Are you looking for a tour package to hike Mountain Karisimbi? This is one of the most pleasing mountains among the Virunga Mountains in Volcanoes National Park Rwanda that can be hiked throughout the year to have the most memorable experiences in the park. Volcanoes national park is well known for endangered mountain gorillas because it is the only place in Rwanda where you will get to find endangered mountain gorillas of different species in their natural habitats. Mountain Karisimbi is also a home for golden monkey where you will have a chance to visit.

There are eight Virunga mountains that are shared by 3 countries that is Rwanda, Congo and Uganda where you will find Virunga national park DR Congo with Mountain Mikeno and Mountain Nyiragongo which are the active volcanoes among Virunga Mountains and also Mountain Mikeno. In Mgahinga national park Uganda you find Mountain Gahinga, mountain Sabyinyo and mountain Muhabura that it shares with volcanoes national park of Rwanda. In volcanoes national park still you will find mountain Karisimbi and mountain Bisoke that will offer you exciting experiences when you get to hike them.

While participating in the hiking of Karisimbi Mountain you will see a number of attractions and participate in a number of activities that can be carried out during the hike as explained below

Mountain gorillas

While carrying out the Karisimbi mountain hike, you will get a chance to spot a number of endangered mountain gorilla species and gorilla families for example the Karisimbi gorilla family an exciting gorilla group in the park. The Karisimbi group is a well-known family that separated from the Susa gorilla family. After separating from Susa gorilla family, Karisimbi gorilla family decided to settle in the high elevation of mountain Karisimbi to avoid clashes with other gorilla groups in volcanoes national park. While on mountain Karisimbi, you can take part in gorilla trekking activity where you will get a chance to spend an hour with any gorilla family of your choice as you get to learn their behavior, how they co-exist, their feeding patterns, type of food they eat with in the park such bamboo, fruits, flowers, and other plant species.

Golden monkeys

Hiking mountain Karisimbi will give you a chance to see endangered golden monkeys that are only endemic to albertine rift. The primates can be seen in the bamboo trees because it’s part of their food along the slopes of mountain Karisimbi because they eat the bamboo trees as food. If you are lucky you will see golden monkeys and gorillas while hiking mountain Karisimbi for some time and if you’re interested in participating in golden monkey trekking in volcanoes national park which takes about an hour where you will see a number of other primate species such as Mona monkeys, red tailed monkeys, black and white colobus monkeys while they participate in their daily activities in the wild.

Birding

Hiking mountain Karisimbi will enable you to see different bird species that are found in the forests on the slopes of the mountain and birds that can be seen on mountain Karisimbi include Ruwenzori turaco Ruwenzori batis, handsome francolin, strange weaver, collared apalis, Ruwenzori double collared sunbird, archers ground robin, red faced woodland warbler among others.

Summit

While participating in hiking of mountain Karisimbi, as you get to the summit of the mountain, you will have a chance to see the white capped peak in form of a shell where the name Karisimbi comes from. The word Karisimbi means a shell in Rwanda which is an attractive attractions to look at while at the top of the mountain. Hiking mountain Karisimbi will still give you a chance to see the graves of Dian Fossey an American primatologist who was killed and buried near the gorilla cemetery in the park. You will also see mountain Bisoke another interesting mountain to hike while in volcanoes national park. 

Best time to hike mountain Karisimbi

Mountain Karisimbi being the highest and steepest mountain among the 8 Virunga Mountains it will offer you the most exciting experiences therefore it’s important to the best time to visit Volcanoes National Park and hike. If you are interested in hiking mountain Karisimbi it’s better to carry it out in dry seasons when the slopes are not slippery therefore the best time to hike mountain Karisimbi is during the dry months of December January and February which is the shortest period and the longest period from months of September to mid-December you can still carry out hiking