Tanzania Safari and Gorilla Trek in Rwanda
Are you planning to take a luxury holiday in East Africa to encounter African wildebeest migration and gorilla safari experience? Plan your visit to the Serengeti National Park and Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania and here you will have the extraordinary view of the wildebeest migration crossing the Mara River that is bordering Mara in Kenya and Serengeti, Tanzania.
While on this bespoke luxury safari you can stay at some of the premium lodges like the Singita game lodges that offers the luxury space and taking luxury game drives in the lodge’s customized safari land cruisers. To have it comfortably and amazing experience you can have 3 nights from 2 lodges and you can have this combination from Singita Mara River Tented Camp and Sabora Tented Lodge.
To have unforgettable Tanzania trip and gorilla trek in Rwanda book with us the 10 Day Luxury Tanzania Rwanda Safari with the luxury stay at Singita Kwitonda Lodge. Rwanda is a very small beautiful country in Eastern Africa. The country annually records a mammoth number of tourists who basically go there for gorilla trekking safaris. First and foremost, gorilla trekking in Rwanda is carried out in the remarkable Volcanoes National Park perched in the Northwestern region of the country.
The park is part of the larger Virunga Conservation Area (Virunga Massif) which includes two other Parks, Virunga and Mgahinga, in Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, respectively. The three aforementioned national parks of the Virunga Massif along with Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park are the only four places in world that still preserve the lives of the mountain gorillas, which are classified as endangered species already.
Mountain gorillas are estimated to be over 1,100 individuals in total and over 600 are resided in the Virunga Massif where Volcanoes National Park lies.
Volcanoes National Park
The protected area inaugurated in1925, making it the oldest national park in Africa. Its primary role was of course to protect the lives of mountain gorillas from the heartless poachers. The Volcanoes of Rwanda covers an area of 160 square kilometers of rainforest and is enclosed with five of the eight volcanoes in the Virunga Mountains, that include; Karisimbi, Bisoke, Muhabura, Gahinga and Sabyinyo.
The park borders Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in Uganda. It was the base for the primatologist Dian Fossey of which on your gorilla trek you may opt to visit her tombs resided in the park as well. The park is just a two hours and 30 minutes’ drive from Kigali International Airport and Kigali city – capital of Rwanda.
Rwanda – Volcanoes Park in particular has 12 habituated gorilla families available for the gorilla trekking excursions. Like in any other gorilla park, gorilla trekking in Volcanoes Park starts with a briefing from the ranger guides at the park headquarters where you join all the other tourists looking to do a gorilla trek.
After this experience you are allocated a particular gorilla family to trek and a ranger guide to lead you. Some of the families are near the briefing area and other groups require driving a distance before the start of the hike. Regardless of the gorilla group allocated to you, you will all be able to sight the gorilla often found enjoying their breakfast and the little ones playing as well as observing their daily activities up-close.
Meanwhile, Mountain gorillas in the Rwandan Volcanoes live at a high altitude and this may cause difficulties in hiking up for some visitors. Therefore, you should pace yourself, walk slowly, drink plenty of water and prepare adequately for this experience. If possible, you can hire a porter to help you especially in carrying your backpacker such that you don’t get tired very soon during the process of trekking gorillas in their natural habitats.
The other main thing you should know about gorilla trekking in Rwanda is that you need to buy a Rwanda gorilla permit prior to your arrival in the country. Your trusted tour operator will be entitled to purchase your gorilla trekking permit for you in advance for proper planning. The gorilla permit in Rwanda costs US$ 1500 and it is worth the price as no tourist has ever complained about the price especially after trekking.