Luxury Gorilla Trekking in Rwanda

Tickle time for baby gorilla in Rwanda at the Volcanoes National Park

Rwan­da is one of the few coun­ties where vis­i­tors from all over the world go for goril­la trekking oth­er than Ugan­da and Demo­c­ra­t­ic Repub­lic of Con­go. Rwan­da is locat­ed in the Great Rift Val­ley of Cen­tral Africa shar­ing its bor­ders with Ugan­da in the North, Burun­di in the South, Demo­c­ra­t­ic Repub­lic of Con­go (DRC) in the West and Tan­za­nia in the east.

The coun­try has part of it cov­ered with­in the Virun­ga Con­ser­va­tion Area which cross­es to D.R. Con­go and Rwan­da cov­er­ing Vol­ca­noes Nation­al Park in Rwan­da, Mgahin­ga Nation­al Park in Ugan­da and Congo’s Virun­ga Nation­al Park which are all known for goril­la trekking. The area has a chain of 8 vol­ca­noes which of course can­not be sep­a­rat­ed from goril­la trekking as most of the goril­la fam­i­lies inhab­it the slopes of these vol­ca­noes, four of which are locat­ed in Rwan­da includ­ing Mount Sabyinyo, Mount Bisoke, Mount Gahin­ga, Mount Karisim­bi and Mount Muhabura.

Goril­la trekking takes place in Vol­ca­noes Nation­al Park and is con­sid­ered to the best place that some­one can vis­it to see goril­las in Africa. Goril­la trekking is the most pop­u­lar activ­i­ty with­in the park, the park is cov­ered with mon­tane and bam­boo forests plus savan­nah veg­e­ta­tion which makes track­ing of moun­tain goril­las more adven­tur­ous. Goril­la trekking is usu­al­ly for the able bod­ied as it requires some sort of fit­ness since it involves hik­ing to the steep vol­cano slopes as its where most goril­la fam­i­lies are habituated.

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?

Com­pared to Ugan­da and D.R. Con­go, goril­la trekking in Rwan­da is more expen­sive but worth the expense since the expe­ri­ence here is extreme­ly dif­fer­ent and the best one can have and the very rea­son, we refer to it as the lux­u­ry goril­la trekking. It’s very impor­tant that you book a per­mit in advance since there is a very high demand due to the many tourists that enter the coun­try to see goril­las at the park and it depends on the time you intend to visit.

The peak sea­son here is always in June, July, August and Sep­tem­ber and if you intend to go for goril­la trekking with­in those months then it’s bet­ter you book you per­mit at least four months earlier.

Goril­la trekking per­mits are sold at US$1500 for every per­son but with spe­cial offers for those vis­it­ing many parks or con­fer­ence atten­dees. For every­one who intends to go for goril­la trekking, they must have a goril­la trekking per­mit as it’s a require­ment for any­one to go in for goril­la trekking. The entire cost for a goril­la trekking safari will car­ry on the cost of goril­la trekking per­mit, trans­port and accommodation.

WHEN TO DO LUXURY GORILLA TREKKING IN RWANDA?

Goril­la trekking can be done at any time of the year, so there should be no rea­son stop­ping you from vis­it­ing any time of the year. The best time how­ev­er to vis­it would be dur­ing dry sea­son which spans from the months of Decem­ber to Feb­ru­ary and June to September.

This is because hik­ing to trek moun­tain goril­las through the vol­cano slopes can be dif­fi­cult dur­ing the rainy sea­son as the slopes may get slip­pery. It is how­ev­er expen­sive dur­ing that time since most tourists choose to trav­el dur­ing the dry season.

LUXURY LODGES IN VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK.

Accom­mo­da­tion is key for any trip you choose to take which is why you always have to choose the best accom­mo­da­tion. There are dif­fer­ent places with vary­ing accom­mo­da­tion prices depend­ing on your bud­get for which you receive a lux­u­ry experience.

Bisate Lodge.
This prop­er­ty is unique­ly posi­tioned as the res­i­dents can catch sight of the Bisoke and Karisim­bi vol­ca­noes. Bisate is designed in resem­blance of these vol­ca­noes in a cone like shape.

The lodge can only accom­mo­date 12 guests on a giv­en night giv­ing an ele­gant African exclu­sive expe­ri­ence with its wood­en roof, fire place, among oth­ers. There is ample and secure free park­ing space, a fit­ness cen­ter, onsite bar and restaurant.

The lodge is served by near­by airstrip, for any vis­i­tors who would wish to con­nect from the lodge to Kigali airport.

Virun­ga Lodge.
The place is locat­ed at the park’s bound­aries with­in an hour dri­ve from the park’s head­quar­ters. Virun­ga lodge is strate­gi­cal­ly locat­ed at a high­er alti­tude of 2,175 meters above sea lev­el giv­ing the res­i­dents a mag­nif­i­cent view of the Virun­ga Vol­ca­noes in the North West and a clear look at the twin lakes of Ruhon­do and Burera.

The lodge is unique­ly con­struct­ed with stone walls and wood­en floors and all ser­vices avail­able at plea­sure. Vis­i­tors at Virun­ga lodge are always enter­tained tra­di­tion­al dances from the Indore dance troupes, free Wi-Fi acces­si­ble, mas­sage plus a bar serv­ing all kinds of wines and whisky.

Sabyinyo sil­ver­back lodge.
Sabyinyo sil­ver­back lodge is ranked as a 5‑star accom­mo­da­tion facil­i­ty locat­ed in Musanze dis­trict with­in the bound­aries of the park near the Kini­gi where the park’s head­quar­ters are locat­ed. The ser­vices at the lodge are exquis­ite as it has 8 cot­tages clear­ly designed to host vis­i­tors as they have a fire place, ensuite bath­room, a bed room and dress­ing room.

Five Vol­ca­noes Bou­tique Hotel.
The lodge is sit­u­at­ed in Kini­gi town at the edge of Vol­ca­noes Nation­al Park which is just at the edge of park entrance. Pro­vid­ing the utmost com­fort­able accom­mo­da­tion, the hotel pro­vides easy access to the park and per­fect night sleep for any­one who just had a long goril­la trekking day.

Embrac­ing cul­ture, the place has stone cot­tages with a sit­ting space out­side to have the nature view of the place and feel the per­fect tem­per­a­tures with­in the place plus a pool and gardens.

WHAT TO PACK?

What you always need for lux­u­ry goril­la trekking in Rwan­da not any dif­fer­ent from what is required else­where. What you wear is always so impor­tant, so it is impor­tant you pack the following:

·       Long sleeved shirts and trousers.

·       Hik­ing boots; since the slopes are usu­al­ly mud­dy and steep.

·       Gar­den­ing gloves. These are intend­ed to pro­tect your hands.

·       Rain jack­et, regard­less of the time you vis­it. The park is cov­ered by rain forests so it’s pos­si­ble receiv­ing rain.

·       Car­ry along a hat, insect repel­lant, among others.

Explore Destinations
Share Article

“A long journey to East Africa begins with a single step…”

Book Your Safari Now
Book With Us!

We have proper understanding of the local context of Safaris in Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, DRC and Burundi which helps us secure pleasant, safe, and memorable experiences for our clients from the time they arrive into the country, to the time they depart.


    Our Partners
    Uganda Tourism Board
    Uganda Wildlife Authority
    Association of Uganda Tour Operators
    TripAdvisor