Nyungwe tourism industry improved in the last 3 years

Bagirishya Jean de Dieu

The number of the tourists in Nyungwe National Park rose from 2041 in 2004 to 3089 in 2006, reception statistics say.

The money from Nyungwe National Park also has increased from 257,000$ to 550,039 $ in 2006, according to Elias Musoni, an ORTPN reception at Uwinka camping site who went on explaining the reason for that improvement

“In 2003, the government made Nyungwe forest the 3rd national park (The volcanoes and Akagera ones being others). ORTPN, the Rwandan tourism and national parks Office began to market it (Nyungwe) internationally. The office formed and brought here12 tour guides and divided the forest into 4 trails. Then the number of tourists began to increase” explained Musoni.

According to Bahizi Edward, Nyungwe also is visited because it is best-known for its wealth of primates.
“Rwanda is also one of Africa’s top birding countries, where an incredible 670 different species have been recorded within an area intermediate to that of Wales and Belgium. For amateur botanists, the gorgeous wild flowers of the forests and mountains are capped by more than 100 orchid species in Nyungwe alone, as well as the otherworldly giant lobelia, a floral refugee from a science-fiction film set” said Bahizi


“Nyungwe is rightly celebrated for the rich variety of its flora and fauna. This is why we came here” Said Daniel Bowersax, 30, met at Uwinka camping Site in Nyungwe forest accompanied by his mother Sydney Bowersax, who is 61.

According to ORTPN website and as Edward Bahizi explained to the Rwandan National University fourth year journalism students, at t least 200 different types of tree are found in the forest, along with hundreds of different flowering plants, including wild begonia, more than 100 species of orchid, and sensational giant lobelias. Of the large mammals, primates are the most visible, with 13-recorded species representing 25% of the African primate checklist. Of particular interest is the Angola colobus – delightfully acrobatic arboreal monkeys that move in troops of several hundred – and an estimated 500 chimpanzee, often seen from the forest trails during the rainy season. Other primates likely to be encountered over the course of a visit are L’Hoest’s monkey, velvet monkey, olive baboon, grey-cheeked mangabey, and red-tailed monkey.


Nyungwe tourists to improve more

Tourists met yesterday in Nyungwe National park expressed themselves about what to do to gain more tourists and money from Nyungwe tourism industry
“I felt safe here as everyone can if he/she is here. Only one thing missing is the marketing of this beautiful place” recommended Sydney Bowersax, an American tourist.
As the prices for visiting, camping value from 20$ to 50 $, lowing prices is what will improve tourism in Nyungwe according to Mike Mc Fadyen.

“This year (2007), our aim is to register more than 5000 tourists and 1million$ from Nyungwe. We plan to low prices by next year as many tourists are requiring for it, but we will first hand the issue to the government. About marketing Nyungwe, we do it on our website (www.ortpn.gov.rw) and we plan to attend Berlin and London tourism exhibitions, this year” Said Rosette Rugamba, the ORTPN head officer, on a telephone interview.

Extending for 130 square kilometers across the majestic hills of southeast Rwanda, Nyungwe National Park is one the largest block of montane forest in East or Central Africa, and one of the most ancient, dating back to before the last Ice Age. A uniquely rich centre of floral diversity, the forest has more than 200 different types of tree, and a myriad of flowering plants including the other-worldly giant lobelia and a host of colourful orchids and mahoganies.

Home to more than 275 bird species, Nyungwe is the most important birding site in Rwanda. Most alluring to ornithologists are 24 Albertine Rift endemics – birds whose range is restricted to a handful of montane forests between southern Uganda and northern Burundi