Mountain gorilla trekking in Rwanda ranks as one of the most rewarding wildlife encounters in the world. The volcanic range which spans Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo is home to the endangered mountain gorillas. Trekking to see gorillas in Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park is safe and relatively accessible.
Mountain gorillas have a small range that extends over Uganda. Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, but there are differences in the experience between the countries. Volcanoes National Park is in the Virunga Mountains. Gorillas in this park live in a bamboo habitat and the setting tends to be less thick than the tangled rainforest of Bwindi.
Rwanda Gorilla Permit costs US$1,500 per person. Foreign Resident costs $500, Rwanda Citizen costs $200, and East African Citizen costs $200 and African Citizen /Foreign resident costs $200. Gorilla trekking is one of Africa’s top bucket list wildlife encounters and it comes at a hefty price. This is the fee paid to the National Park and proceeds are used to protect and develop Rwanda’s wildlife and protected areas.
The price for an overnight return trip from Kigali including a gorilla trek, accommodations and transport, starts at about US$ 2000 per person. A 3-day trip would be more recommend, since it means, you don’t need to travel straight back to Kigali after your gorilla trek. With an extra day, you can either do a second gorilla trek, a golden monkey trek, or one of the other activities on offer in the park.
The mid-range of 3-day gorilla tours cost approximately around US$3,700 per person. To see more of the country, you can as book a 7-day Rwanda tour which may cost approximately US$6,500 – 8,500 per person.
Aside from gorilla trekking, Volcanoes National Park offers other activities like tracking the habituated troop of endemic golden monkeys at a cost of US$100 per person, foreign resident $65, and Rwanda citizen RWF4000 per person.
Aside from gorilla trekking, Volcanoes NP offers other activities unavailable in Bwindi. These include tracking a habituated troop of endemic golden monkeys, climbing the volcanic peaks of the Virunga’s, and caving. Especially moving is the hike to the abandoned research station where primatologist Dian Fossey and several of the gorillas she studied are buried.
