Adventure: The canopy walk is scary but thrilling

The trip from Kigali to Nyungwe National Park takes about 5 hours. The most amazing thing is that one gets to go through most towns in the southern province. The roads to the forests are narrow and winding with magnificent views. Along the way, the tea plantations, especially in the area of Kitabi, are breathtaking. It’s quite amazing how the tea plantations surround the hills like they were engraved in luscious green moss. At Uwinka Overlook Hill, one is taken through the history of Nyugwe forest and the activities that have taken place there as far back as 50,000 years ago. The Uwinka Hill literally means ‘Cow Mountain’ since in the early days the place was loved by cows. It’s on this same hill that tourists can access the canopy walk loop. The most amazing thing is that the tour guide doesn’t tell the tourists the distance from the hill to the canopy walk so that they don’t lose the morale of taking the journey. When I asked about the distance between the Uwinka over look to the canopy walk, the guide told me the period of time it would take us to go and come back thus avoiding mentioning the distance, a trick that led me into easily chatting along the journey. It was raining just like I had expected, fortunately I had carried a rain jacket just in case. My foresight proved valuable. Something I didn’t put into consideration was the kind of shoes appropriate for the walk and I paid a high price for that. Walking sticks are offered by the guide to help the tourists maneuver the steep slopes. Even with the stick, I fell down three times as a result of my wrong selection of shoes. The trails are slippery since they have moss. Luckily the guide offered to hold my hand all the way to the canopy loop. Amidst funny jokes made by other tourists regarding my falling down and taking pictures of me, I barely noticed I had walked 2 kilometers. On reaching the canopy walk, my subconscious phobia for heights came to the fore. I asked the tour guide to let me wait for the rest of the group since I would not risk taking the walk. The tour guide jokingly told me to overcome my fears since even five-year-olds had walked on the canopy before. I waited for the first lot of eight people to go then I promised myself that everything would be alright. After a lot of praying, I decided to test my courage by taking on the canopy walk. The first step was so firm that taking another was like cracking ice cubes from the refrigerator. The canopy is narrow and shaky as a result of its altitude and I could hear things cracking since the walking surface material is made of aluminum. In the middle of the walk, the tour guide told us to maintain silence for a moment and listen to the forest. Doing so I felt things that I can’t fully explain, it was as though the forest was talking to me and I heard echoes of different sounds. I had promised myself not to look below the canopy walk but my curiosity could not let me keep the promise and I broke it. The view of the Nyugwe forest while standing on the canopy walk is so beautiful, one even gets to see the primary forest area. Although I could not wait to come to the end of the canopy walk loop, the walk was scary and thrilling at the same time. I still can’t believe that I was able to do the canopy walk; it all seemed like a dream but yet real. If anyone wants to test their fears, try the canopy walk. Dorau20@yahoo.co.uk