Gorilla trekking in Rwanda is a luxury experience that will live a lasting impression in your mind. In Rwanda, Volcanoes National Park is the only destination where you can enjoy gorilla trekking adventures. This is a forested park situated within the Virunga Conservation Area and among the best places to see gorillas in the wild. These critically endangered primates are seen in the bamboo forest habitats of Volcanoes National Park.
What makes gorilla trekking in Rwanda memorable?
Volcanoes National Park has a healthy population of mountain gorillas still surviving in the wild. Rwanda is also among the only 3 countries where mountain gorillas are trekked in the wild. The other 2 countries include Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. In Volcanoes National Park there are at least 12 habituated gorilla families, some of which are available for tracking once a day, everyday.
The habituated gorilla families in Volcanoes National Park include Muhoza, Hirwa, Agashya, Umubano, Kwitonda, Amahoro, Sabinyo, Igisha, Urwego, Isimbi, Kwisanga, Karisimbi, Noheli and Susa etc. Each gorilla trek is a guided one and you have to be at least 15 years old to enjoy this. Gorilla trekking in Rwanda is a luxury experience, which makes it extra special than any other gorilla destination.
How gorilla trekking in Rwanda is done?
You need to arrive at the park headquarters in Kinigi by 7:00 a.m. to attend a pre-trek briefing. A habituated gorilla family is assigned for you to locate inside the dense forest. Expert trackers will lead you into the forest to locate the gorilla family deeper into the forest. The trackers and armed ranger will ensure that you find them and spend an hour in their presence. Do not touch them or get closer than 7 meters. Do not make noise, but you can take photos.
After spending the best ever 60 minutes of your life with the mountain gorillas in the wild, return to the starting point. You will be debriefed as you end the gorilla trekking adventure in Volcanoes National Park. The entire gorilla trekking adventure takes between 30 minutes to 4 hours, or even more. This depends on where the habituated gorilla family slept the previous night. They are mobile animals and each family will build nests in a new location each night.
How much is gorilla trekking in Rwanda?
Foreigners pay $1,500, foreign residents in Rwanda/Africa pay $500, East African and Rwandan citizens pay $200 each. This is the amount of money used to buy a gorilla permit to trek mountain gorillas in Rwanda. Kindly note that you must present this permit before you are allowed to trek gorillas in Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park. Try as much as possible to buy your permit in advance. Consider buying a permit 3 months prior to the gorilla trekking tour.
Each day there are limited numbers of permits available for sale and they actually sell out quickly. This is because each habituated gorilla family can be tracked by only 8 visitors per day, yet the adventure is on high demand worldwide. This implies that you must face immense competition to purchase these sough-after permits. Besides buying the permit earlier, you can also do it through a registered and locally based tour operator like us.
Traveling to volcanoes National Park for gorilla trekking?
Only 2 modes of transport exist to get to Volcanoes National Park for gorilla trekking tours. These are road and air transport. Traveling by the former involves a scenic journey from Kigali or any other Rwandan destination to Volcanoes National Park. You will cover an approximate distance of 106 km from Kigali city to the park headquarters in Kinigi. Enjoy traveling for 2 to 3 hours on this trip.
Meanwhile, Air transportation involves boarding a chartered luxury flight form Kigali International Airport to Musanze. Instead of traveling for hours, the flight takes only 30 minutes. Akagera Aviation operates helicopters daily. When you arrive at the airstrip you will drive for only 22 minutes to Kinigi park headquarters situated 14 km away. We shall arrange all the transportation for you.
Is it safe to travel to Rwanda to see gorillas?
It is perfectly safe to travel to Rwanda to see gorillas in Volcanoes National Park. This is partly due to the fact that Rwanda ranks among the most politically stable countries in Africa. Besides the possibility of avoidable petty crimes, you will feel at peace during your visit. Volcanoes NP itself is monitored for illegal activities by a healthy number of well-trained armed park rangers. Besides Malaria, there is no major threat of an overwhelming disease outbreak currently.
What is the best time of the year to see gorillas in Rwanda?
Gorilla trekking happens regularly in Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park. But we recommend the dry season as the best time to see gorillas in Rwanda. The atmospheric conditions during this season are perfect for trekking in the forest. Therefore, come from June to August to enjoy the gorilla trekking experience. There is also a short dry season from January to February. This is the time when the gorilla trails are much drier to offer stability while walking in the forest.
Rainfall is also less in quantity and frequency during the dry season. This makes your gorilla trek continuous; without pausing due to interruptions by rains. The density of the vegetation in the forest is also less thus offering less cover for the gorillas. This makes viewing them even much easier. The forest is also less humid to ensure that you are comfortable throughout the gorilla trek.