Nyungwe National Park and Journey to Kivu - 5th June

A simple breakfast of ham and cheese omelette at Chimpanzee lodge before we set off to Nyungwe visitor centre. The bed was a bit hard and there was occasional truck noise outside but otherwise it was a nice stay. 

It’s around a 35 minute drive from the lodge back to Nyungwe visitor centre. You might see monkeys and birds just driving there. On  our arrival one cheeky L’Hoests monkey stole a banana skin out of a bin and even though it was chased off, dared to go up to the cafe and steal a small bunch of bananas from one of the guides. 

Irebero trail 

There are several different treks to choose from at Nyungwe varying in length, elevation and difficulty. I am extremely unfit so there was no way anything over 3 hours or moderate difficulty was going to cut it! 

We opted for the irebero trail - meaning ‘viewpoint’ in Kinyarwanda. It was supposed to be 3 hours and 160m of net elevation (not counting the downs and ups in between). 

We were allocated a guide called Tim. Now anyone doing any trail, you will be lucky if you get him as your guide! He was super knowledgeable and walked at my pace (which is slow) and kept checking on us. He had great eyesight too so could see the wildlife from afar! 

You get given a walking stick - take it! This is your third leg for balance. The trail can be quite steep, slippy or narrow in places. You leave the visitor centre down some steps and then are immediately in the forest. 

Within 5 minutes we had seen a native toad, and a small group of L’Hoests monkeys, one with a baby in tow. It was quite downhill to start (great) and had some makeshift steps to help with the descent. Those of you that know my hatred of steps will know this was horrible for me, but once they were over it was fine. 

The trail loops around to the left around one of the peaks of Nyungwe and goes up and down quite a bit. Some of the steeper sections are really steep, and at an altitude of around 2300m, catching your breath is not easy. 

If you are unfit, this trail is doable, but you might feel like you’re going to throw up or your legs are going to give way at any point. Make sure you wear long trousers, sturdy boots and take bug spray. A decent amount of water is a must, and snacks if you want them! 

On our trail when I was trying not to be sick, we saw colobus monkeys, and the elusive silver monkeys. They were quite far away but Tim heard them calling and recognised them so we stopped to search the trees! We also saw some green turaco and many other birds. You might even be lucky enough to see a local frog!

There are one or two benches to sit in on your way around - make sure you take this as a water break and to take in the amazing view of Lake Kivu, or on a good weather day, you can see one of the peaks from Burundi. 

When the trail ends (shortly after the worst climb of your life - I may be exaggerating but by this point I thought my legs might give way - Ben said it wasn’t hard) you come out up on the road, for a short walk back to the visitor centre. 

There is a large group of colobus that live in that area (supposedly the largest group in the world lives here)  who can often be seen from the road, and they didn’t disappoint, letting us walk within metres of them. 

The entry to Nyungwe was $100 park entry, then each trek you do is $15 for the guide. 

A well earned lunch

By this point I was exhausted, and the cafe made us a lovely chicken cheese burger - accompanied by a full sugar sprite which was very needed. 

Ben again had an African tea - we have decided it’s basically a strong tea brewed in the milk that has been cooking rice pudding in, spiced with ginger (and sometimes cardamom). It’s very nice, but it does make me want to go home and cook a rice pudding. 

Once we’d got our energy back we wandered down to the car to start the next leg of our journey. 

We actually ended up giving Tim a lift back to his village of Gisakura (surrounded by tea plantations if you fancy a tour!) 

Driving to Rwiza Village hotel 

It takes about 1.5 hours to be in sight distance if Lake Kivu, and another 1.5 to get to Rwiza village! 

Most of the way was quite unpopulated, or where there were people, they looked to be quite poor. We were one of the only cars on the road for most of the route. The children will wave at you - you’ll make their day if you wave back! 

Do not be surprised to see men pushing their pedal bikes up steep hills, laden with random stuff. It might be crates of beer (apparently you can fit 6 crates on one bike), a cafe full of 30 small chickens, or 2 dead pigs. 

The last hour of the drive was past all of the landslides that have affected Rwanda this past rainy season. A lot of the roads still had much rock and rubble and narrowed in places. Again, DO NOT follow everything google maps says - had we done so today we would have pretty much driven off a cliff. Stick to the main roads until you see signs for where you are going - all the good tourist places will have them! 

Did the last 15 minutes of the drive to Rwiza village you will need a 4x4. Non negotiable. Our trusty Land Cruiser took the rocky road in its stride and Ben did a fab job of not getting us stuck! 

Rwiza Village

Rwiza overlooks Lake Kivu above where the famous singing fisherman take their boats. If you hear them, go immediately to your balcony to see them - you may not get the chance again! There are now strict fishing regulations so they aren’t out on the water often! 

The accommodation is traditional bamboo huts with very basic bathroom, bed and balcony, but my goodness the view is stunning. The wifi is crap so don’t expect to be able to tell the world what you’re seeing, but for only $40 a night? Do it. 

We are currently sat in the restaurant as I write this. With the lights from the fishermen visible in the dark and some lightning over Congo in the distance. Just about to tuck into the national dish - goat bruchette! I’ll let you know how it was.