Travel to Virunga Mountains

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Virunga Mountains

is the primary location in Rwanda

for tracking mountain gorillas

home to almost a third of the world’s mountain gorillas

Virunga Mountains in Rwanda, along with Bwindi Forest in Uganda, are the two prime locations in Africa for tracking mountain gorillas.

This protected area, centred on Volcanoes National Park, straddles Rwanda, Uganda and DR Congo and includes some very impressive and mysterious volcanic peaks shrouded in dense tropical forest, but surrounded on all sides by intense small-scale agriculture.

Remarkably this tiny portion of the planet hosts almost a third of the world’s wild mountain gorillas, with around 250 individuals in 10 troops, of which 8 are habituated to the presence of humans, which means that they can usually be approached without being scared off.

This rich rainforest environment also contains over 120 mammal and 350 bird species.

Only 56 gorilla tracking permits are issued each day, so you need to book very early for visits during Jun-Oct and Jan-Feb.

Virunga Mountains is a protected area which straddles Rwanda, Uganda and DR Congo and is centred on a range of impressive and mysterious volcanic peaks.

The peaks are shrouded by a 400 square kilometre ‘island’ of dense tropical forest, encircled by intense small-scale agriculture.

Remarkably this tiny area hosts almost two thirds of the world's wild mountain gorillas, with around 600 individuals in 40 troops.

Ten troops are habituated to the presence of humans, which means that they can be approached without them scarpering.

Gorilla tracking starts early morning, joining a group at park headquarters.

Sometimes the target troop is encountered right on the edge of the farmland.

On other occasions the troop may be high in the forest, two or more hour’s walk away.

Guests who are less able to hike are usually allocated onto more accessible troops.

Gorilla families are usually relaxed and approachable.

However the silverbacks are a lot more aggressive and interactions can be quite action packed.

It is very important to realise that the extremely high park fees are there to incentivise the expansion of the forest.

So it is critical that as many people as possible visit the gorillas to ensure that they survive and prosper.

Another pleasant activity is to hike into the bamboo in search of golden monkeys.

Cultural interaction is also possible in the various local villages.

There is a good range of lodges in the area, although almost all the good ones are very pricey.

Access is by road, usually via a reasonably scenic 4-5 hour drive from Kigali.

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The Virunga Mountains area is the cornerstone of virtually every trip to Rwanda.

The usual stay duration in this area is 3-5 nights. More often than not, this is the only stop in Rwanda, other than a possible transit night in the capital, Kigali.

Occasionally, guests undertake a longer exploration of the country, adding chimpanzees in Nyungwe and savanna safari in Akagera, with trips running up to around 10-12 nights total.

Seasonality

The best time of year to visit the Virunga Mountains is during the May-Sep and Dec-Feb winter dry seasons, when the lower rainfall should make trekking conditions easier.

The climate in the Virunga Mountains follows the same basic pattern as most other reserves in East Africa, but with the high altitudes ensuring greater rainfall and lower temperatures year round.

Temperatures during the day average around 15C/59F year round, dropping to around 7C/45F at night, which is really very cool, heavy clothing is definitely recommended.

Getting around

Considering the small size of Rwanda, getting around is surprisingly difficult. The main problem is that there are no scheduled light aircraft services between the key locations, meaning that connections almost always have to be done by private road transfers.

Virunga Mountains lie in the extreme northwest corner of the country. The road journey from the capital Kigali is around 4-5 hours.

There is the option to travel by helicopter instead, but this can get very expensive.

Where to stay

The Virunga Mountains area has around a dozen lodges, with an extraordinary range of prices …

Four of the lodges are extremely high-end and are amongst the most pricey accommodation options in Africa, which is really saying something. These are Singita Kataza House, Singita Kwitonda Lodge, Bisate Lodge and One and Only Gorillas Nest.

There are two recommended lodges in the middle of the range, namely Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge and Virunga Lodge.

The lower cost lodges tend to be locally owned, situated closer to or in the town, much simpler and potentially less reliable. Note that once the gorilla permits are factored into the guide prices, even these places become very pricey. The better options include Mountain Gorilla View Lodge, Five Volcanoes Boutique Hotel, Tiloreza Volcanoes Ecolodge, The Bishop’s House Rwanda and Amakoro Songa Lodge.