Nyungwe National Park
Visual Introduction to Nyungwe
by Gaël R. Vande weghe
06 january 2022
Nyungwe Forest: Rwanda’s Crown Jewel of Nature
Nyungwe Forest is one of Africa’s most remarkable natural treasures. This vast mountain rainforest has endured through the ages, resisting countless threats of deforestation, and today stands as Rwanda’s crown jewel of biodiversity. Well protected and thriving, it is a living sanctuary of wildlife, freshwater, and ancient ecosystems.
Covering just over 1,000 square kilometers, Nyungwe is the largest effectively protected mountain forest in the Albertine Rift. It is home to hundreds—if not thousands—of unique species, many of them relicts from ancient times and found nowhere else on Earth. The landscape is strikingly diverse: high mountains, steep valleys, mist-shrouded wetlands, and a mosaic of forest types. Some trees in the deepest valleys tower over 70 meters, forming an awe-inspiring green cathedral.
Visiting Nyungwe is a true privilege. It is the kind of place that invites you to slow down, spend days exploring, and reconnect with nature at its most magnificent. For travelers seeking immersion in one of Africa’s last great mountain rainforests, Nyungwe is an unforgettable destination.
For more information on how to visit Nyungwe : https://visitnyungwe.org/
More Nyungwe here: from above
The small depression south of Uwinka.
Nyungwe is home to many massive Iminazi (Parinari excelsa),
larval food plant of tiny butterflies of
the skipper family (Platylesches).
A particular and beautiful feature of Nyungwe is the thick
and hyperhumid understory of the deepest and lowest valleys.
Here along the Kamiranzovu valley.
The understory at the lowest levels of
Imbaraga trail, rated challenging for hikers.
Polystachya anastacialynae is an orchid that is currently
only known from Rwanda, in Nyungwe Forest.
L’hoest Monkeys, Cercopithecus lhoesti, a tmostly terrestrial monkey,
are common throughout Nyungwe and often
seen along the main road.
One of the hundreds of small streams flowing
through Nyungwe forest.
On some ridges, mature Parinari trees form a very
dense canopy. Here on Umuyove trail.
Small Hagenia trees seen from below, bordering Mubuga swamp.
Malachite Sunbird | U-Nectarinia famosa
On flowering Kniphofia vandeweghei in Mubuga swamp.
Intricate foliage of Podocarpus trees close to the
highest altitudinal pointof Nyungwe, on Bigugu summit.
Giant heath on the summits are wind resistant,
and often grows indicating the stress they go through.
Senecio flowers, often blooms massively on the road sides
and trails, particularly where the sun can reach.
Umukereko (Newtonia buchananii).
One of the most beautiful trees of nyungwe.
An elder female chimpanzee along the Banda road.
She was feeding in a fruiting Chrysophyllum gorungosanum.
A large Impatiens stuhlmannii flower (Balsam)
on the edge of a small stream on the lower trails.
Mubuga wetland.
A busy Red-footed Sun-Squirrel
Heliosciurus rufobrachium, on the Igishigishigi trail.
Bamboos are limited in Nyungwe, but
in Nshili some formations are very tall.
A Black-and-White Casqued Hornbill
(Bycanistes subcylindricus), in the Gisakura forests.
The famous Nyungwe Canopy Walkway along
the Igishigishigi trail departing from Uwinka.
Ndambarare waterfall, at least 10-12 meters tall.
The forests around Gisakura at a misty sunset.
Views from the Kamiranzovu waterfall.