Dian Fossey grave in Rwanda is one of the most visited places by tourists in volcanoes national park. Dian Fossey grave is found on the slopes of Mountain Karisimbi inside volcanoes national park. There is a trail to her grave and her research center Karisoke. Getting to Dian Fossey grave takes you about 2 to 3 hours after having stop overs in between to get there. While hiking to the grave you will see a number of animals and birds. Dian Fossey grave is at an elevation of about 3000m above sea level.

Dian Fossey was an American primatologists famous for gorilla research and conservation. Dian Fossey had love for animals ever since she was young. He spent 18 years researching about gorilla in DR Congo and Rwanda and she came up with Karisoke research center found between two mountains of Karisimbi and Bisoke in 1967. Dian Fossey was the forest human being to study and know more about the behavior of mountain gorillas. She learned about their body language, played with hem and managed to make them get used to human presence.

She fought with poachers, burnt their houses and this won her many enemies through using a number of methods to scare them off hence reducing poaching. But this was not done for so many years because she was arrested with her other assistants in DR Congo in 1967 by the army. Later she escaped and she went to Rwanda where she set up her research center which still carries out research on mountain gorillas till today.

Dian Fossey was found dead in one of her rooms in her cabin in 1985 but by the time she died, she had won herself a number of enemies including people in animal trafficking and poaching. Dian Fossey was later buried on the slopes of mountain Karisimbi in a research center alongside the mountain gorillas she had given her all too protect.

Despite her murder, Dian Fossey left behind a great legacy. She is up to no credited for protecting mountain gorillas from extinction by using strict methods to stop poaching. It was Dian Fossey who first habituated mountain gorillas to get used to human presence around them. Because of poaching, mountain gorillas could attack anyone who would come around them. Most of the tricks used now in gorilla habituation exercise were first used by Dian Fossey.

Visitors who want to look at Dian Fossey will be led by a park rangers. The role of park rangers is to protect hikers from any attack from wild animals or poachers. This volcanoes national park a safe park to visit. On your way to Dian Fossey grave you can come across a number of wild animals and bird species. You might even get a chance of seeing endangered mountain gorillas and golden monkeys along the slopes of Mountain Karisimbi.

After reaching Dian Fossey grave, you will have plenty of time to pay homage to the great primatologist and learn about her work with the mountain gorillas. She was buried in a gorilla cemetery with her favorite gorillas among which include Digit. After visiting Dian Fossey grave, you can as well go see Karisoke research center.

Dian Fossey grave hiking permit

Before hiking to Dian Fossey grave, you need to be having a valid permit allowing you to do so. A permit to Dian Fossey grave is $75 including the guide fees. If you are planning to visit Dian Fossey grave in the peak season, you are advised to book your permit in advance. The peak season is when many tourists are coming in the park. The hike to the grave is an easy one so you don’t need to be an athlete to hike up there. The permit to Dain Fossey grave can be got from Rwanda development board or any trusted tour operator.

How difficult is the Dian Fossey hike?

Hiking too Dian Fossey grave takes about 2 to 3 hours with stop overs to eat snacks and drink some water. It’s not a difficult hiker for regular hikers but beginners might get a little tired. Hiking to Dian Fossey grave can be best done during the dry season when the terrain is dry unlike in the wet season where you have to move carefully in order not to fall. There are walking sticks at the starting center got at a fee, these help you to balance and you must be having good hiking shoes.

You can visit Dian Fossey grave while seeing rare mountain gorillas and golden monkeys in their natural habitats. For tourists planning to visit Rwanda, you should add on the hike to the grave. Rwanda has a lot of things to explore and these include chimpanzee trekking at Ngungwe forest national park, golden monkey trekking and gorilla trekking in the famous volcanoes national park, primate watching in Gishwati Mukura national park, cultural tours, Musanze caves, genocide memorials and lastly game viewing in Akagera national park where you get to meet all the big five animals namely the lion, elephant, rhino, buffalo and the leopard.