Rwanda's newest national park, gazetted in 2019 out of two remnant forests that were nearly logged out. It is a restoration project you can walk through: chimpanzees, golden monkeys and over two hundred bird species in forest that is being actively stitched back together.
Every one of these is something we run here, not a stock list.
We do not have a scheduled itinerary for Gishwati-Mukura National Park on the site right now, which does not mean we cannot take you. We build private trips to order across Rwanda — tell us your dates and we will put a route and a price together.
Plan a trip to Gishwati-Mukura National ParkGishwati-Mukura National Park and Biosphere Reserve, located in western Rwanda, is a small but important conservation area that covers about 34 square kilometers. It consists of two forests, Gishwati and Mukura, and is part of Rwanda’s effort to restore degraded landscapes. The park is home to a variety of wildlife, including primates such as chimpanzees, golden monkeys, and blue monkeys. Rich in biodiversity, it also boasts numerous bird species and unique flora. As a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, it plays a key role in balancing conservation with sustainable development for local communities.
Most safaris here combine two or three of these.
Five volcanoes on the Rwandan side of the Virungas, and the forest Dian Fossey worked in for eighteen years. Gorilla trekking here is shorter and better organised than almost anywhere — Kigali is two and a half hours away by road, which means you can land, trek and fly home inside three days.
One of the oldest rainforests in Africa, and a canopy walkway a hundred metres above the forest floor to see it from. Thirteen primate species live here, including chimpanzees and troops of several hundred Angolan colobus — the largest arboreal primate groups anywhere.
Rwanda's only savannah park, on the Tanzanian border, and the story of its recovery is the reason to go. Lion were reintroduced in 2015 and rhino in 2017, so Akagera is a Big Five park again after decades without. Lakes and papyrus swamps make up a third of it, so boat trips sit alongside game drives.
The memorial is where more than 250,000 victims of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi are buried. It is not a sight to tick off; it is a couple of hours that will change how you understand everything else you see in Rwanda. Most visitors go on their first morning, before heading for the gorillas.
Tell us roughly when you can travel and how long you have. We will tell you honestly whether Gishwati-Mukura National Park is the right call for those dates — and what it costs.
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