Volcanoes national park - Gorilla Trekking Trips

Volcanoes national park the only gorilla destination in Rwanda the land of a thousand hills is found in the south western park of the Republic of Rwanda. This park is also called Parc National de Volcans as it is known as a haven for the rare and endangered giant mountain gorilla and golden monkeys.

The park lies along the Virunga Mountains, with 8 ancient volcanoes, which are shared by Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is home of 5 among the 8 volcanoes and these include Karisimbi, Bisoke, Muhabura, Gahinga and Sabyinyo.

In 1925, volcanoes national park was first gazetted as a small intended to protect mountain gorillas from poachers. But as time went, it borders became larger to an area of over 8000 square kilometres. The park also became the base for the American naturalist Dian Fossey to carry out her research into the gorillas.

Activities in the park.
From this park a traveller can engage in a number activities and some of them include; gorilla trekking, golden monkey tracking, visiting the Dian Fossey, hiking Karisimbi volcanoes, hiking Mount Bisoke volcano, bird watching, visiting the twin lakes of Ruhondo and Bulera, among others.

How to get there?
Volcanoes National Park is found in a small village called Musanze previously well-known as Ruhengeri, which is very accessible by both public and private transport from either Kigali international airport or Gisenyi. The drive to Volcanoes national park is approximately about 2 hours from either Gishenyi or Kigali and on that note one can do gorilla tracking on the same day and drive back after the trek.

Travellers intending to track the mountain gorillas should arrive at the park headquarters of ORTPN in Kinigi, by 7:00 am. However, there aren’t any public transport from Musanze to the headquarters of the park at Kinigi.

Where to stay?
There are many accommodation facilities that you can choose from depending on your budget. You may decide to stay in luxurious hotels and some of them include; Sabyinyo silverback, the Virunga lodge or the gorilla nest Lodge.

For those who budget plan are the mid-range lodges, some of these include; La bamboo lodge, mountain gorilla view lodge, and among the budget lodges you may choose from Kinigi guest house, Hotel Muhabura, the Virunga Hotel and many more as your wish.