Canopy walk safari | Nyungwe Forest National Park | Rwanda Canopy Walk

Canopy Walk safari | Nyungwe Forest National Park | Rwanda Canopy Walk

Regarded as one of the most exciting adventure experiences, a canopy walk is an exciting activity where an individual goes on a treetop walk to access the forest canopy with a unique perspective view.

A canopy walk is only done in Nyungwe Forest National Park on a suspended bridge that’s 70m high above the great Nyungwe Forest. The walk is guided on a 160m long walkway making it take about 2 hours before completion.

The canopy walk is an adrenaline-filled walk that takes one through a short or long canopy walkway for a whole hiking experience.
Canopy walks require one’s patience, physical fitness, and persistence since they can be a bit slippery at times.

Suspended above a ravine in the lush montane rainforest of Nyungwe, the canopy walkway provides an exhilarating perspective on the ancient treetops and wildlife.

The 160m long and 70m high Suspension Bridge is accessible as part of a guided tour along the Igishigishigi trail, or to those hiking the Imbaraga or Umuyove trails.

A long hour’s walk to the canopy walkway from the Uwinka Reception Centre, visitors will encounter countless butterflies, orchids, and colorful birds, including many endemic to the region.

The steep forested slopes have well-maintained footpaths, which can become muddy, especially after rain thus need for raised bridges that will help you encounter primate species such as blue monkeys, red-tailed monkeys, Ruwenzori colobus, the Angola colobus, white colobus, owl-faced monkeys, and chimpanzees.

The canopy walk offers visitors an opportunity to explore the country’s awesome scenery from a bird’s eye view showing the park’s beaming landscape, breathtaking sights of forest birds, and plenty of primates during the walk on a rope bridge suspended 50 meters above the ground.

Where to go for canopy walks in East Africa?

Canopy walks in Rwanda and East Africa are conducted in one of the protected montane forests in Africa, the Nyungwe Forest National Park.

The Nyungwe Forest is located in southwestern Rwanda, on the border with Burundi, where it is contiguous with the Kabira National Park to the south, and Lake Kivu and DRC to the west.

Nyungwe National Park is a paradise for hikers in Rwanda; located 220km approximately six hours drive from Kigali, Nyungwe Forest National Park is enveloped with fold varying landscapes of rainforest, bamboo forests, swamps, and grasslands.

The Nyungwe forest canopy walk

The canopy walk in Nyungwe is divided into three stretches where each of the sections has a varying length. The shortest section stretches at 25 meters, followed by one which is 45 meters, and the longest at 90 meters.

No matter which stretches the visitor uses on a canopy walkway, the scenery remains fascinating and impeccably satisfying.

Nyungwe Forest National Park offers two canopy walks- the morning hike and the evening hike.
The morning canopy walk starts from 8 am to 10 am. The evening canopy walk begins at 3 pm to 5 pm daily.

The forest canopy walkway starts at the Uwinka visitor center where registration and clearing of the documents are done.

Thereafter registration you are given a guide who will believe you about the rules and regulations of the canopy walkway and then start your trip following the Ishishingishi trails of Nyungwe forest which is a 2-hour hike to the canopy walkway.

The beginning point of the trail offers a great view of the Congolese biggest island in

Lake Kivu which is Ijwi Island.