How to spend 7 days in Volcanoes National Park. Booking a Holiday Vacation in Rwanda 

7 days in Volcanoes National Park. A lifelong Africa Safari experience is spending your vacations in Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda, by suspending seven days of your usual schedule.

Treasured for preserving and feeding some of the last mountain gorillas in the world almost extinct by the 1980s, is Volcanoes National Park. The extensive trophy hunting caused the number of mountain gorillas to decline to between 240 and 300. Support and community awareness have helped the mountain gorilla count reach above 1000 now.

When she sought to convince the world to recognize the fragility of mountain gorillas, the American philanthropist Dian Fossey guided the revival effort in their numbers. The movie “Gorilla in the Mist” raised awareness in 1988 on the situation of the last mountain gorillas on Earth.

Many visitors are adding gorilla trekking to the must-do of their bucket list after the whistleblower’s urgency for mountain gorilla conservation was matched with tourism visits.

Not only is Volcanoes National Park a mountain gorilla paradise, but numerous other primates also call this forest home. Among the many primates are golden monkeys, black and white colobus, red-tailed monkeys, blue monkeys, and pottos monkeys, with a great variety of birds.

Day 1: Drive to Volcanoes National Park. 

Day 2 Gorilla Trekking in Volcanoes National Park

Day 3 Second Gorilla Trekking National Park

Day  4 Trekking Golden Monkeys

Day 5: Dian Fossey  visit

Day 6  Visit of Gorilla Guardian Village

Day 7 Kigali City Tour and Departure

One may conduct the Kigali City Tour either on the first day of arrival for the Rwanda safari or on the final day before leaving Kigali Airport.

There is double gorilla trekking on this trip.

Day one: Road excursion to Volcanoes National Park

From Kigali Airport, a road ride to Volcanoes National Park winds via twisting roads contoured from hill bottoms for two to three hours. Rwanda’s country of a thousand hills, is reminiscent of the rich vegetation that blankets most mountain slopes, including the Alps of Switzerland.

Arriving in Volcanoes National Park, unwind and gather your gorilla trekking equipment ready for the next day.

While some visitors may like to spend overnight in Kigali City, on gorilla trekking day, you have to wake up earlier than normal to catch up with the briefing time at 0800 hours. Given the unknowns on the way to Volcanoes National Park, we do not suggest that our guests follow this route.

Sambyinyo Silver Back Lodge, Virunga Volcanoes Lodge, Mountain gorilla View Lodge (MGVL), Kinigi Guest House, and Hotel Mille Collines are some of the lodging options with varying budgets.

See the Lodge of your choice according to your reservation.

Day 2 Gorilla Trekking Day inside Volcanoes National Park

This seven-day safari to Volcanoes National Park mostly consists of gorilla trekking. Only after you get a gorilla trekking permission from the Rwanda Development Board will this be feasible. Right present, the gorilla permit in Rwanda is $1500. Among other things, this expense covers park fees, the local community support fund, ranger guide costs, and conservation costs.

Early in the morning, a warm cup of coffee provides the vitality you need to get you through most of your climb to find the mountain gorillas. Remember to include in a light waterproof backpack your gorilla trekking tools: cameras, binoculars, a packed lunch, etc.

Meet other visitors at the ranger station for a briefing, whereupon the rangers walk you through the rules of gorilla trekking. Pay close attention, as breaking one of the most important guidelines can cost you the opportunity to engage in gorilla trekking.

Using the paths used by frequent gorilla trekking and Rwanda birding tourists, the armed ranger guide leads a party of a maximum of eight hikers into the jungle.  Look out for other primates, including L’Hoest and so many more, black and white colobus monkeys, blue monkeys, red-tailed monkeys, and troupes of olive baboons. Your path may traverse a rich bird life, including several Albertine endemics on the IUCN red list.

The ranger guide calls for energy rest stops along the walk. Although rangers go the slowest among trekkers, do not use this as justification for postponing the rest, as the exact time for mountain gorilla location is unclear.

When you find the mountain gorillas, last but not least, wait for the ranger guide to tell you when to photograph. Although mountain gorillas are calm, depending on the state of the forest, they might get agitated.

Mountain gorillas, like humans, get depressed when they lose a family member. The birth of children makes the family happy; hence, several observations have to be initially made under the direction of the ranger guide.

As your gorilla safari memento, snap plenty of pictures. Before returning to your resort, only one hour is permitted among the mountain gorillas.

Day three: second gorilla hiking in Volcanoes National Park

There is never any criminality involved with double gorilla trekking in Rwanda. This double chance allows you to relaxingly hang out with the mountain gorillas. Usually, first-time gorilla walkers are worried about the mountain gorillas’ sheer enormity and black eyes.

Unlike the first, this second opportunity is not quite odd. Like last gorilla trekking day, you still follow the briefing protocols.  You get a new gorilla family to hike this time when you tell the park officials about your double trip.

Explore woodland fun with the ranger’s guidance. Search for the primates and elements you may have missed previously. Get back to the lodge to unwind.

Day four Golden Monkey Trek in Volcanoes National Park

Among the rarest kinds of monkeys with golden hair are golden monkeys. The term Cercopithecus Mitis Candits helps one to scientifically identify them. These monkeys keep you alert and thrilled all through the quest.

Their larger stature sets them apart from other monkeys physically. Their declining population brings them closer to the list of species under global endangering classification. Under the Alpha male leader, they form troupes comprising around one hundred individuals.

Look for additional monkeys that call this immaculate tropical jungle home.

Day Five Trip to Dian Fossey with Dian Fossey Global Fund for Gorillas

Without the unassuming effort of Dian Fossey, gorilla trekking would not exist. She committed her life to the protection of mountain gorillas, but in 1988, she was mercilessly killed. Her body lay amid the mountain gorillas.

Hiking to Dian Fossey Gorilla International Fund helps you to understand her diligence. Her research is the foundation of several scientific discoveries about mountain gorillas.

Seeing some of her efforts on this journey emphasizes further the importance of gorilla protection.

Day six trip to Gorilla Guardian Village 

The mountain gorilla conservation effort calls for changing poachers. Former poachers established a local non-profit cultural hamlet known as Gorilla Guardian hamlet.

The order of the day is hands-on time, as craft making, basket weaving, and so on define this village tour. Participate in an amazing traditional cow dung painting called imigongo. Prior appointment is essential. Prince Kakira pioneered the mechanical painting process in the ninth century, doing interior decorating.

If given, you might enjoy some of the native Rwandese food and beverages. Return to your lodge overnight.

Day 7: Kigali City tour and Departure from Rwanda | 7 days in Volcanoes National Park

Though you have to catch up with your outgoing aircraft, leaving Rwanda during a 7-day safari getaway is heartbreaking. Should you not complete the Kigali city tour on the first day, you have today. Still, this relies on the check-in time for your flight.

 Travel in Kigali City

Started by Dr. Richard in 1907 as a little colonial outpost in present-day Kigali City. The major commercial hub of Rwanda is here. See Kimironko Market, the biggest one in Rwanda. Seeing the Kigali genocide monument, St Families church, Gisozi Genocide monument helps one to understand what happened during the one hundred days of horror. On the walls, hall pictures, sculptures, and certain assets of victims, names of some of the genocide victims are displayed.

See the biggest and most exquisite mosque in Rwanda. Look out for the winding roadways cut out of the hill bottoms of Kigali city.

How to Plan for Golden Monkey & Rwanda Gorilla Trekking for 7 days in Volcanoes National Park

The selling board for Gorilla trekking golden monkey permits is the Rwanda Development Board. For international visitors per person, the Rwanda gorilla trekking permit runs at $1500. Each person’s Golden Monkey Trek permit from Rwanda runs $100.

There are eighteen gorilla trekking families accessible for daily visitor booking right now. Each day just eight visitors are permitted to walk with a gorilla family.

Which lodging facility should one reserve throughout the stay in Volcanoes National Park?

For your stay in or outside Volcanoes National Park, there are many lodging options spanning various budgets. Access to Volcanoes National Park, unlike those of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in Uganda or Virunga National Park in D.R. Cong,o comes from the city center on the same day of gorilla trekking.

Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge, Virunga Volcanoes Lodge, Hotel Mille Collines, Best View Hotel, Mountain Gorilla View Lodge, Da Vinci Gorilla Lodge, Gorilla Volcanoes Hotel, Le Bambou Gorilla Village, and Kinigi Guest House are some of the luxury, midrange, and budget-conscious lodging options.

How to reach Volcanoes National Park? Access to Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda mostly comes via road travel. About two and a half hours separates the travel from Kigali to Musanze, where Volcanoes National Park is situated.

From Kigali City center, public transportation runs to Musanze; however, you must pay for private means to reach Volcanoes National Park headquarters in Kinigi.

Road access to Volcanoes National Park from Bwindi Forest National Park in Uganda comes via the Cyanika Border. This is the best path between Uganda and Rwanda for anybody scheduled for cross-border gorilla trekking.

Akagera Aviation allows one to reserve charter helicopter services for Volcanoes National Park.

All-inclusive Rwanda safaris involving transportation utilizing 4×4 cars are available at Katland  Safaris.

When should one schedule A 7 Day Rwanda Safari to Volcanoes National Park?

Though Rwanda welcomes visitors all year round, the optimum time to enjoy activities in Volcanoes National Park is from June to September. Even while Volcanoes National Park is well-known for frequent downpours, this season had less rainfall.  The dense forest cover that allows less sun ray penetration causes the ground to remain wet from the rain. This season marks drier routes leading to most activities both within and outside the park.

Please contact us and also take time to browse our TripAdvisor review page for more details on how to spend seven days in Volcanoes National park and how to arrange a Rwanda vacation with Katland  Safaris.