Gisakura Guest House in Nyungwe forest National park
Gisakura Guest House is a budget accommodation facility located 2 km south of Nyungwe forest national park. Nyungwe forest national park is one of the national parks in the country found in the southwestern part of the country. The national park protects over 13 primate species among which include chimpanzees, black and white colobus monkeys, blue monkeys, red-tailed monkeys, olive baboons, mammals such as bush pigs, duikers, buffaloes, elephants, and over 310 bird species.
Gisakura Guest House is mostly visited by those that are coming to visit Nyungwe forest national park because it is one of the closet lodges around the park. Gisakura Guest House is a friendly lodge with good services for budget travelers. The lodge has 12 rooms that are built in Rwanda culture using raw materials. Gisakura Guest House has a free parking space, free internet, shower with hot and cold water, a restaurant with professional chefs who prepare the best food, and a laundry service.
Gisakura Guest House is one of the lodges that have a beautiful view of the national park, surrounding areas, and while this lodge, you are able to see some of the park animals such as monkeys, olive baboons, and birds around the lodge on different trees. To reach Gisakura Guest House, you use the same route that those going to Nyungwe forest national park use because the lodge is located in the same area as the park. The journey starts from Kigali city using road transport which takes 4-5 hours or air transport taking 35 minutes.
Activities to do while staying at Gisakura Guest House
Chimpanzee tracking: Chimpanzee trekking is the most done activity by guests that stay at Gisakura Guest House. For the activity to be done you must have a trekking permit which you can get through a local tour operator before arriving in the country. Guests staying at Gisakura Guest House will have to wake up early in the morning for breakfast and then drive to the park to join other trekkers for a briefing.
After the briefing, the ranger guides lead trekkers through different trails of the park searching for these apes, and through the process, they are able to meet different park animals such as black and white colobus monkeys, duikers, bush pigs, blue monkeys, red-tailed monkeys, birds, waterfalls and different plant species. On meeting the chimpanzees, all trekkers are given 1 hour to be around these apes watch them do daily activities such as breastfeeding, hunting, patrolling, nesting, learning about their habits, and taking photos.
Colobus monkey trekking: Guests having a stay at Gisakura Guest House can opt to trek the colobus monkeys in Nyungwe forest national park because some have been habituated for tourism purposes. Guests going for colobus monkey trekking in Nyungwe forest national park must wake up very early in the morning and then move to the park offices where they will meet other participants for a briefing about the activity. The range guides do lead trekkers in the different trekking trails of the park searching for these primates and while searching they are able to meet other animals such as bush pigs, duikers, vervet monkeys, blue monkeys, red-tailed monkeys, buffaloes, birds, water sources, and different plant species. On locating the monkeys, trekkers are given 1 hour to be around them watching them do daily activities, taking photos, and learning about their habits.
Canopy walk: Guests staying at Gisakura Guest House shouldn’t miss out on the canopy walk activity that is only possible in Nyungwe forest national park. Those going for the canopy walk will have to travel and reach Uwinka offices in time because people going for the canopy walk must have a briefing so that they know about the rules and regulations of the activity. The armed ranger guides lead the participants on a canopy that is raised 50m from the ground and the activity takes 2 hours. During the canopy walks, all participants are able to have an aerial view of the national park, surrounding areas, lakes, rivers, mammals, primates, birds, and different bird species.
Bird watching: Birding is one of the activities mostly done by guests living at Gisakura Guest House. The birding activities are done around the lodge and also in Nyungwe forest as well as Cyamudongo forest and birders are able to spot over 310 bird species with a help of an armed ranger guide. Birding activities are done in different birding spots and some of the birds commonly spotted include long-crested eagle, eastern mountain greenbul, crowned hornbill, chinspot batis, African paradise flycatcher, Albertine owlet, red collared babbler, archer’s robin chat, purple breasted sunbird, blue-headed sunbird, nuemamm’s warbler, buff-throated apalis, mountain masked apalis, buff-throated apalis, Kivu ground thrush, dusky crimsonwing, handsome francolin, dwarf honeyguide, grauer’s swamp warbler, yellow-eyed black flycatcher, red-faced woodland warbler, stripe breasted tit, red-throated alethe, strange weaver, regal sunbird, shelley’s crimsonwing, rockefeller’s sunbird, Rwenzori turaco, Rwenzori apalis, and Rwenzori nightjar among others.
Nature walks: Guests at Gisakura Guest House can have nature walks around the lodge or with in Nyungwe forest national park. The nature walks are led by the armed ranger guide who protects the guests from dangerous wild animals while talking them through different trekking trails. Guests at Gisakura Guest House need to do nature walks while staying at this lodge in order to explore the national park or the area on foot. During the nature walks, guests are able to spot different park animals such as monkeys, olive baboons, duikers, buffaloes, bush pigs, chimpanzees, birds, waterfalls, and different plant species.
Community visits: Guests staying at Gisakura Guest House can spare some time in re evening hours and drive to some of the neighboring activities such as Kamembe. The community visits are done to enable trekkers to visit the local people, visit their homes, plantations, interact with them about how they live their days to day life, visit their farms, watch them do daily activities, visit some of their art and craft shops and get entertainment from the local traditional dancers. During the community visits, you can as well visit the orphanages, schools, and hospitals and support them in different ways.
What is the best time to stay at Gisakura Guest House?
Tourists can stay at Gisakura Guest House at any time of the year but there are months that are better than the rest most especially if they are to visit Nyungwe forest national park. The dry season which occurs from June to September and December to February is the best to visit Gisakura Guest House because they are characterized by little or no rainfall, the vegetation around the lodge and park is short giving clear views of animals, and the trekking trails are passable.
Tourists most especially budget travelers can visit Gisakura Guest House in the rainy seasons to enjoy huge discounts on accommodation facilities. The rainy season occurs from March to May and October to November and they are characterized by too much rainfalls, the trekking trails are muddy and slippery, the vegetation around the lodge and the park is tall giving unclear views of the park animals and the roads leading to the park and the lodge are impassable.