DISCOVER RWANDA
Visit Bisesero Village in Nyungwe Forest National Park
Rwanda Community & Cultural Tours in Nyungwe Forest National Park allow tourists to meet and interact with the villagers that live nearby. The communities do surround the national park, making it easy for visitors to explore and learn about how these inhabitants live their everyday lives, as well as the fascinating Rwandan culture.
One of the intriguing things that you may undertake during your vacation to Nyungwe Forest National Park is a visit to Bisesero village. Rwanda Community & Cultural Tours in Nyungwe Forest National Park allow tourists to meet and interact with the villagers that live nearby. The communities do surround the national park, making it easy for visitors to explore and learn about how these inhabitants live their everyday lives, as well as the fascinating Rwandan culture.
Bisesero hamlet in Rwanda’s Nyungwe forest national park is a tiny hillside lush community located around 30 kilometers southeast of Kibuye town in the Karongi district of Rwanda’s Western Province. Bisesero is not your average village; it has played a significant role in molding the country’s terrible history.
The settlement is a significant cultural site and is well-known for its stunning surroundings as well as a striking genocide monument. The settlement of Bisesero was also known as the “Hill of Resistance” because it depicts the resistance of some heroic Tutsi against the Interahamwe militia during the 1994 genocide, when they utilized boulders, spears, and sticks to block the Hutu’s firearms and machetes.
The beautifully constructed Bisesero Genocide Memorial Center is located in Rwanda’s Nyungwe Forest National Park, near the Bisesero community village. Towards the beginning of the genocide, at least 50,000 Tutsi, the majority of the victims of the 1994 Rwanda genocide, fled to Bisesero in the hope of evading the terrible Interahamwe killings for at least 30 days. Several brave folks used common farming implements to fight and protect themselves against their attackers.
People in this community went through tactical preparations to fight and defend themselves against attacks in their village, following the commands of one of the town’s leaders and citizens, Aminadabu Birara. The geography of Bisesero worked in their favor, providing them with strategic cover on top of Muyira Hill, allowing them to readily discover and engage their adversary. Women and children hid behind the hill, while youth and strong men fought. Then, additional armed troops and militiamen arrived into Bisesero and massacred more than half of the evacuees. By the time the French arrived, there were only about 1,300 Tutsi left in the community.
On June 27, 1994, French forces attacked the village of Bisesero, claiming to have arrived to halt the massacre and restore peace, but they quickly departed and vowed to return in three days. Nevertheless, as soon as they departed, the Interahamwe militia returned to finish what they had started, murdering residents during the day and night until the French army arrived. When they returned on June 30th, as promised, they discovered that roughly a quarter of the population had deserted the community. A visit to Rwanda’s Bisesero Village in Nyungwe Forest National Park will bring you to the Bisesero Genocide Memorial Centre, which was erected in 1997 and has three structures containing victims’ bones as well as a graveyard where over 40,000 people were interred.
How to get to Bisesero Village at Nyungwe Forest National Park.
Karongi district in Rwanda’s western province lies around 30 kilometers southeast of Kibuye. It is accessible by bus from Kigali. Visitors can also go by boat from Gisenyi in Rubavu province to Kibuye in Karongi.
When is the best time to visit Bisesero Village in Nyungwe Forest National Park?
For community visits, Nyungwe Forest National Park may be visited at any time of year, although certain months are better than others since the activity is paired with other park activities. The wet months, which go from June to September and December to February, are ideal for a visit to the park. There is little or no rainfall during these months, which benefits most of the activities done in and around the park since the trekking and hiking paths are dry, the vegetation is sparse, and the roads leading to the park are navigable.
Visitors, particularly budget tourists, can visit the park even during the rainy seasons of March to May and October to November to take advantage of significant savings on lodging amenities. During these months, there is a lot of rain, which makes the hiking routes muddy and treacherous, the foliage is dense, making it difficult to see the park monkeys, and the roads leading to the park are inaccessible.
Other Places to visit during your visit to Nyungwe Forest National Park
Banda Village
Banda Village, nestled in the heart of Rwanda’s Nyungwe Forest National Park, is a popular cultural attraction that stimulates visitors with engaging dances, lovely inhabitants, and magnificent traditional melodies and culture. It’s a short drive or trek from the park’s headquarters in Uwinka.
Mashesha Hot springs
If you are on a Rwanda Safari, you must visit the Mashesha hot springs in Cyangugu town. These are one of the most popular tourist attractions in Cyangugu, offering tourists the opportunity to observe the hot springs, which include a pool of extremely hot boiling water flowing from the earth’s crust.
Kamembe Town
Another town near Nyungwe Forest National Park is Kamembe, which is a little-known village but is surprisingly a tourism hub close or linking a number of tourist spots in Rwanda and abroad. The town is an excellent starting place for travellers who want to fly to the 1,020 square kilometers of Nyungwe Forest National Park.
Visiting Kamembe town allows travelers to explore Nyungwe Forest National Park in Rwanda’s southwestern region, which is about 45 kilometers and about an hour’s drive away, as well as Kahuzi Biega National Park in the adjacent Democratic Republic of the Congo, which is about 2 hours’ drive away.
The famed Congo Nile Trail also begins in Kamembe, making it an ideal location for those interested in trekking and mountain riding. Above all, by collecting some income, this has indirectly and directly enhanced the level of living for locals in Kamembe town.
Other Activities to do in Nyungwe Forest National Park
Chimpanzee Trekking in Nyungwe Forest National Park.
Chimpanzee trekking carried out in Nyungwe Forest National Park on two completely habituated chimp families from Nyungwe Forest and Cyamudongo Forest. Those who have a valid chimp trekking permit and are 15 years old or older can go chimp trekking in Nyungwe forest national park. The adventure begins with a briefing before trekkers are brought into the bush by armed ranger rangers in search of these apes. Trekkers are given an hour upon meeting them to see chimps go about their daily routines while learning about their behaviors and snapping photographs.
Bird Watching in Nyungwe Forest National Park.
Apart from visiting Bisesero village in Nyungwe forest national park, another activity offered in the park is bird watching. It is a supervised exercise lead by armed rangers and rangers who are knowledgeable about the park’s birds. Some of the birds commonly seen include Grauer’s swamp warbler, dusky Crimson wing, regal sunbird, Albertine owlet, archer’s robin cat, buff-throated Apalis, blue-headed sunbird, handsome spurfowl, Rwenzori Apalis, Yellow-Eyed Black Flycatcher, Dwarf Honeyguide, Handsome Francolin, Neumann’s Warbler, and the Purple-Breasted Sunbird among others.
Nature Walks/Hiking Tours in Nyungwe Forest National Park.
The nature walks and hiking tours in Rwanda’s Nyungwe Forest National Park are designed to allow visitors to explore the area on foot but with the assistance of a guide. The nature walks take place on several pathways across the park, and throughout the activity, you may see many park monkeys, animals, birds, and bird species.
Primate Trekking in Nyungwe Forest National Park.
Apart from community visits, another activity in Nyungwe Forest National Park is monkey trekking. The monkey trekking activity allows travelers to see most of the park’s monkeys in their natural habitat. Tourists can observe grey-checked mangabeys, l’hoest monkeys, olive baboons, blue monkeys, crowned monkeys, red-tailed monkeys, Dent’s Mona monkeys, black and white colobus monkeys, vervet monkeys, and owl-faced monkeys during the monkey trekking excursion.
