Volcanoes National Park

About Volcanoes National Park

Volcanoes National Park covers Rwanda's side of the Virunga Mountains in the far north-west of the country, on the borders with Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is the place to trek to mountain gorillas in Rwanda: small groups climb through bamboo and hagenia forest to spend one hour with a habituated gorilla family, about two and a half to three hours by road from Kigali. The park is small, around 160 square kilometres, and takes in five dormant volcanoes: Karisimbi, the highest at 4,507 m, Bisoke, Sabyinyo, Gahinga and Muhabura. Its forests were first protected in 1925 as part of what became Albert National Park. The Virunga gorilla population, which Rwanda shares with Uganda and Congo, was counted at 604 in 2016, part of a world total of 1,063 mountain gorillas. In 2018 the IUCN moved the subspecies from Critically Endangered to Endangered after decades of ranger patrols, vet care and tourism revenue paid into protection. You can trek all year, but the dry months from June to September and from December to February make the steep, muddy slopes easier going. The March to May rains bring the heaviest mud and the fewest visitors, and the short rains of October and November are lighter. At this altitude it can rain on any day, so pack a waterproof whatever the month. Most visitors fly into Kigali and drive north to Musanze and the park headquarters at Kinigi, a distance of about 105 km. Rwanda also works as an add-on to a Tanzania safari, with flights to Kigali from Kilimanjaro and Dar es Salaam. Plan on at least two nights near the park so you are in place for the early start, and three if you also want golden monkeys or a mountain hike. Rwanda trips usually add Lake Kivu for a quiet few days, Nyungwe Forest for chimpanzees or Akagera for a savannah safari. On trekking day you report to Kinigi early for a briefing, and rangers assign each group of up to eight people to a gorilla family based on fitness. The walk can take less than an hour or most of the day, depending on where the family slept. Visitors must be at least 15 years old and keep a distance of several metres. The hour with the gorillas is strictly timed. Other days can go to golden monkey treks, the climb to the crater lake on Bisoke, or the trail to the Karisoke site, which Dian Fossey founded between Karisimbi and Bisoke in September 1967 and where she is buried. Visit Rwanda counts about 200 bird species in the park. For lodges, Sabinyo Silverback Lodge, Bisate Lodge and Mountain Gorilla View Lodge are close to the Kinigi trailheads, which keeps the morning drive short. We also book Bishops Lodge, Bishops House and Home Inn Hotel, and choose between them on budget and how far you are happy to drive before dawn.