Volcanoes National Park

Visited: Oct. 2023 Reviewed: Oct. 30, 2023 Submitted in:

For most visitors Rwanda means Volcanoes National Park, and Volcanoes National Park means mountain gorillas. This is the original Gorillas in the Mist destination, Africa’s most hyped gorilla park, and the place where famed American primatologist Dian Fossey spent many years studying the gorillas. Up-close (sometimes so close you can virtually feel the gorilla’s breath on you) mountain gorilla sightings are a given and the park’s vegetation (compared to some other gorilla parks) is comparatively clear and conducive to easy sightings. However, having been lucky enough to see mountain gorillas in every park in which they exist, the gorilla-watching experience at Volcanoes National Park feels a little too polished and, dare I say it, not quiet wild enough. When I tracked the gorillas here I was surprised to arrive at the park offices to find around 80 other tourists milling around, as well as souvenir sellers and a dance troupe. It didn’t exactly feel like the African wilderness. Spoken by our guests about Volcanoes national park

Visited: Aug. 2021 Reviewed: Aug. 14, 2021 Submitted in:

We trekked mountain gorillas in Volcanoes National Park for about 3 hours, this activity is out of this world. Whoever goes for a vacation should include gorilla trekking on their bucket list. We had an amazing experience.

If you are in Rwanda, Volcanoes National Park is a fantastic place easily accessible from Kigali. The mountain gorilla trekking is very well organized, you can do this via a tour agency or on your own. A must-do experience while in Rwanda! You get to spend an hour with the gorilla family once you locate them. It. Is an experience you will never forget, the hour goes by in a jiffy. These creatures are magical, with soulful eyes, and very human like behavior. We saw a family with a 2-year old playing with his 4-year old brother, while a mother was nursing her baby boy. The silverback was pretty mellow, but did treat us to a chest thumping show. Once you observe these wonderful creatures for any length of time, it is hard to imagine how poaching has almost managed to make these ancestors of our extinct. The park has done a wonderful job of conservation and preservation so it is gratifying to see that the mountain gorilla population may finally be on an upswing. In any case, while not cheap, keep in mind that your $$$ funds this amazing work. The and trackers were amazing. They take real pride in the work they are doing, and they know the various gorilla groups that they have habituated really well. Thank you

I was fortunate enough to trek the mountain gorillas in two countries and two parks. My first trekking experience was my best. I did Volcanoes and had such a great experience. The trek was more scenic and I felt the guides and rangers were better here. It is more expensive than Bwindi but it also looked like they were doing more to give back to the local communities here. I would gladly return.

I was fortunate to have the possibility to visit the park at the end of 2015. It was a totally amazing experience. At first I was really impressed by the country of Rwanda. So different from what I expected. A well-organized country that still had managed to keep the origin. We stayed at hotel in Musanze and the hotel helped with arranging transportation to the park. When we arrived at park there was a local dancing and singing group performing along with serving coffee or tea. They divided us into groups and a guide were assigned. We had a really good guide. Very dedicated to his work. He told about the park, the gorillas, the mountains and informed us about the members "our" group. Then a short ride to the starting point of our walk. We were offered to have a carrier. It was local men from the village living on carrying backpacks for tourists. It was not expensive, so even if you perfectly well can carry your own backpack, its a good way to support the members of the village by hire a carrier. Then the walk started. Through fields of eucalyptus trees. Then we went into the park and it was getting more steep. The walk was shorter than I expected and then we met up with guards watching "our" group 24 hours, seven days a week, to protect them from hunters. We left backpacks and other stuff with the guards and the carriers and took the final climb up to the group. Suddenly we met the old man and his wife. The former silver back. He was patiently sitting there, not paying much attention to us. After a while, taking pictures, we moved on and then met the son, the present silver back. He was taking his morning nap. Around him was several females and kids. We spent an hour together with the group. A totally amazing experience. I could hardly believe it was true being close to them and they totally accepted us being there. I can highly recommend this trip. Its quite expensive for tourist, 750 USD, but totally worth it. The monies cover the cost of the guards protecting these vulnerable and amazing animals.

Volcanoes National Park has 8 habituated groups of gorillas available for daily tracking and up to 8 visitors are allowed per day, for one hour only. Gorilla treks can be over and done with in less than 3 hours or, in adverse circumstances, take 8 or more hours. The guides are well-trained, fluent in English and it's best to make use of the blue uniformed porters, as even a bag pack eventually gets heavy, especially when carrying a few litres of water, for oneself and to spare for others who did not think ahead. Bring sturdy boots and wear long sleeved shirts or wind breakers as the thorns and branches otherwise inflict bloody scratch marks. One final recommendation ... take the extra time to visit Lake Kivu as Gisenyi where some fine beach side resorts like the Lake Kivu Serena or the Paradis Malahide offer fine hospitality. Alternatively take time out and cross Uganda Boarder to Lake Mutanda where Chameleon Hill Lodge offers an amazing hospitality!

This is a really nice place to go. Theo have 12 different gorilla families in the mountains and we visited the amazing Sabyinyo group. Our guide was very good and knowledgeable. Usually they recommend a distance of at least 7 meters to the gorillas but this time the gorilla silver back came up to us very close as you can see on my profile pictures. The weather was really good this day with no rain and not too much sun. When it's raining it must be very slippery to walk up and down that hills. Before we went up on the mountains it was a show of local dancing with a lot of drums. I must say that I am really impressed of the way Rwanda has taken care of the gorillas and strongly recommend a visit both to Rwanda in general and specially to Volcanoes Park.

Nothing can prepare you for your first sighting of a silverback gorilla. He is HUGE! He could easily rip you limb from limb and you immediately respect and admire this docile creature and wish man were more like his primate cousin. The trek was tough, and there were leeches and mosquitoes to deal with, but I would do it again in a second, even with the increased prices.

The existence of gorillas in Africa's rain forests has been known for centuries not only in Africa but the whole world. 2000 years back,early records were taken by the sailors that landed from the North African province as they tried to capture some apes in the western lowland and the eastern lowland. in the early 1900, the other specie of the mountain gorillas was identified, some what bulkier than its lowland cousins. Mountain gorillas rank among the rarest animals in the world with just 840 gorillas in the existence. Half of the total number are in Bwindi impenetrable forest National Park and the bigger number in Parc National Des Volcans Ruhengeri. Have a memorable experience Gorilla tracking in Parc National des Volcans with your guides leading you through the forest,get a grip of yourself, this is not a joy ride, there are steep areas, rough and rugged foot path but meeting the giant ape will be worth your effort. You always enjoy an hour with the gorillas, you are going to find out that gorillas are extremely social and dwell in groups with the dominant being the silver back with their female mates usually viewed nursing their babies. While on your gorilla trip to Parc National Des Volcans, do not hesitate to stop over at the Karisoke research center. This center was established by American Zoologist Dian Fossey, who had dedicated part of her life for safety of the mountain gorillas, therefore we can not talk about gorillas in Rwanda and miss out Diana Fossey. Here you can also see the grave of Digit, one of her most treasured primate friends.

Deciding the gorilla trekking was just too expensive for mid-twenties budgets, my travel partner and I decided to do a volcano hike. We chose Bisoke based on our guidebooks review and the tour operator's recommendation. It's the second-easiest hike, but don't let that deceive you because man, is it challenging! The total hike takes about six hours and climbs in elevation from 8,000 to 11,000 feet, with the trail following natural volcanic paths up the mountain. We went in April and it was quite muddy despite it being unseasonably dry. In fact, there were times I was worried I was going to lose a shoe in the cakey, sticky mud we'd sink into! Additionally, the plants aren't the friendliest either. They have nettles bordering the trail which you very easily bump into and instinctively grab onto when you slip, which leaves a pins and needle feeling on the part of your body that touched it for up to an hour after. Why would I recommend this, you ask? Because it's the most gratifying feeling to be able to make it to the top and look below into the water-filled crater, peering over the the DRC just on the other side. We were beyond lucky enough to also spot two gorillas on our decent back to the base, one pregnant female making herself visible to our group as she climbed into a tree to continue munching on leaves. Fortunately for us, the gorillas don't pay attention to who paid the permit to see them and who didn't. We were one lucky group!