Kibira National Park

Kibira national park in Burundi is one of the huge and undiscovered rainforests covering 40,000 hectares. Formerly a sacred hunting reserve for the kings of Burundi, today it is habitat to some 98 mammal species, a dozen primates (numerous families of chimpanzees, baboons, red-tailed monkeys, black colobus), and some 200 species of birdlife.

Led by guards of the park, tourists can venture deep into the dark undergrowth to discover the charms of the primeval forest, while soaking in bird songs. It is possible to visit the tourist pygmies’ village of Busekera inside the park and sit beside the Rwegura hydroelectric dam, for a picnic while taking in the magnificent view.

Size of Kibira National Park

The Kibira National Park is a national park in northwestern Burundi. Overlapping four provinces and covering 400 km², Kibira National Park lies atop the mountains of the Congo-Nile Divide

Location of Kibira National Park

Kibira national park is located in northwestern Burundi and is located south of Rwanda and the national park is an extension of Nyungwe forest national park in Rwanda which is a habitat to some of the habitat threatened chimpanzees.

How to get to Kibira National Park

Kibira national park is accessible by road either from Burundi’s main capital Bujumbura or from Rwanda’s main capital Kigali

From Bujumbura

The drive from Bujumbura towards northwestern Burundi will take you about 2 hours and you will cover approximately 70 kilometers on pretty accessible road conditions

From Kigali

The drive from Kigali Rwanda is exceptional and this will take you about 6 hours and you will cover a distance of about 220 kilometers and this will involve crossing the border from Rwanda to Burundi

Things to do in Kibira National park

Still a huge habitat for undiscovered wildlife and birds, here lays a perfect activity to showcase Burundi’s tourism potential and bird watching is extremely fruitful in the forest

Chimpanzee trekking

Being less popular with tourism clients can trek the chimpanzees in the country’s dense forest cover and also have great opportunities of seeing some other primates like baboons, black and white colobus monkeys, red-tailed monkeys and sometimes duickers are seen

Primate walks

Clients can also take walks to see other monkey species along the forest edge as there are spectacular sighting of monkeys and also photography can take place during the walk, some common species include the L’hoest monkey, black and white colobus monkey.

Forest walks

With the exceptional rivers, walks are really special in the forest and it’s just that feeling once need of true nature and wild sounds in the low land dense forest

Pygmy visits

Clients can also visit the pygmy villages and share their tradition with the once forest dwellers and they can happily share their past way of living though they have significantly being affected by the increasing development.

Tea plantation walks

Guided walks can be arranged to see the abundant tea fields and also share the experience of tea extraction and how it has affected the likely hood of the people living near the Kibira forest national park

Birding tours

When to visit Kibira National Park

Travelers can visit Kibira national any time of the year however been a rain forest, rain can impact your safari and the best time to visit would be from July –September and from December to February.

Where to stay in Kibira National Park

Hotel Club Du Lac Tanganyika

Situated in Bujumbura, Hotel Club Du Lac Tanganyika is a beachfront hotel joined to the airport and close to the Saga beach offering accommodation to all travelers around the world. This is also close at a distance of 6 mi (10 km) to Bujumbura Central Market and Musee Vivant as well as the U.S Embassy and Prince Louis Rwagasore Stadium in a distance of about 6 mi (10 km).

Rooms

There are about 110 rooms at the hotel and these feature free Wi-Fi, furnished decks, TVs with satellite channels, refrigerators, room service, and premium bedding.

Best Outlook Hotel

Best Outlook Hotel is a hotel situated in the middle of Bujumbura within 3 mi (5 km) of Prince Louis Rwagasore Stadium, the Bujumbura Central Market, and the U.S Embassy. The Musee Vivant is 2.9 mi (4.6 km) away.

Rooms

There are 21 rooms at the hotel and these feature a fireplace, deep soaking tubs, free Wi-Fi access, free wired internet, TVs with satellite channels, kitchens, balconies, and living rooms.

Overview

Size & Location

How to get there

Activities

Areas of interest

When to visit

Where to stay