Rwanda National Parks
Rwanda, also known as the Land of a Thousand Hills, is a small landlocked country in East Africa that borders Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Rwanda is blessed with four major national parks, which offer unique safari attractions like the big five animals, primates like mountain gorillas, chimpanzees, and golden monkeys, mountains, water bodies, and birds, among others. The combination of the Primate National Park and the Savannah National Park will provide travelers with an incredible and lifetime safari experience in Rwanda.
The national parks in Rwanda include Volcanoes National Park, which is located in the northwestern region bordering with Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in Uganda and Virunga National Park in Congo. Volcanoes National Park is one of the most visited national parks in Rwanda and it’s famously known for harboring the endangered mountain gorillas, golden monkeys, and 5 volcanic mountains: Mount Karisimbi, Mount Bisoke, Mount Muhabura, Mount Gahinga and Mount Sabinyo. The park is also a home of mammals like forest buffaloes, elephants and different bird species. Travelers who visit Volcanoes National Park will get an opportunity to engage in thrilling activities like gorilla trekking, golden monkey trekking, mountain hiking, bird watching, the Dian Fossey tomb hike, visiting the Musanze caves, and visiting the Ibyi’wacu cultural village, among others.
Nyungwe Forest National Park is another national park in Rwanda that should be visited during your safari in Rwanda. The park is a home to 13 primate species, including chimpanzees, silver monkeys, vervet monkeys, red-tailed monkeys, grey-cheeked mangabey, and black-and-white colobus monkeys, among others.
Nyungwe Forest National Park is also a home to over 275 bird species, which makes it one of the top birding destinations in the country. It also harbors other wildlife species, including mammals like golden cats and serval cats, butterflies, and reptiles among others and offers interesting safari activities like chimpanzee trekking, canopy walks, bird watching, colobus monkey trekking and waterfall hikes.
Akagera National Park is the largest and only savannah national park located in the eastern part of Rwanda near the Tanzanian border. Akagera National Park is home to the big five mammals—buffaloes, lions, leopards, elephants, rhinos and other animals like oribi, impalas, bushbucks, giraffes, zebras, hippos, Nile crocodiles, reedbucks, waterbucks, elands, topi, serval cats, and hyenas, among others. Akagera National Park offers incredible activities to travelers, including day and night game drives, boat cruises on Lake Ihema, sport fishing on Lake Shakani, guided nature walks, and cultural tours, among others.
Gishwati-mukura national park is the newest national park in Rwanda that was created in 2015 by combining the Gishwati and Mukura forests. The national park is a home of primates like chimpanzees, golden monkeys, blue monkeys, and l’hoest monkeys among others and over 395 bird species, including the Albertine rift endemic species. Gishwati-mukura National Park offers several activities like chimpanzee and monkey trekking, guided nature walks, bird watching, visiting the waterfalls, and cultural encounters, among others.
Rwanda offers other attractions like Lake Kivu, museums like the King’s Palace, the Ethnographic Museum, the Rwanda Art Museum, and the Kandt House Museum, among others that showcase the history of Rwanda and the Kigali Genocide Memorial Center, where you will learn about Rwanda’s genocide.
Do not hesitate to visit our website for several safari packages or reach out to us at Achieve Global Safaris for more information about Rwanda national parks.
