Gishwati-Mukura National Park was heavily damaged by illegal mining, livestock farming, and resettlement. But thanks to the government, working together with nature lovers, the park has been restored. In 2019, new activities were introduced to add more adventure to the area.
These include guided chimpanzee tracking, nature walks, monkey tracking, and birdwatching. Each activity is charged separately depending on how long you spend in the park. Gishwati is made up of two separate forests, with 20 species of trees including hardwood and bamboo. These are called Gishwati and Mukura, covering a total of 34 square kilometers, including the buffer zone between Akagera and Volcanoes National Parks.
The park is home to many species such as chimpanzees, which mostly eat fruit and are very easy to see during the wet season. They live alongside golden monkeys, L’Hoest’s monkeys, and blue monkeys. You will also see many birds—over 232 species in Gishwati and 163 species in Mukura—showing their beauty in the trees.
After a long day in the forest, you can visit the nearby villages for a traditional experience. Activities include cultural dance, handcrafting, visiting plantations, and learning from traditional healers who believe strongly in herbal medicine.
Tourism in Gishwati-Mukura has also helped local people by providing jobs, which has improved their living standards. The park was officially created in 2015 to protect the forest, which also reduced soil erosion and improved soil fertility in western Rwanda, covering about 13.2 square miles.
Gishwati was once part of a large forest system that stretched from Nyungwe to Uganda and Central Africa, including Congo. It was connected for thousands of years until human activity cut it off, leaving only 1,200 hectares of forest from the original 2,000.
Even though the park has a rich ecosystem, it receives fewer international visitors compared to Nyungwe and Akagera, partly because it was only established in 2015. Also, the area lost many resources due to refugee settlement, which caused landslides, soil erosion, and floods.
Gishwati-Mukura National Park is a true example of nature and should not be missed on your bucket list.
