The tea plantations at nyungwe national park
Visiting the gisakura tea plantation and gisovu tea plantations in Rwanda.
While on your trip to nyungwe national park you can’t miss out on the everlasting enjoyment and resourceful visit to the tea plantations in Rwanda. These plantations are neighbors to the nyungwe forest and they are easily accessed outside nyungwe national park.
This is where you stand a chance to know how tea is processed right from its growth to the harvesting and lastly to the manufacturing process. After enjoying such lectures and demonstrations you are to have a test on the black tea in the local areas of gisakura.
Just at 20USD, you will get to interact with the workers and a guide ready to clear the air about the questions and issues you bring on board. This money you pay is partially given to the tea workers to improve their standards of living and social welfare.
While at the gisakura tea plantation you will also get a chance to spot the troops of colobus monkeys that live in the forest found in the middle of the tea plantation.
Give tea estate is also the second famous tea plantation in Rwanda right near the nyungwe forest and nyungwe national park. This is found at the extreme border of nyungwe national park.
The year 1952 marked the introduction of tea farming in Rwanda and currently, tea is one of the major exports of Rwanda being supported by the rich volcanic soils and the favorable temperatures which facilitate the smooth growth of tea.
Talking of tea in Rwanda you mainly focus on the plantations of gisakura and gisovu but there are many more tea plantations and these include kibuye, rubavu, gikongoro, cyangugu, byumba, butera, Musanze, rubaya, nyamashake, nyaruguru, and many more. The tea tours always take about 3-4hours.
There are no lodges in the tea plantations but you are to use the nearby lodge and besides the tea tour there are many more activities you can add to your tour and these include the following;
Chimpanzee trekking
This famous activity brings huge numbers of travelers to Rwanda’s nyungwe national park and the activity start at 5 am at the park’s headquarter. The park has got two chimpanzee groups and daily, they only allow only two groups of tourists to visit each chimpanzee group.
While at nyungwe national park the chimpanzees can be found at either uwinka or cyamudongo with the big group of chimpanzees holding 60 members and the small group having 30 members.
Canopy walk
The canopy walk is the second attractive activity at nyungwe national park and gives you the best aerial view of the forest looking at the variety of birds and primates playing on the trees. The canopy walkway is a 60 meters high and 100 meters long walkway upon the trees and it has got three sections.
The canopy was introduced in 2010 and it can be accessed at uwinka the park’s headquarter where you will connect to the canopy via the ishishigishigi trail.
Bird watching
Bird watching starts right when you are at the tea plantations where get a chance to spot the different birds on the borders of the nyungwe forest. Nyungwe national park has got 300 bird species with specifically 29 Albertine bird species.
The other activities to combine on your tea plantation tour can include the hikes and nature walks plus the many primates and don’t forget that it’s very possible to also add on a gorilla trekking tour to the volcanoes national park and the Kigali town tour and to enjoy your tour to Rwanda you are advised to deal with local tour operators like ADVENTURE IN THE WILD SAFARI to make your booking in time.
