Johannes and I had the most amazing weekend in Nyungwe National Park in southwestern Rwanda! We departed Kigali on Friday morning after depositing my first Rwandan paycheck and eating a delicious breakfast at Bourbon Coffee. After about two hours on the road, we stopped in Butare at the National Museum of Rwanda, which was really impressive. Everything is described in English, in addition to Kinyarwanda and French, so we learned all about population density, climate, traditional farming and hunting techniques, old-fashioned dwellings, jewelry, musical instruments, etc. Also in Butare, we stopped for delicious coffee ice cream at Inzozi Nziza (“sweet dreams”), an ice cream shop started by the women who own the Blue Marble ice cream shops in Brooklyn, NY. Inzozi Nziza is run by a women’s cooperative, and the members become shareholders and receive training in English, computing, and hospitality. To read more about this cool social enterprise, check out www.bluemarbledreams.org.
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| We all scream for ice cream! |
The drive from Butare to Nyungwe National Park offers breath-taking views of rolling hills checked in red soil and bright green fields of banana trees, tea plants, and other crops. As one enters the park, the roads get worse but the views get even better. Johannes drove slowly, so we could spot blue monkeys (they’re not actually blue – that’s just their name!) and mountain monkeys (which have white beards) along the way. We also caught a glimpse of the marshy area where elephants use to roam freely. The Kamiranzovu trail (meaning “sinking elephants” because sometimes the animals would be swallowed alive in the swamps!) offers the most sightings of orchids (Nyungwe boasts 150+ different species of orchids alone!) and three-horned chameleons – we hope to try this trail on our next visit!
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| Beautiful tea plantations with Nyungwe Forest in the background |
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| A mountain monkey! |
Eventually, we arrived at Nyungwe Forest Lodge – the five-star resort where we would spend the weekend. Johannes and I had planned this excursion to celebrate the ten-year anniversary of when we first got together, so we decided to splurge! And oh, was it worth it! : ) The lodge is situated on the western end of the national park amid rolling hills of tea plantations. We were greeted with passion fruit cocktails and escorted to our gorgeous room with a balcony that looked out onto the forest. Later in the weekend we would even see mountain monkeys swinging in the trees from our balcony!
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| Our room was one of four in this chalet looking onto the forest |
Nyungwe is the largest mountainous rainforest in all of Africa covering more than 1,015 sq km, and there are so many different activities – everything from tracking chimpanzees to hiking to the source of the Nile – that it’s almost impossible to decide what to do. Saturday morning – after eating breakfast on the sunlit terrace at the lodge – we headed off on a 3.5 hour hike with our guide. The hike was wonderful and included spectacular views of massive mahogany trees and blue monkeys jumping from branch to branch, as well as a brief visit to the brand new canopy walk (which isn’t officially open yet) located 150 meters up in the air. I also learned a new word – “igishigishigi” – which means “fern” in Kinyarwanda and is so fun to say.
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| Johannes on the brand new canopy walk! |
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| A view of the canopy from below - "like rivers in the sky," said our guide. |
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| A blue monkey jumping from tree to tree |
Back at the lodge, we enjoyed a three-course lunch, complete with a delicious salad that Johannes and I each inhaled, and then took a dip in the infinity pool which looked out onto the forest. We ended the evening with another three-course meal – the best I’ve had since arriving in Rwanda – including medium-rare filet mignon, red wine from South Africa, and malva pudding for dessert.
On Sunday, we headed out for another hike – this time on the Isumo (“waterfall”) trail. The hike originates in the middle of the Gisakura tea plantation and ends with spectacular views of a waterfall. Ultimately though, the highlight of the hike was actually when we were driving back and ran smack into a group of Ruwenzori colobus monkeys. Usually one has to get up very early and pay quite a bit of money to track them, but we were lucky enough to see them just like that. These black and white monkeys are habituated, so we were able to get really close and watch them play, wrestle, and even make monkey love.
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| Johannes and Ginger at the waterfall! |
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| Gorgeous ferns everywhere! |
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| Colobus monkeys up close and personal |
It is difficult to describe how perfect the whole weekend was. Nyungwe is like no other place I’ve ever been, and well, the lodge was hands down the nicest place I’ve ever stayed, so it all added up to a fabulous excursion. Now Johannes and I are determined to work extra hard in Kigali and make it back for another visit before leaving Rwanda. Next time, in addition to the Kamiranzovu trail, we would like to go chimpanzee tracking – I just have to overcome my fear of setting out at 4:30 am!
Wow, this is awesome! Looks like you guys are doing so many incredible things. Although, I have to say, the "brand new canopy walk" is perhaps the most terrifying thing I've ever seen.
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