Canopy Walk

High in the canopy of Rwanda's Nyungwe Forest hangs East Africa's only suspended walkway, a chain of bridges strung some seventy metres above the forest floor. Stepping onto it is a gentle thrill: the structure sways with your movement, and on either side the rainforest falls away into green depths, with the chance of monkeys and birds passing at eye level rather than far overhead.

Nyungwe is one of the oldest rainforests in Africa, a vast and ancient block of montane forest that escaped the last ice age and so harbours an extraordinary richness of life. The canopy walk threads through this living museum, and the trail to reach it winds past towering trees, ferns and orchids, with guides pointing out the forest's smaller marvels along the way.

The walkway is part of a wider day in the forest and combines beautifully with Nyungwe's other draws, from troops of habituated colobus monkeys to chimpanzee tracking and a network of waterfall and ridge trails. It is a fine way to grasp the scale and layering of a rainforest that the ground alone cannot convey.

The walk itself is short and accessible to most, though the approach trail involves some up-and-down through the forest. Those who are uneasy with heights should know the bridges are very secure, regularly inspected and crossed safely by visitors of all ages every day.