Nyungwe Redux

For my birthday weekend, Johannes and I made a trip back to our favorite corner of Rwanda – Nyungwe Forest. We left early on Saturday morning, grabbing coffee and banana bread to go from Bourbon. After about two hours on the road, we stopped in Butare for ice cream at Inzozi Nziza. Unfortunately, we weren’t the only ones with the same idea and ended up in line behind 20 or so brand-new Peace Corps volunteers. Eventually, we received our coffee ice cream and were on the road again. The drive was as spectacular as I remembered, and this time the scenery was even dotted with the largest sunflowers I’ve ever seen. Just gorgeous!

Hilly countryside on the road between Butare and Nyungwe Forest

We arrived at our favorite hotel – Nyungwe Forest Lodge – just in time for a late lunch and spent the afternoon relaxing in our suite, reading books and magazines and watching the movie “Despicable Me.” After a delicious dinner, we turned in early in preparation for our 3:30 am wake-up call. Unfortunately, Johannes and I didn’t sleep well, despite the super comfortable bed. It was probably a combination of the high altitude and the constant rain which made us worried about our early morning chimpanzee tracking expedition.

At 3:30 am we were up and at ‘em, and after some Rwandan tea and warm muffins, we were on our way. We picked up our guide a short distance away, and he directed us to the Cyamudongo Forest, which is much smaller than Nyungwe (only 6 sq km) and is located further south and west, not too far from the borders with Congo and Burundi. We drove an hour and a half on progressively worse roads but eventually arrived at the start of our hike. It was quite chilly, and the path was muddy and slippery from the rain. In all honesty, the “hike” was more like trail running for an hour until we heard the chimpanzees screeching and hollering nearby. Unlike with the gorillas, it is difficult to get close to the chimps, so we stood on the path and watched them ascending and descending trees, eating leaves, and resting amid the branches. Although it was possible to see them with the naked eye, one needed binoculars to get a glimpse of their faces or see exactly what they were up to. 

The beautiful Cyamudongo Forest

A chimpanzee...you'll just have to take my word for it! ; )

Another chimp in action

Apparently, chimps are omnivores and sometimes eat other monkeys. Thus, it was surprising to see Mona monkeys springing from branch to branch nearby. We watched the scene for two hours, until I was pretty cold, tired, and hungry and ready to head back to the warmth and comfort of the lodge. On the hike back to the car, we took our time, and the guide pointed out various interesting flora and fauna. We also ran into a couple groups of baboons, who unbeknownst to me actually bark like dogs. We even saw a tiny baby baboon, but Johannes didn’t want to take any pictures, because he’s “seen way too many baboons – they are like a plague!”

You can see a Mona monkey if you look closely

Back at the lodge, we took warm showers, ate a satisfying lunch, and settled down for a nap. We enjoyed another wonderful dinner, complete with a cabernet sauvignon from South Africa. That night we slept like logs and woke up feeling refreshed. The sun was shining, and we ate breakfast on the patio and enjoyed the view of the tea plantation and Nyungwe Forest one last time. As we drove through the National Park, a few L’Hoest monkeys came to the side of the road to say good-bye. The rest of our drive was uneventful, and this time we benefited from a quiet pit-stop at Inzozi Nziza and shared chocolate ice cream with bananas and a couple of Snickerdoodle cookies (how they ended up making those in Rwanda, I’ll never know!) – power lunch! ; )   

One source of the Nile River has been discovered in Rwanda

A L'Hoest monkey saying good-bye! ; )

We're going to miss the Land of a Thousand Hills...