Booking gorilla trekking safaris to Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park

Are you interested in booking gorilla trekking safaris to Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park? Travelers all over the world can book gorilla trekking safaris to the national park and get a chance to be around mountains for 1 hour. Volcanoes national park is one of the luckiest countries to host mountain gorillas in the world. The park is located in the north-western part of the country and protects over 20 habituated mountain gorilla families, with only 10 open for gorilla tourism.

Volcanoes national park can be accessed by road transport from Kigali city which takes only 2-3 hours. Travelers planning to book their gorilla safari need to book their gorilla trekking permits with trusted local tour operators in advance of 3-4 months to avoid disappointments. These permits are sold by the Rwanda development board and cost $1500.

Process of booking gorilla trekking safaris to Volcanoes National Park Rwanda

Travelers who want to trek mountain gorillas in Volcanoes National Park can book their gorilla safari in a variety of ways. The first way to do this is by organizing the safari using a trusted local tour company. Africa Adventure Vacations is one of the companies you need to trust when booking a safari to Rwanda. The first thing we can do for you is book a gorilla trekking permit for you. We normally ask travelers to send us the money for the permits in advance of 3-4 months, and before that, we check for the availability of the gorilla permits with the Rwanda development board. Once the permits are available, we book for you and send you a scanned copy for confirmation.

After securing the gorilla trekking permits, we proceed further and book for you the accommodation facilities of your choice, based on your budget. We have 4×4 comfortable safari vehicles which you use while traveling to the park. The other way you can book a gorilla safari to the Volcanoes National Park is by doing it yourself, but this is very challenging. You need to book yourself a gorilla trekking permit by sending an email to the Rwanda development board and securing yourself a permit, looking for transport companies and booking a car, and lastly, booking accommodation in or around the park.

Spending time with mountain gorillas in Volcanoes national park

Travelers coming for a gorilla trekking safari in the Volcanoes national park can spend one hour with mountain gorillas. It all starts with travelers waking up early in the morning and gathering at the briefing centers. At the center of the briefing, trekkers are taught about the dos and don’ts of gorilla trekking, and the grouping is done.

After the grouping, rangers head different groups of trekkers into the jungle and they start looking for these beautiful primates. During the search, the trekkers encounter different parts of animals such as buffaloes, giant forest hogs, antelopes, elephants, bushpigs, birds, and different plant species. Once the trekkers meet the mountain gorillas, they are given one hour to be around them, and this allows them to learn about their habits, watch them play, and take photos.

What is the gorilla trekking permit price for the Volcanoes national park?

The gorilla trekking permits for Volcanoes National Park are printed out by the Rwanda Development Board and they do sell these permits at a fee of $1500 per person per trek. The gorilla trekking permits allow trekkers to be with mountain gorillas for only one hour, and during this time they can learn about their habits, watch them do daily activities, and take photos. There are only 80 gorilla trekking permits in Rwanda because the park has 10 habituated mountain gorilla families.

When to visit Volcanoes National Park for a gorilla safari?

Volcanoes national park can be visited all throughout the year for gorilla trekking safaris. The best time to visit the park, however, is the dry season, and this normally occurs from June to September and December to February. These months are characterized by little or no rainfall, which implies that the roads leading to the parks are passable, the trekking trails are dry, and the vegetation is thin, giving clear views of animals and photography. Travelers intending to visit Volcanoes National Park in the dry season are advised to book their gorilla trekking permits in advance of 3-4 months.

Travelers can also visit Volcanoes National Park in the rainy season that occurs from March to May and October to November to enjoy the huge discounts on accommodation facilities. The rainy season has disadvantages such as too much rainfall, thick vegetation giving unclear views of the animals, bad photography, and impassable roads to the park.

Accommodation on a gorilla safari to Volcanoes National Park

Volcanoes national park has been set up as a luxury tourism destination with the best accommodation facilities, ranked among the best in Africa. These accommodation facilities give a comfortable stay to visitors, and they have well-trained staff to help out guests while on their safaris to the park. Some of the accommodation facilities in and around the volcanoes national park you can stay in after booking gorilla trekking safaris to Volcanoes National Park Rwanda include Mountain Gorillas’ Nest Lodge, Five Volcanoes Hotels, Bisate Lodge, Virunga Volcanoes Lodge, Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge, Mountain Gorilla Views Lodge, Gorilla Solution Lodge, Davinci Lodge, Virunga Hotel, Villa Gorilla Lodge, Le Bambou Gorilla Lodge, and La Palme Hotel, among others.

Other activities travelers can do while on a gorilla safari in Volcanoes National Park

Spend 1 hour with golden monkeys in Volcanoes National Park.

Volcanoes national park is one of the few national parks that harbors the beautiful golden monkeys. These golden monkeys live in the bamboo vegetation of the area, and trekking them is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. To trek the golden monkeys, you need to first acquire golden monkey trekking permits from the Rwanda Development Board, which you will present on the day of the briefing.

On the day of golden monkey trekking, trekkers are first taught about the rules and regulations of the activity after which rangers lead these people into the jungle to look for these jumpy primates. During the trek, they have a chance of meeting different park animals, birds, and plant species. After meeting the golden monkeys, trekkers will be given 1 hour to be around them as they take photos, watch them do daily activities as you learn about their habits.

Encounter birds in Rwanda’s volcanoes national park

A total of 200 bird species have been so far recorded in the Volcanoes National Park, so this means tourists on a gorilla safari can spare some time and lookout for some of the bird species. the bird species to look out for in volcanoes national park include Rwenzori batis, Grauer’s rush warbler, strange weaver, Montane Oriole, Stuhlmann’s Double-collared Sunbird, Mountain Illadopsis, White-starred Robin, Eastern Mountain Greenbul, Pink-footed Puff back, barred long-tailed cuckoo, Regal Sunbird, Ruwenzori Batis, Grey Cuckoo-shrike, black-headed waxbill, Striped-breasted Tit, archer’s robin-chat, Sharpe’s Starling, Slender-billed Starling, Mountain Sooty Boubou, Red-chested Owlet, cinnamon bracken warbler, regal sunbird, black and white manikin, Stuhlmann’s Starling, blued headed sunbird, Great Blue Turaco, Doherty’s bush-shrike, White-eyed Slaty Flycatcher, Albertine owlet, Ruwenzori Blue-headed Sunbird, Thick-billed Seedeater, and francolins.

Hiking in Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda

Hiking is another activity that travelers on a gorilla trekking safari in the Volcanoes national park can be part of. The park is home to over 5 Virunga mountains, and are Mountain Karisimbi, Mountain Gahinga, Mountain Sabyinyo, Mountain Bisoke, and Mountain Muhavura. You can book your hiking permit at the park offices and hike any of the mountains in the park. The hike to any of the mountains starts with a briefing, after which a ranger guide leads you to the top of the mountain. During the journey, you pass through different vegetation zones, lush forests, with breathtaking views of the scenery, beautiful crater lakes, and unique mountain animals like buffaloes, elephants, antelopes, monkeys, and different bird species.

What to do with Africa Adventure Vacations?

Africa Adventure Vacations is a tour company based in Uganda, licensed by the Uganda Tourism Board and a member of the Association of Uganda Tour Operators. Booking with Africa adventure vacations provides you safety and confidence during your safari courtesy of well-trained safari driver guides who are well conversant with all routes and tourism destinations in Africa. You can book with us any of the activities you want to do in Africa, such as budget gorilla trekking in Bwindi, mountain gorilla habituation, Chimpanzee trekking and habituation, birding, golden monkey trekking, game drives, hiking, nature walks, and community tours, among others. Booking gorilla trekking safaris to Volcanoes National Park Rwanda can be done at any time of the year.