Canopy Walk

A canopy walk lifts you into the layer of the rainforest that most visitors only ever look up at. Suspended bridges strung between forest giants let you move through the treetops, level with the birds, monkeys, orchids, and epiphytes that live where the light is, and the perspective is completely different from the forest floor below.

Nyungwe Forest in Rwanda has the most famous, East Africa's first, a 160-metre suspension bridge hanging 50 to 70 metres above a steep ravine, reached via the Igishigishigi Trail. It is genuinely dramatic, swaying gently with each step, with the forest canopy stretching unbroken in every direction. The full circuit takes around two hours and is often combined with chimpanzee tracking or a colobus monkey walk.

In Uganda, Mabira Forest between Kampala and Jinja offers a canopy zipline and treetop walkway through one of the country's largest surviving rainforests, an easy and popular stop on the road east. Kakamega Forest in Kenya offers elevated forest viewing platforms, and Ngong House and various private reserves have added treetop structures.

Walks are guided, the structures are professionally engineered and inspected, and harnesses are provided where required. That said, the height and movement can be unsettling for anyone uneasy with heights, and there is usually a lower ground-level trail as an alternative.

Early morning offers the best birdlife and the most primate activity, and the light filtering through the canopy is at its most beautiful.