Munazi Lodge & Nyungwe National Park Experience
We recently visited the Nyungwe National Park and stayed at the Munazi Lodge and since it is relatively new I didn't see too much information on it online so I thought I would share our experience and answer some of the questions I had beforehand for others looking to go.
Overall, I cannot recommend the Munazi Lodge enough. Honestly, online the lodge undersells the experience and it is incredibly reasonably priced for the experience.
*They do not market their food at all as a visiting point, but they absolutely should. Each one of the meals we were provided with were some of the best we had on this trip and it really sets this apart as being a luxury experience. Their soup is impeccable. I am not a huge soup person but this was the best soup I've ever had. *Each cabin is a boutique suite. Every night they bring you warm water bottles to place under the sheets to warm the bed.
- The staff was all incredible. Very attentive and we enjoyed joking around with them.
- The scenery is breathtaking. As soon as we arrived we spotted monkeys off the porch and the staff showed us the turaco birds in front of reception one morning.
- I filled out the Book Now through their African Parks website to get in contact with the lodge and they emailed me back. The African Parks Organization does coordinate all activities for this park. I was looking for a website associated with the Rwandan Government, being a national park, but the African Parks website is the official contact. I can also provide their direct email if needed, please DM me.
About Nyungwe National Park itself- the park has incredible activities and they are very reasonably priced once you pay the entrance fee. The entrance fee is rather steep if you are going just for the day, but is prorated based on length of visit and more reasonable over a 3+ day visit. You must have park guides with you for all activities- their knowledge adds so much to the experience. We thoroughly enjoyed meeting every single guide that we had. They were all incredibly knowledgeable of the park, the wildlife, and just good people in general. For activities we did chimpanzee tracking, zip lining, the water fall hike, colobus monkey tracking, and a night walk. Through the lodge and the park we set up chimpanzee tracking ahead and everything else on site. This was during "low" season, and they get significantly more visitors during busy season, so not sure how this scheduling may change.
Other random things I wish I had known-
- We hired our own transportation to and from the park. Our guide also provided transportation within the park, which you absolutely do need. There's two primarily locations that tours leave from, and they're about 45 minutes drive apart. The are no shuttles available in the park. There is no special transportation provided directly through staying at the Munazi Lodge. If you PM me, I'd be happy to provide our guide's name and contact information. He also took many photos for us and helped arrange timing with the park, lodge, and our other driver for the Chimpanzee tracking. His coordination helped make sure everything went smoothly during our time in the park.
- We read that you can self-drive in Rwanda. It was well worth paying our driver/guide and I would not advise to self-drive if you are from outside of East Africa or already very familiar with the area. I would in no way recommend self-driving for the chimpanzee tracking even if familiar with operating a 4x4 vehicle as the road is very technically challenging and it is best to have someone familiar with the route.
- To go chimpanzee tracking, you absolutely need to secure a driver with a 4x4 vehicle. Yes, even in dry season, you will need a 4x4. We hired a separate driver for this day local to the are that the park helped connect us with.
- Hire the porters for the chimpanzee tracking. They have a standard rate of $15/day (I believe). We read ahead that hiring a porter helps provide for the local community, so we planned to hire them regardless, but the trail was very slippery and we were grateful for their help.
Overall I highly recommend this experience. Gorilla tracking was not within our budget but this was a very nice alternative which was much more cost-friendly in comparison. It was a highlight of our trip.