Isumo waterfalls hike is carried out in Nyungwe National Park which is known for having different trails all which offer satisfaction with a number of attractions that can be spotted along the trails. Nyungwe National Park is known for its large number of chimpanzees and the different monkey species such as the red-tailed monkeys, vervet monkeys, black and white colobus monkeys among others. Nyungwe National Park is located in the Rusizi district in south western part of Rwanda. The park is one of the little tourism gems the country has which has attracted a number of tourists whose interests vary. The park meets the different needs of the tourists which has contributed to the development of the tourism sector. Nyungwe National Park is a home to over 500 bird species, 1000 chimpanzees and different monkey species.
HIKING TRAILS IN NYUNGWE NATIONAL PARK
KAMIRANZOVU TRAIL; this is famous for the marsh which is believed to have caused the death of many elephants as they drowned and killed. The trail has a number of forested mountains and primate species especially chimpanzees and various monkey species.
IREBERO TRAIL; the trail offers a number of bird species such as the purple breasted and the blue headed sunbird among others.
MUZIMU TRAIL; this offers amazing views of mountain Bigugu and Lake Kivu as well as different bird species such as the francolins.
IGISHIGISHIGI TRAIL; this trail leads tourists to the famous canopy walkway, the karamba birding trail where tourists can see different number of bird species and ngabwe trail which leads to the kitabi tea estate.
UMUYOVE TRAIL; while on this trail, tourists can spot waterfalls and different primate species such as silver monkey, white colobus, and Angola colobus among others.
NGABWE TRAIL; various animals are spotted including the white and colobus monkeys, grey checked mangabeys, black fronted duiker among others.
ISUMO WATERFALL
The hike to Isumo waterfall begins at the Nyungwe forest lodge through the trail which leads to the waterfalls. Tourists will spot magnificent features such as tea plantations and wildflowers that seem to blossom over the plains. Hikers go through the dense forests of the park, through the forest benches which are 3 and each offers rewarding views of the land scape and attractions within the park such as numerous butterfly species are spotted at the first bench.
The first bench is characterized by a deep pink jewel weed and tourists can spot a steep-sided gorge which offers nice view for photographs. The second bench is where the white begonias are seen and the third bench is characterized by white flowers with heart-shaped leaves.
At the end of the trail, there is a hidden gem within the dense rainforest which is the Isumo waterfall. On reaching the end of the trail, every tourists jaw will drop with the beauty that is found there. The waterfalls are seen passing through a narrow gorge but the sights and sounds of the water making its way through the gorge will make you relax and want to see more of the nature thrilling views.
Tourists reaching the water fall will have a chance to see the falls from two different points. The first viewpoint is at the short spur which offers unique attractions such as the blue turaco, coqui francolin, long tailed cisticola, chubbs cisticola and many more. Tourists will spot butterfly species such as red admiral, old-world swallow trail, speckled wood and monarch butterfly among others.
All in all visiting Nyungwe National Park has a lot of activities to offer to the tourists such as chimpanzee trekking, canopy walkway, visiting tea plantations, hiking and birding which makes the safari amazing and memorable.