Nyungwe is one of the largest mountainous rainforests in East and Central Africa. It covers almost 1000 sq km, and has an incredible variety of flora, fauna, primates and birds. It takes 40 minutes to drive from the visitor center (at the East side of the park) to the West gate, where our guesthouse was located. The road that runs through the park is the main paved road from Cyangugu, near the Rwandan-Congo border, to Butare. It is busy with vehicles of all types, but not in the greatest condition.
The Brandt travel guide spoke very highly of the different types of birds you can see while in Nyungwe. Andi and I, lucky or not, found ourselves with a bird-expert guide on Sunday when we went for our 3rd, and last, hike of the weekend. During the 3 hikes we did while in Nyungwe, along with multiple drives from one side of the park to the other, we saw 3 different types of monkeys, a variety of birds (one, the turaco, was extremely exciting for our bird-loving guide) and A LOT of ferns (as well as other types of trees and greenery). It was beautiful, and extremely nice to be outside for the entire weekend.
Below are a few more photos. We just returned from the beaches of Lake Tanganyika – photos from there to come tomorrow!
