Gorilla trekking in Volcanoes National Park

Volcanoes National Park covers 160 km² of the Virunga massif in north-west Rwanda, running up the flanks of five volcanoes: Karisimbi at 4,507 m, Bisoke, Sabyinyo, Gahinga and Muhabura. It was Africa's first national park, gazetted in 1925, and it is where Dian Fossey spent eighteen years and is buried.

The gorilla families

Twelve families are open to tourism, each visited by a maximum of eight people a day. Sabyinyo, led for years by one of the largest silverbacks in the region, and Agashya are usually the shortest walks. Susa — Fossey's study group — and Karisimbi, sometimes called the Susa-B group, live highest on the mountain and can involve six or seven hours of climbing. Amahoro, Kwitonda, Umubano and Hirwa fall somewhere in between.

You do not choose your family. Everyone gathers at the Kinigi headquarters at 07:00 for coffee and a briefing with dancers, and rangers allocate groups after speaking to visitors. Say clearly what you can manage. They will listen.

What the trek is like

Vehicles leave Kinigi for the trailhead, then you walk across farmland to the park wall — a low stone buffalo wall that marks the boundary — and into bamboo. Above that comes hagenia woodland draped in moss. Altitude runs from 2,500 m to well over 3,000 m, so the climbs feel harder than the equivalent in Bwindi, but the ground is more open and the vegetation less tangled. Volcanic mud is the defining feature. Gaiters are not optional.

Other things to do

• Dian Fossey tomb hike — three hours return to the Karisoke site where she is buried beside Digit. US$75.
• Mount Bisoke crater lake — a steep six-hour climb to a crater lake at 3,711 m. US$75.
• Golden monkey tracking — US$100 for an hour with a bamboo-dwelling troop.
• The Ellen DeGeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund in Kinigi — an excellent modern museum and research centre, and the best hour you can spend indoors here.
• Musanze caves and the twin lakes of Burera and Ruhondo, for a spare afternoon.

Where to stay

The lodges around Kinigi and Musanze are the best in East Africa and priced to match. At the top, Bisate Lodge, Singita Kwitonda, One&Only Gorilla's Nest and Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge, which is community-owned and funds the surrounding villages. Mid-range options include Five Volcanoes Boutique Hotel, Le Bambou Gorilla Lodge and Da Vinci Gorilla Lodge. Budget travellers stay in Musanze town, 25 minutes from Kinigi. See our lodge guide.

Getting there

Two to two and a half hours from Kigali International Airport on tarmac, via Musanze. There is no reason to fly internally. From Uganda, the Cyanika border is 45 minutes from Kisoro and about an hour and a half from Musanze, which makes a two-country itinerary straightforward.

Next

Keep planning

• Rwanda gorilla safaris — the wider country
• 3-day Rwanda gorilla safari — the classic short trip
• Uganda vs Rwanda — permit price versus access
• How hard is the trek? — altitude and terrain