Gorilla Trekking Volcanoes National Park Africa Treasures

Gorilla Trekking in Volcanoes National Park is an amazing rewarding venture for your self to tour, come see how graceful and peaceful these creatures are in there natural habitats in Volcanoes National Park. Especially considering their incredible size You’ll be amazed and live to tell about nature of the gentle giants of the jungle in their different families in Rwanda.

Volcanoes National Park

is located in a small village called Musanze previously well-known as Ruhengeri, which is very accessible by public transport from Gisenyi or Kigali or from the airport. The drive to Volcanoes national park is 2 hrs and hence one can do gorilla trekking on the same day and drive back to Kigali after the trek. You will be required to arrive at the headquarters of ORTPN in Kinigi at the park entrance by 7:00am therefore if you hope to trek gorillas for one day, you have to wake up very early for your journey so that you are on time. However, there isn’t any public transport from Musanze to the headquarters of the park at Kinigi.

Gorilla Trekking in Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda has  an easy  procedure to be conducted

Initially contact us for all clearances preparations like permits,then after the arrival from your destinations to Volcanoes National Park A cup of tea/ coffee is served as you are being entertained by the local traditional Kinyarwanda dancers to give you a good start of a strenuous yet exciting day. Before the ranger guide gives you tips on how to conduct yourself on this trek.
Quick briefing on safety measures and what to expect during the day, you will be grouped in groups of 8 people maximum and each group is assigned one gorilla family to trek. Rwanda has 10 gorilla families, hence 10 groups of 8 people each are the ones allowed to track on a particular day.
Assigning the groups highly depends on the fitness and age of the guests. For example, those above 45 years and the ones with less fitness are assigned the ‘easy to find’ gorilla families which do not wander far away from the trail heads. However, even those with special interests about specific groups may inform their guides to help them negotiate with rangers before assigning the groups such that they may be assigned those specific groups too.

Each gorilla tracking group consists of a main guide and two scouts who carry AK-47 guns, one walking in front and another behind the group. The reason for armed scouts is for protection in the forest against wild elephants or angry, wild gorillas. The scouts are trained to fire shots into the air first in order to scare away the animals but this is only done on rarest occasions when all other options like hiding away from such dangerous animals have been We’ve never heard of any case where such animals attacked the tourists and the scouts had to fire bullets though on many occasions, they advise to hide or remain still until the animals go away. However the policy of the National Park is to be safe rather than sorry.

For a safe and disrupted gorilla trekking in Rwanda the following are essential

Trekking boots; foot wears are essential to guard your foot from the sharp grasses thorns sticks in the gorilla habitats

walking sticks; these are mainly to be used as a third hand and avoid contamination to forests, and also support to the weak

Trousers and a long-sleeved shirt: You’ll be ‘bushwhacking’ into a misty rain forest, so wear trousers and a long-sleeved shirt to protect yourself from the thick undergrowth and nettles.
Gloves: A pair of gloves will protect your hands when grabbing branches and vines, particularly a tough pair of gardening gloves.
Light rain jacket: Even if you’re visiting during the dry season, it’s a good idea to pack a light rain jacket. These  forests can be damp and there can still be rainfall.
Gorilla Trekking in Volcanoes National Park is rewarding in the following ways

Gorilla Trekking Volcanoes National Park

Entertaining:  It amuses and incredible how graceful and peaceful these animals are, especially considering their incredible size. You’ll be amazed when you see the silver backs (mature males) get up and move around showing control over the territory.

 

Time with gorillas: spend some time with Gorillas, take photos, videos as long as no flashes and sounds are made when taking photos, this is because the animals are not used to them

For all gorilla tours, trackers guide you through the jungle clearing the brush with their machete so you can get a clearer and closer look at the gorillas.

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