Popular Tourist Experiences in Volcanoes
Popular tourist experiences in Volcanoes, a place of incredible diversity in primates, culture, and people as well as its natural surroundings of lovely lakes and rivers, breath-taking hills, and hidden gems! Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site as home to the mountain gorillas and golden monkeys in Rwanda– all of which can be sighted on a day trek.
Here is a brief highlight of key popular tourist experiences in Volcanoes National Park. They include:-
Gorilla Trekking: BOOK NOW
Fee: US$ 1,500.- per person
Volcanoes National Park is the Rwandan section of the great volcanic massif called the Virunga Mountains that straddles the borders of Rwanda, Uganda, and the DRC. The massif covers a huge area of over 8,000km², encompassing six active and three extinct volcanoes. There is no other wildlife experience quite like an encounter with mountain gorillas thus among the most popular tourist experiences in Rwanda. That precious hour spent in their company – watching the group playing, sulking, teasing each other, eating, or dozing just like we do – is extraordinary. And the gorilla tracking safaris in Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park are among the best in Africa.
Golden Monkey Trek:
Fee: US$ 100.- per person
Today, you have an early breakfast transfer to the park headquarters for the Golden monkey trekking briefing which starts at 07h00. We will then transfer you to the start point of your guided walk that begins at 08h00. The Tracking usually takes about 4 hrs. Once you come to the habituated families, you will spend the allowed one hour with them as they go about their daily life.
Trekking to see the golden monkeys is another highlight of Volcanoes National Park. The Golden Monkey (Cercopithecus Mitis Kandi) is a local subspecies of the widespread Sykes Monkey, also known as the “Blue Monkey” and is endemic to the high altitude forests. The monkeys are playful and inquisitive and often spend their time leaping from bamboo branches or frolicking on the forest floor. There are two habituated groups of Golden Monkey, one group comprises around 80 – 100 members and has its home at the foot of Mt Sabyinyo.
Visit the Dianne Fossey Tomb
Fee: US$ 75.- per person
This is one of the most sought-after safari activities carried out while visiting Volcanoes national park. The trek involves a 30 minutes drive from the park headquarters to the trailhead to access the Karisoke research camp where visitors walk for 10 minutes to the park boundary. The walk from the park boundary to the research center where the Dian’s grave is, takes about an hour to 1 hour and a half hours and affords good views of forest hogs, forest elephants, a variety of primates, and bird species. This hike is an incredible experience physically, emotionally, and intellectually. It is so inspiring to learn about someone who was so dedicated and left a legacy that exists even today. She was buried next to her favorite gorilla, Digit, and several others.
Bisoke Hike: (1 Day Tour)
This is the most popular mountain hiking adventure in Volcanoes National Park and Rwanda, her peak, at 3,711m, is on the Rwanda side. It is a moderate hike that is done within a day (a total of seven hours for the round trip). The hike is very rewarding with beautiful scenery and great views of the lush Virunga and Rwanda’s hilly landscape, a cloud experience at the top of the volcano. You also get to observe up-close an array of unique mountain wildlife. A range of different unique plants as you cross from one vegetation zone to another. The lower zones possess thick vegetation and softer grounds which pose the bigger challenge due to the mud. Towards the top, the volcano grows naked with less vegetation and the terrain is rocky, which makes the hike less tough. Throughout the hike make occasional stops to rest a bit and take in the magnificent scenery all around. When you start to get above the clouds as you approach the summit and move through the fog you finally reach the summit where the Crater Lake measuring about 400 meters in diameter and estimated depth of about 100 meters is found.
Gorilla Guardians Village:
Fee: US$ 50.- per person
This is a changing traditional perception of what constitutes tourism by turning fate into fame through sharing various aspects of rural cultures and livelihoods into tourist attractions and creating income-generating activities for rural poor people that have reformed from living on bushmeat and poaching for generations.
Do not miss out to grab any of the popular tourist experiences in Volcanoes National Park on your visit to remarkable Rwanda and more awaits and this could include a visit to Nyungwe forest for a chimpanzee safari in Rwanda or simply visit Akagera Wildlife Park for the big five mammals and aquatic life on Lake Ihema such as hippos and spectacular birdlife.
