Gorilla treks in Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park are a peerless wildlife experience and one of Africa’s indisputable adventure highlights. Imagine sitting silently under a barely illuminated forest canopy with a few leaves between you and a twenty-strong family of black-furred giant apes. Imagine looking into the familiar deep brown eyes of a 200kg silver back suspicious of your every move.
Volcanoes National Park is the most popular tourist destination in Rwanda, known for its highly successful gorilla conservation program.
It consists of afro – montane forests, bamboo forests, savannah grassland, vast swamps and 5 volcanoes (Bisoke, Gahinga, Muhabura, Sabyinyo and Karisimbi). Mount Karisimbi is one of the four tallest mountains in Africa and also home to the golden monkeys among other primates.
Gorilla trekking at the Volcanoes National Park involves hiking through dense bamboo forests and steep mountain slopes in search of one of the gorilla families in Rwanda. The final encounter with the primates is considered one of the most exciting and memorable wildlife encounters in Africa.
It’s a must to book a Rwanda gorilla permit in advance so as to be sure of getting a spot for gorilla trekking on a given date. Gorilla permits in Rwanda currently go for $1500 – but that is only a fraction of the overall price of gorilla trekking. Part of the money collected from gorilla permits goes to support gorilla conservation efforts and community programs.
The gorilla trekking tours in the Volcanoes National Park starts with a briefing from the park authorities and rangers at around 7:30am. During the briefing, participants are divided into groups of eight and assigned to a particular gorilla family.
At 8:00am, the park rangers lead the group to search for the gorillas. Regardless of which group you eventually get, you will find that watching mountain gorillas is breath-taking. You could spend hours just watching the little ones roll around and play. Mountain gorillas are always playful and quite curious. Some may walk right up to you but with no harm intended.
Take note of the instructions from your guides and to always stay calm. Never make sudden movements. Gorilla tracking in the volcanoes national park can take between one to six hours depending on the gorilla group you are assigned and their specific location on the day of the trek.
You must be 15 years and above to go near the primates. The reason why children aren’t allowed near the gorillas is because they tend to carry transmittable diseases like flue and cough which can be transmitted to the primates. It is one of the reasons why tourists are required to share their passport details before booking a trip.
Anyone with a communicable disease cannot be allowed near the primates. Mountain gorillas are not immune to some of the infections we carry as humans. There are other activities that one can take part in while at the Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda.
Visiting the grave of Dian Fossey: Dian Fossey is considered to be one of the greatest primatologists of all time because of her extensive research and work with mountain gorillas from 1969 till her death in the 1980’s.
She let the world know about the mountain gorillas and fought hard to end poaching. This is quite remarkable because the mountain gorillas she worked with had grown to see all humans as a threat. Hiking to the grave of Dian Fossey is one way of paying homage and learning about the work of this great primatologist.
Golden Monkey trekking is another exciting experience while in volcanoes: The Volcanoes National Park is home to the endangered Golden Monkey. These beautiful primates live in the same areas as the mountain gorillas. They survive on bamboo shoots, insects and will occasionally raid farms for potatoes.
Golden Monkeys are very playful primates with their only real enemies being man and the African eagle. Tracking mountain gorillas starts at the same time as golden monkey trekking and permits cost $100. Golden monkey tracking in Rwanda is not as strenuous as gorilla trekking because the monkeys live in the lower slopes of the volcanoes.
Hiking one of the Volcanoes is also interesting: If you are fit and ready for a challenge then you should look no further than the Virunga Volcanoes. The most popular volcanoes are Bisoke and Karisimbi. Karisimbi Volcano Hiking takes two days and provides for a truly great experience.
Mount Bisoke Hiking takes only one day for a chance to view the massive crater Lake at the summit. Both these mountains will offer you great views of the Virunga ranges, national parks, the Rwenzori Mountains and the borders of three countries.
Hiking mount Bisoke and Karisimbi starts at 7:00 am with briefing from the park offices. After the briefing a Guide is assigned to lead the team.
Birding is also available: The Volcanoes National Park is one of the important birding areas in Rwanda with about 200 recorded species of birds. Of these 13 are endemic to the area. The most sought-after bird is the Rwenzori turaco and the handsome francolin. They are some of the most beautiful birds you will ever encounter. Other species include the archer’s ground robin, collared apalis, dusky crimson wing, Grauer’s rush warbler, red faced woodland warbler, Rwenzori double collared sun bird and the strange weaver.
Visit the IbyI’wacu Cultural Village: The IbyI’wacu cultural village is the largest and most visited cultural Centre in Rwanda. It is located close to the Volcanoes National Park.
Many of the performers were one the poachers and is why the centre is also referred to as the gorilla guardians village. While at the IbyI’wacu cultural centre, tourists can take part in cultural performances like dance, drama and storytelling.
You will learn how a traditional Rwandan home was organized and be given a chance to taste some of the locally their culture and visiting to the local community settings.
