What is the cost of gorilla trekking in Volcanoes national park Rwanda? Some tourists consider Rwanda to be the best place to see mountain gorilla in Africa. Volcanoes national park in musanze is the only place where you find endangered mountain gorillas in Rwanda. In the world, mountain gorillas are only found in three countries that is Rwanda, Uganda and democratic republic of Congo. Volcanoes national park covers an area of 160 sq.km and is located in the northwestern part of Rwanda. The park is made up of bamboo forests, afro-montane forests, vast swamps, savannah grassland and 5 of the Virunga Mountains that is karisimbi, bisoke, muhabura, sabyinyo and mgahinga. Mountain karisimbi is the tallest among these mountains and it is also the fourth tallest mountain in Africa. Volcanoes national park is a habitat of buffaloes, spotted hyena, bush bucks, elephants, duikers, golden monkeys, gorillas and much more. Gorilla trekking is the most done activity in volcanoes national park. There are high chances of seeing mountain gorillas when you visit volcanoes national park. Trekking mountain gorillas in volcanoes national park involves hiking up steep slopes of any of the Virunga Mountains in the park. There are high chances of seeing mountain gorillas when you visit volcanoes national park. Trekking mountain gorillas in volcanoes national park involves hiking up steep slopes of any of the Virunga mountains in the park through dense forests in search of mountain gorillas. Allocating mountain gorillas is considered one of the most amazing and memorable wildlife encounters in Africa. To have the best trip, tourists can go for double trekking in Rwanda and Uganda. Trekking gorillas is difficult but succeeding to see the gorillas is the ultimate wildlife experience.
In order to trek mountain gorilla in Rwanda, you need to book a gorilla permit from Rwanda development board or any other trusted tour operator. If you want to trek gorillas at the peak season you must book 3 or 4 months in advance. The peak season is in the months of December to February and in the months of June to September. Gorilla permit in Rwanda cost $1500 but it’s just a fraction of overall price of gorilla trekking. The money collected from selling gorilla permits is used to support gorilla conservation and the other money is given back to the local communities to support local programs. In Rwanda you can book a gorilla permit using a trusted tour operator or Rwanda development board. Volcanoes national park has 10 gorilla habituated families available for trekking and only 8 people visit a gorilla family a day.
Gorilla trekking in volcanoes national park in Rwanda begins early in the morning at 7am with a briefing from head guides at the briefing center. After briefing, the trekkers are divided into groups of 8 and they are assigned a particular gorilla group. People who are less fit and young are given the nearest groups. After the briefing at 8am, the park rangers lead the groups to the forests to search for mountain gorillas. Gorilla trekking in volcanoes national park in Rwanda gives you 10 habituated gorilla groups to choose from. Once you find the gorillas, you are given one hour to stay with them while learning their behaviors, watch young ones climb trees, mothers breast feed, watch them play and watch them go hunt for food or make nests for the day. While with gorillas it’s important to follow rules and guidelines given to you by the guides and rangers such as lowering voices, keeping 7 meters away and avoiding to keep eye contact with gorillas among others. Gorilla trekking in volcanoes national park can take 2-6 hours depending on the group you are trekking and the location of the gorilla family on that day.
Note: when you have excess luggage, you can hire a porter who is always at the starting point to help you with luggage. These poachers were once poachers who learnt about gorilla conservation programs while others may be kids looking for money to take them to school. The porters charge between 10$ to 15$ per day. When carrying out gorilla trekking you will need a hut, sunglasses, hiking shoes, good camera, rain jacket and cotton gloves.
You must prepare in advance mentally and physically
Get a good hiking shoe to pass through challenging terrains
Come with a rain jacket knowing it might rain
You must pack lunch and enough water before heading out to the forest
You can give tips to park ranges and guides and this is because they do their best to make gorilla trekking adventure the best.
Just like any other country, gorilla trekking in volcanoes national park has rules and regulations. Trekking is done by people with 15 years and above. The reason why children are not allowed to trek gorillas is because they always have transmitted diseases like flue and cough which are easily transmitted to these primates and they can’t move long distances into the bushes. There are only 1004 mountain gorillas in the world and they are considered to be endangered. The rules and guidelines are put in place to protect them from diseases. Anyone who is sick is not allowed to trek mountain gorillas
Note: a lot of visitors in Rwanda merge gorilla trekking with golden monkey trekking, cultural visits and hiking one of the Virunga mountains in volcanoes national park most especially mountain bisoke or mountain karisimbi. Combining hiking mountain karisimbi and gorilla trekking in volcanoes national park Rwanda needs determination and fitness to complete. The beast time to do gorilla trekking in Rwanda is during the dry season that is from December to February and from June to September.
Apart from gorilla tracking, there are so many activities that you can engage in while in volcanoes national park in Rwanda. While moving around Rwanda, you will notice how the country has amazing landscape with hills and mountains. You can also do the following activities in Rwanda.
Golden monkey trekking:
Volcanoes national park is a habitat to endangered golden monkeys. These primates stay in the same areas as mountain gorillas. These primates stay in the same areas as mountain gorillas. Their main food is bamboo shoots, fruits, leaves, insects and sometimes potatoes. They are very playful primates but their real enemy is man and African eagle. Golden monkeys can also be found in Uganda in mgahinga national park and in democratic republic of Congo. Trekking golden monkeys starts at 7am with the briefing and it costs $100. Golden monkey trekking in Rwanda is not as difficult as gorilla trekking and this is because these monkeys stay at the lower slopes of the mountains.
Visiting Dian Fossey grave:
Dian Fossey is an American primatologist who died while doing her research on gorillas in 1980’s. Dian Fossey made the world know about mountain gorillas and tried her best to end poaching such as burning houses of poachers. She is the one that introduced chimpanzee habituation after learning their manners and staying with them for some good time. This was a nice and staying with them for a while. This was a nice move because mountain gorillas used to see human beings as a threat because they were losing their family members to poachers and traffickers. When poaching increased, Dian Fossey decided to burn houses of poachers and patrolling around the forest and this is her problems started leading to her murder. Hiking to Dian Fossey grave gives you an opportunity to learn about his work of being a great primatologist. She started gorilla conservation initiatives to save critically endangered mountain gorillas.
Visit musanze caves:
Musanze caves are historical caves in Rwanda. These caves are located near the town of musanze. The musanze caves have 31 entrances with tunnels of 20 km. the musanze caves are near mountain sabyinyo and bisoke. Scientists believe that these caves were formed when lava ejected out during the formation of mountain bisoke and mountain sabyinyo then cooled. Well experienced guides are always available to explore the caves with you while sharing with you their history. The musanze caves were used a hideout places by the kings of Rwanda during tribal wars with neighbors. Visiting the caves costs $50
Hiking one of the volcanoes:
Hiking any of the Volcanoes Mountains requires one to be physically fit. The most popular and hiked volcanoes are mountain bisoke and mountain karisimbi. Hiking mountain karisimbi takes you about 2 days but at the end of the hike you are awarded beautiful vies of volcanoes national park, mountain Rwenzori ranges, crater lakes and the beautiful view. Hiking mountain bisoke takes you only one day and at the top you will find a crater lake. Hiking these mountains offers you beautiful views if Virunga ranges, Rwenzori ranges, national parks as well as Uganda, DR Congo and Rwanda borders. Hiking any of the mountains starts at 7 am in the morning after the briefing from the guides and rangers at the park offices. After briefing the guide leads them to the mountain.
Birding:
Volcanoes national park Rwanda is one of the best places in the country to go birded with over 180 recorded bird species. 13 of the birds found in the park are endemic to the area. The most famous and beautiful birds here are Rwenzori turaco and handsome francolin. Other bird species in the park include Grauer’s rush warbler, Rwenzori batis, strange weaver, Rwenzori turaco, Rwenzori double –collared Sunbird, handsome francolin, rwenzori apalis, strange weaver, dusky crimson-wing, African long-eared owl, collared Apalis, red-faced woodland warbler, brown necked parrot and Archer’s ground robin.
Visit the Iby’Iwacu cultural village:
This is the largest, famous and most visited center in Rwanda. It is situated close to volcanoes national park. The Centre was constructed to showcase Rwanda’s diverse culture and enable communities living near the park to gain from tourism. Many of the dancers here were once poachers. While at the cultural Centre, visitors can take part in cultural performances like dance, storytelling and drama. You will how traditional homes were organized and you will be given a chance to taste local foods and alcoholic drinks. At the Centre you will find medicine men who will be ready to share with you traditional herbs used to treat human diseases.
Visiting the genocide memorial center in Rwanda:
Rwanda has a lot of genocide sites spread across the country but the main one is in Kigali and it’s the most visited. Rwanda has a lot of genocide sites spread across the country but the main one is in Kigali and it’s the most visited. When you visit the museum you will get a clear picture of what happened in Rwanda before and after the genocide in 1994 where more than 1 million people were killed. If you don’t want to visit the museum, you can go to the former king’s palace and the national museum found in butale to get more information about the tragic act.
Track chimpanzees in Nyungwe forest:
Nyungwe forest is one of the top tourist attractions in Rwanda. The park has the oldest and largest afro-montane forest. The park has the oldest and largest afro-montane forest. Visiting the park allows one to see many primates among which include chimpanzees. Apart from chimpanzees, in Nyungwe forest you will find colobus monkeys, baboons, vervet monkeys, golden monkeys as well as red tailed monkeys. Ngungwe forest is the best place to do chimpanzee trekking in Rwanda. In the park you can also do nature walks, birding and walking on top of canopies.
Visit Lake Kivu:
If you want to relax and enjoy the beautiful sun in a beautiful atmosphere the only place to visit is Lake Kivu. It’s one of the Africa’s biggest lakes found on the borders of Rwanda and DR Congo. Lake Kivu is good for sport fishing, swimming and island hopping.
Game drives at Akagera national park:
For a memorable wildlife in Rwanda, visiting Akagera national park is the best decision. It’s the only park in Rwanda where you can do a game drive and it’s only a 2 hours game drive from Kigali city. The park is not very large but it has wild animals among which include the lions, elephants, buffaloes, hippos, zebras, giraffes and hyenas among many others.
There are many best lodges that offer good quality services close to volcanoes national park that can be used by tourists when they come to the park. The lodges offer services ranging from luxury to mid-range to budget. The most famous lodges while in volcanoes national park area Bisate Lodge, sabyinyo silverback lodge, Five Volcanoes Hotel, Mountain Gorillas’ Nest Lodge and Virunga volcanoes lodge. Five volcanoes hotel is the best hotel with pocket friendly prices in the park. The hotel has a VIP room. Sabyinyo silverback lodge gives you clear views of Virunga Mountains. There are mid-range hotels such as Da Vince Gorilla Lodge, Lebambou Gorilla Lodge and Mountain Gorilla View Lodge. Budget lodges at Virunga national park include Virunga hotel, villa gorilla, gorilla solution lodge, La Palme Hotel, hotel Muhabura and Gorillas Volcanoes hotel.
Africa Adventure Vacations Ltd
Plot 85 Kanjokya Street, Uganda
Phone: +256 752 974500 +256785025022
Email: info@gorillatrekk.com
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