A leisurely start to the day before heading to Uwinka where several trails and the canopy walkway start from. We were going on the canopy only 60 metres off the ground - my feet were already tingling at breakfast at the thought of it. If we were meant to go that high we would have wings!
Enroute to Uwinka I was too late with my camera and missed photos of a group of great blue turacos eating on the verge, which is unusual, but I did get some good pictures of L'hoest monkeys or mountain monkeys eating by the roadside - there were also some by the car when we got back from the walk.
While waiting I had a look round the very interesting information centre - Nyungwe is a rare mountain rainforest and has 2000mm of rain a year - one of the highest anywhere - this supports high biodiversity and allows humans, in the region, to get several crops per year from their land. It is also thought that the animals converged here during the last ice age as it ice free and warm. The forest also is the home of the head spring of the Nile - the true source. Indeed the mountains are a watershed - the water flowing off the western slopes goes to the Congo and the eastern slopes to the Nile.
We started the Igishigishigi Trail at 1030 instead of 1000 due the late arrival of an Italian group who then lagged behind photographing themselves and everything else in sight!
Igishigishigi is a large tree fern which was the food of dinosaurs and is still living along the trail.
The walk was down 200 metres then across the canopy which was in 3 sections - 2 short sections at either end to get back to base and a long one in the middle.
The company who built it was the Canadian company who also built the one we went on in Ghana - and it was funded by US Aid.
We both vowed this would be the last canopy walk we would do - we have done enough now in different countries - and the feet get no less tingly!
The plus point was we did see some rare blue monkeys feeding in the trees.
Also on the walk with us were 3 Scandinavian children aged 4-6 years who did brilliantly well - walking and keeping up all the way.
I was also struck by the number of tourists who are development or embassy workers on their Xmas break either in Rwanda or further afield - one man was on leave from an EU delegation in Southern Sudan focussing on governance which in a pretty lawless society is not easy!
Back at the lodge I went to the pool again for a swim then topped the day off with a 90minute massage - it was so good I booked another for tomorrow.