Nyungwe Forest Chimpanzee Trekking & Canopy Walk

Nyungwe Forest National Park protects one of Africa's oldest and most biodiverse rainforests, a mist-wrapped highland wilderness in southwestern Rwanda that predates the last ice age. It's home to roughly seventy habituated and semi-habituated chimpanzees, thirteen species of primate in total - including large troops of Angolan colobus monkeys that move through the canopy hundreds strong - and over 300 bird species. Waterbuck Tours' Nyungwe itineraries center on early-morning chimpanzee trekking with Rwanda Development Board trackers, following fresh trails and vocalizations deep into the forest for an encounter with our closest living relatives. We pair this with Africa's first canopy walkway, a suspended steel bridge strung sixty meters above the forest floor and two hundred meters long, offering a rare bird's-eye view over the rainforest canopy. Beyond primates, Nyungwe rewards travelers with waterfall hikes, colobus monkey tracking, and forest trails framed by the tea plantations that carpet the hills leading into the park. Nyungwe pairs naturally with a Lake Kivu stopover on the drive south, making it easy to build into a longer East Africa itinerary alongside gorilla trekking in the north.