Why Do Gorilla Trekking Safari In Rwanda

Gorilla trekking in Rwanda is an opportunity to be in the wilderness with some of the few leftover mountain gorillas in the world. To do gorilla Trekking safari in Rwanda, you must have a gorilla permit from the Rwanda Development Board. Volcanoes National Park is the only destination in Rwanda where gorilla trekking happens. Book Now

Mountain gorillas in Rwanda are some of the few leftover in the entire world and are only living in Rwanda, Uganda and D.R. Congo. Choosing the do an African safari to see the mountain gorillas is like hitting a jackpot as you are one of the lucky tourists for the day. the number of visitors allowed to see the mountain gorillas is regulated to maximum 8 per gorilla family.

At the moment, Rwanda has about 12 gorillas families some of which include Umubano, Amahoro, Hirwa, Susa, karisimbi, Agashya, Muhoza and others. The process of gorilla habituation is still going on and so the number of Rwanda gorilla families may change too.

To avoid crowded destinations while on safari holiday, gorilla trekking which is a highly demands adventure is one of the few activities with regulated numbers of visitors with strict regulations that must be religiously followed.

Gorilla trekking in Rwanda is the topmost safari activity that one on a Rwanda visit can engage in case this is your stopover destination before proceeding to your final destination. You can do a 2 day gorilla trekking adventure in Rwanda.

Reasons To Choose Rwanda As A Gorilla Trekking Destination

The Rwanda Mountain gorillas are some of the few leftover in the world with there current population being approximately 1000 mountain gorillas. This population of mountain gorillas is shared by Uganda, Rwanda and D.R.Congo.

Mountain gorillas in Rwanda live an authentic life in the jungle and they are not choreograph to do anything that you get to see while in there presence. Even though before opening the gorilla family to the public that they are habituated a process that helps them get used to human presence. The behavior of the mountain gorillas under the gorilla habituation process is unaltered.

Rwanda is a beautiful Africa safari destination sometimes called the land of a thousand hills. The environment around Rwanda is marvelous with evergreen surrounding. There are different locations in Rwanda which you can add to your gorilla trekking safari itinerary too and can be quicker to get to compared to most other safari destination elsewhere in Africa.

Other Rwanda safaris destinations include Nyungwe National Park the chimpanzee trekking sanctuary, Akagera National Park for game safaris, Volcanoes National Park for golden monkey trekking, Butare National Museum, Rwanda cultural heritage and others. To enjoy most of these beauties, you need a well planned Rwanda safari itinerary

Rwanda is strategically located in East Africa with quick access to different other safari destinations in East Africa like Uganda, where the source of River Nile is situated, Kenya and Tanzania the home of the great migration and beautiful beaches at the coast.

What Other Rwanda Safari Activities To Combine With Gorilla Trekking Tour

Chimpanzees Trekking in Nyungwe National Park

The chimpanzees safari experience in Nyungwe National Park is an opportunity to spend time with some of the primates living in the wilderness. You need to secure a chimpanzee trekking permit from Rwanda Development Board first. Another chimpanzee trekking location is in Cyamudondo on the outskirts of Nyungwe National Park.

The headquarters of Nyungwe National Park is in Uwinka where briefing before the chimpanzee trek happens. After briefing before the chimpanzee trek, you follow different trails oh this natural forest like Igishigishigi trail, Usamo falls and others.

There are other forest dwellers too like black and white colobus, vervet monkeys, grey cheeked mangabey, blue monkeys and others. Several bird species are residents of Nyungwe National Park too.

Golden Monkey Trekking In Rwanda

The golden monkey trekking experience in Rwanda is an exciting opportunity to meet these few leftover primates. The golden monkeys are a special kind of monkey with golden brown hairs on the lower bottom and possessing a body that is larger than normal monkeys. Even though the troops of golden monkeys are first habituated, they still posses there natural traits as they keep hoping from one tree to another

The experience of Golden monkey trekking in Rwanda is adventurous and memorable. Worth including on the list of activities to do during Rwanda Visit.

For every golden monkey trekking adventure in Rwanda, you need a permit and there supply is restricted to reduce on the effects of mass tourism to the environment.

Mountaineering in Rwanda

Rwanda is the land of a thousand hills where you have an opportunity to test your fitness level by hiking. During the Rwanda safari you can take a guided walk up some of the mountain like Mountain Gahinga, Muhavura, Karisimbi, Karisoke and others. These mountains make up part of the topography of Volcanoes National Park.

Never start a hike on the mountain in Rwanda especially those situated in conservation areas without a ranger guide because you may encounter some of the harsh conditions in the jungle and yet emergency action may be needed.

Birding on Rwanda safari

Birding in Rwanda is a booming African safari activity as the country currently celebrate more than 700 bird species. The different habitants in Rwanda provide a comfortable environment for different birds species to thrive in the country. Some of the Rwanda birding destinations include Volcanoes forest, Nyungwe forest, Akagera National Park, Cyamudondo forest and others.

The long list of Rwanda birds includes some Albertine rift endemics. During Rwanda birding adventure, you may spot Red faced woodland Warbler, African Hill Babbler, Western Green Tinker bird, White tailed Crested Fly catcher, collared Apalis and others. You need a well trained Rwanda birding guide with experience to get the best from this adventure.

Rwanda Cultural Experience

Rwandese have a very rich culture that they proudly show off. Right from the art work, there folk tales, songs, local cuisines, cultural attire and others. The traditional songs and dance accompanied by the lulunga, harp like instrument make a big part of the life of the local Rwandese.

During the visit to Rwanda, you can also engage in art work like the cow dung painting, imigongo commonly found in places like Nyakarimbi where several crafts are processed first hand.

Witnessing and engaging in the traditional Intore dance which is accompanied by an orchestra of long local drums is worth your time. The irresistible dance moves of both women and men in resemblance of the nuptial dance of the crested cranes which makes you feel like joining the singers is unbelievable.

Kigali City Tour

Kigali is where the heart of Rwanda beats and taking a city tour is one of the best experience on a Rwanda visit. You need a well organized itinerary planned in consideration of peak traffics time of Kigali city.

During the Kigali city tour, you may visit the genocide memorials, the business centers, craft shop, coffee shops with irresistible aromas of Rwanda locally brewed coffee, museums and others.

To get the best from the Kigali city tour, you need to start early so as to make up for the possibility of jam as the day opens. Kigali city is undergoing rapid growth and in Africa is one of the best and clean towns you would enjoy while on a Rwanda visit. You need to follow rules as this is strictly recommended in Rwanda.

When Is The Best Time To Do Rwanda Gorilla Trekking Tour

Gorilla trekking in Rwanda is open all year however the excitement is best felt in the dry season that is June, July, August. September, December and January when the humidity in the forest is less.

The environment around the volcanoes forest is generally known for being humid almost the entire year however, during the dry season the forest is quicker to navigate. The trails constructed by regular visitors are drier for you to move quicker. The mountain gorillas feed closer to the ground which make finding them more easier to locate

Besides the mountain gorillas, the vibrant life of other forest dwellers like birds, butterflies, monkeys makes the forest more exciting to visit.

This is the peak tourism season of Rwanda too with high demand for gorilla permits even though supply is restricted to maximum 8 visitors per gorilla family. At the moment, Rwanda has about 12 gorilla families open to public booking.

It is best to secure in advance your Rwanda gorilla permit to save last minute disappointments when they sell out.

The wet season is also open to do gorilla trekking in Rwanda that is normally March, April, May and November. Those wishing to see the mountain gorillas without disturbance from other tourists can maximize the opportunity of the wet season.

Is Gorilla Trekking In Rwanda Easy Or Difficult

Gorilla Trekking in Rwanda is quite tiresome because of the varied topography of Rwanda in general this is why this is referred to as the land of a thousand hill. Volcanoes National Park has five of the six Virunga Volcanoes where the mountain gorillas sometimes spend there day. The slopes of these mountains are quite steep compared to its counter parts Uganda, and D.R.Congo.

The walk along the slopes of the highlands in Volcanoes National Park in search for the mountain gorillas is also disturbed by the thick tanged vegetation that has existed for thousands of years.

The ground of Volcanoes National Park is often boggy resulting from the limited sunray penetration. This causes the ground to remain slippery and quite hard to quickly maneuver as you are pulled back so you need to bear some level of patience.

Before carrying on to locate the mountain gorillas, you can hire a porter to help lift your belongings so that you are not pulled back by the weight of this baggage. Pack some energy bites to munch on as breakfast is taken so early to last the entire time.

What Time To Find Mountain Gorillas In Rwanda

Doing gorilla trekking in Uganda takes unknown time because you are not sure of the conditions prevailing in the wilderness. Finding the mountain gorillas in the jungle is affected by factors like location of the mountain gorillas, weather conditions of the day, pace of fellow tourists and others.

What are the rules of Gorilla Trekking in Rwanda

In nature, mountain gorillas are gentle, serene and shy but this doesn’t mean you provoke them. mountain gorillas charge when agitated by thumping there chests, hooting, walking on one leg, grab the grass around them and much more.

Keep a distance of about 7 meters from the mountain gorillas when you locate them to avoid chances of passing an infection to them.

Donot panic upon noticing such odd behavior about the mountain gorillas. Wait for the ranger guide to establish the root cause of the matter as sometimes they are having family discontentment, may be teasing you, an attack from another gorilla family and much more.

At a glance the look in the eyes of the mountain gorillas may send a chill down your spine but as get comfortable with the gorilla family, you realise how vulnerable they are.

In case you have a communicable infection like flue, covid-19 and others, volunteer to stay behind. Mountain gorillas are highly susceptible to human infections.

No feeding the mountain gorillas when you locate them because they are wild animals that must search for there own food, the forest must be there sole provider and not depend on humans.

Never walk into the forest without an escorting ranger guide during gorilla trekking because you may encounter some wild forest dwellers that may hurt you.

Mountain gorillas are very sensitive to unfamiliar occurrences in there presence so donot use a flash camera as this may look suspicious. The camera must be sound proof too because any unfamiliar noise may cause these mountain gorillas to move into hiding.

Staring in the eyes of the mountain gorillas is forbidden because this makes them feel shy and you may seem suspicious.