Nyungwe Forest National Park

We arrived at our hotel about 6pm. The Nyungwe Hill Top View Hotel . We were offered hot tea and a biscuit and then we made our way to room one, David rescuing the suitcases from two porters who had hung around with them for at least 10 minutes, obviously hoping for a tip.

The room was spacious and had a balcony looking over onto the canopy of trees but was not luxurious inside. Two super fat hot water bottles were delivered to our room about 7 pm before we went up for the dinner buffet. This was of a very poor quality and just about in edible as well as lukewarm at the most. We also had a fight to get a bread roll to eat with our salad And the daughter‘s owner had to sort that out. The other problem was the drinks were quoted in dollars and that got David going so we did not have any beers: the staff could not understand that it was a matter of principle and kept arguing that he could be charged in Rwandan Francs.

Hilltop Hotel. I was less than enthusiastic about this hotel. We spent two nights here. The quality of the food at all meals was poor. The staff were good. But the problem is with the lady manager who was not capable of either understanding or solving our concerns The hotel itself is tired and needs revamping. I would not recommend this hotel, but I have no idea on what the alternative hotels are The hotel was the only one we stayed at which charged only in US dollars. I believe hotels in Rwanda should charge in local currency. I refused to buy their drinks because of this

The hot water bottles served us well during the cold night and there was still some heat in them at 7:30 am. However we had woken up to torrential rain and a thunderstorm, but this had stopped by breakfast time but it was still very wet and overcast outside.

We went for breakfast about 8 am and this was slightly better than the previous night‘s meal in that there was good fresh fruit. We had to ask for some scrambled eggs and they were not really sumptuous at all.

We went out with Jean Luc at 10 am. We drove to the National Park visitor centre and thought we were going for a gentle walk to see the Colobus monkeys. A park guide got into the car with us and we then drove quite a long way in the hope of finding the Colobus monkeys playing near the road. After much driving we eventually stopped and could see one or two monkeys swinging far away, from one tree to another and after watching this for 15 minutes or so, they then asked us if we were ready to track towards the monkeys. I decided this was completely impossible for me as there was a 10 foot bank to get up before trekking dense scrub. I did take a good photograph of David attempting to do this and when he eventually came back, he confirmed that no way what I’ve been able to do the trek.

There was one tracker opening up the path with a machete and all was uneven and slippery. David did get closer to the monkeys, though they were still up the trees.



It was difficult going	A guide with a machete led through the thick undergrowth	The monkeys hurled themselves from tree to tree

Very few birds	The monkeys stopped in the trees every so often ..	..but it was difficult to focus on them with the camera

	Not my photo - very difficult to photograph in trees	Not my photo	And the most difficult part was getting down

After this we drove to the canopy walk and were assigned a guide, David, to take us on this. It was signed as easy, but we decided in the end that it was certainly at least a moderate walk. Although supposedly only 1 km to the bridges over the canopy, the terrain was downhill with uneven, wet steps most of the way and lots of slippery leaves over these as well. Once at the bridges the first bridge was relatively short and the next one quite long: I was not keen to progress onto the second one but was persuaded by David that I should! The bridge itself was very narrow but its sides were shoulder height so one’s need hands right high up on that to push oneself along.

Walking back uphill was easier for my sight, but I had to stop several times to take more oxygen in. The whole trip took at least two hours. We got back to the hotel well after three and we’re able to order a freshly cooked lunch (rather than the buffet), very good news. And it was indeed a very pleasant lunch and shows what the kitchen could do if they cook to order. Before finishing lunch, I asked for a fire to be lit in our sitting area and this was indeed done and proved most welcome


There were a lot of armed soldiers around	We would pass a patrol of 5 soldiers ever few kilometres	We drove some way..to get to..	the start point for the canopy walkway

Returning to the room about 4.30 I read for awhile and then took to bed for a siesta, missing a whole troop of monkeys that passed by the windows of our room.

So dinner at 7 pm, slightly more enjoyable than the previous night as we chose more wisely, but even so nothing was really warm. We managed to revive the fire after dinner and sat round it until 9 pm when we retired to bed ready for a 5 am start in the morning.

We were one of four jeeps that were going to the chimps this morning. We had about 20 minutes along a tarmac road before branching off onto a rough unmade road which was somewhat bumpy. We arrived at the park centre soon after 6 am and set off by 7 o’clock at the latest with six other clients, two Germans and four super rich Americans, on a trek to discover the chimps. We have been told the previous day that this was an easier walk than the one that we had done to get to the canopy bridge. But it proved exactly the opposite and was quite muddy and slippery for me. The leader of the group, Clement helped me quite a lot and then he designated one John to look after me. Most of the time I did not really need him anyway but when it was slippery, he pulled me forward at a much faster rate than I would’ve gone otherwise: Really quite scary. After an hour of this we arrived at an area where the trackers had found chimpanzees.

We spent considerable time watching the chimps up trees very difficult to see against the sunlit sky behind. We did see one on the path and later on another one walking along the path. One of the American guest said it had passed her greatest expectations, but we could not understand this. After more than 90 minutes mainly stationary watching for any movements in the trees we set out on the return journey which was a slightly easier path and I just needed to rest for oxygen every now and again. Back up base we had to sit and watch a group of up to 20 dancing for 10 minutes or so which I could’ve done without: all I wanted to do was climb into the car and eat a bit of my packed breakfast.

By this time it was gone 11 anyway. I was astounded on presenting John, my helper at times who I thought was a male lad, with Fr.5000 that he said immediately that the price was Fr.15,000. I told him in no uncertain terms that I had not asked for his help and I thought that what I was given was completely adequate. I explained this to Clement and do not know how he resolved the problem but he did say it had been a pleasure having me there!. This episode left a sour taste in our mouths.

So it was 12.45 before we returned to the hotel. David ordered lunch and was told it would take 45 minutes which he said was far too long. How about 10 minutes, to which they agreed: He had just ordered soup and a salad. But it did not come for 30 minutes, so we had to rush it to be ready to move on with our driver at 1:30. But they did offer us a very agreeable table outside on the balcony

After lunch we had a pleasant drive to the next hotel on the shores of Lake Kivu to The Comoran Hotel








End of the trek	The local dancing!	Return through the tea plantations