beautiful scenery and wildlife. This East African country attracts tourists with its special mix of nature, culture, and history.
Volcanoes National Park is likely the most well-known national park in the country. This is why many people choose to go on vacation in Rwanda. Volcanoes National Park is one of the best places in Africa to see mountain gorillas. Volcanoes National Park is the largest national park in Africa. The park became a national park in 1925 to protect and save the native Mountain Gorillas of Rwanda. Volcanoes National Park is in the northwestern part of the country, in Musanze, which used to be called Ruhengeri. The smallest national park covers 160 square kilometers of jungle and includes five of the eight volcanoes in the Virunga Mountains: Sabyinyo, Gahinga, Muhabura, Bisoke, and Karisimbi. It is next to Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in Uganda.
The park is home to a third of the world’s Mountain Gorillas, with over 11 gorilla families, including Karisimbi, Amahora, Susa A, Umubano, Kirwa, Kwitonda, Bwenge, Ugenda, Titua Agashya, and Sabyinyo. Popular activities include gorilla trekking and golden monkey trekking. Other things to do in Volcanoes National Park are hiking to Dian Fossey’s grave, Mount Bisoke, and Mount Karisimbi. These amazing creatures live well in their native home in Rwanda’s Virunga Mountains Park, which includes six extinct volcanoes and three active ones that also reach into Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Volcanoes National Park is famous for its beautiful vegetation, including montane forests, bamboo, and grassland, located at an elevation of about 2400 to 2500 meters above sea level. The park is home to animals such as buffaloes, bushbucks, forest elephants, giant forest hogs, golden monkeys, bush pigs, spotted hyenas, and black-fronted duikers. It also has various birds like the Rwenzori turaco, red-faced woodland, and handsome francolin.
Gorilla trekking is a popular activity for people on safaris in Rwanda, especially at Volcanoes National Park. The best part of visiting Volcanoes National Park is definitely gorilla hiking. Gorilla trekking is an exciting activity in Volcanoes National Park where tourists can walk through the rainforest to find mountain gorillas that are used to people. Gorilla trekking in Volcanoes National Park starts early in the morning with a talk about the rules and guidelines to follow during the walk. After the briefing, you will begin the forest walk, which can take between 2 to 6 hours. The time depends on where the mountain gorillas are since they move around to find food. While trekking, you will see other primate species and birds. When you find the gorillas, you can spend one hour with them in their natural habitat. You’ll learn about how they act, feed, and play. You can also take pictures and videos to share with people back home.
In addition to gorilla trekking, you can also see the rare Golden monkeys in the park. Volcanoes National Park is great for bird watching, with more than 200 bird types. You will have the chance to learn about famous primatologists at the Dian Fossey Memorial, where Dian Fossey dedicated her life to studying gorillas. You can also go climbing on Mount Bisoke, visit the Twin Lakes, see Dian Fossey’s Tomb, and tour the Iby’iwacu cultural village and other nearby communities.
In addition to Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda has other national parks that have helped boost the country’s tourism and draw many visitors. These include:
Nyungwe National Park
Nyungwe Forest National Park has a variety of wildlife, including over 1,068 plant species, 322 bird species, and 75 animal species. The park has plenty of primate’s species of more than 13 primate’s species which is the most captivating chimpanzees, white and black colobus monkeys and others unique to the Albertine region. Trekking primates isn’t the only thing to do in Nyungwe Forest National Park. It also has a sky walk, which is a great activity in East Africa.Nyungwe Forest National Park has many different types of primates and a fun canopy walk. It is also home to a variety of birds and mammals that can be seen eating the grass and plants in the grassland. The park has many fun activities for visitors, including chimpanzee treks, tracking colobus monkeys, walking on a canopy, nature walks, hiking to tropical waterfalls, and birdwatching, among others.
Akagera National Park is a wildlife reserve in Rwanda. It’s known for its diverse landscapes, including savannahs, wetlands, and mountains. The park is home to many animals, including elephants, lions, and various bird species. It’s a
Game Drives in Akagera
Akagera National Park is a popular spot known for its great attractions. It is one of the oldest national parks in the area and the only savannah park in Rwanda. It has some beautiful rare wild animals in Africa and is a great place for a game drive. The park is home to the amazing African big five animals: lions, buffaloes, rhinos, elephants, and leopards. Other animals include giraffes, topis, zebras, antelopes, hyenas, and impalas, among others. Akagera National Park is home to many primates like vervet monkeys, olive baboons, and bush babies. The park also has more than 520 bird species, including local red-faced barbets, swamp flycatchers, and the rare shoebill stork, among others. Travelers in Rwanda can enjoy exciting wildlife safaris at Akagera National Park. They will have the chance to see beautiful sights and take part in fun activities like game drives, nature walks, boat rides on Lake Kivu, sport fishing, and bird watching.
Gishwati-Mukura National Park
Gishwati-Mukura National Park is the newest national park in Rwanda. It was established in 2015 and is the fourth national park in the country, following Volcanoes National Park. The Rwandan government opened Gishwati Mukura National Park to help make the country a top tourist spot in East and Central Africa. The park is home to more than 232 bird species, including the Abyssinian Ground Thrush, Black Faced Apalis, Strange Weaver, Handsome Francolin, Rwenzori Turaco, Grauer’s Swamp Warblers, Regal Sunbird, Red-Throated Alethe, Rwenzori Batis, Grey Crowned Cranes, and Mountain Yellow Warblers.
Some of the birds you can find include the Dusky Crimsonwing, Woodhoopoe, Purple-breasted Sunbird, Martial Eagle, Lagden’s Bushshrike, Tawny Eagle, Black Cuckoo, Gray-headed Kingfisher, Black-billed Turaco, Pied Crow, Black-throated Apalis, Angola Swallow, Hooded Vulture, Blue-spotted Wood Dove, Mountain Buzzard, Hadada Ibis, Augur Buzzard, Tropical Boubou, African Stonechat, Rwenzori Hill Babbler, White-browed Crombec, Tullberg’s Woodpecker, Black Goshawk, Dusky-brown Flycatcher, Stuhlmann’s Starling, and Blue-headed Sunbird.
Additionally, this area is home to wildlife species like Red River hogs, serval cats, tree hyraxes, and black-fronted duikers. The park has 5 types of primates, including chimps, baboons, golden monkeys, black and white colobus monkeys, L’Hoest’s monkeys, vervet monkeys, and blue monkeys.
