Set high on the jagged slopes of the magnificent Virunga Mountains, Volcanoes National Park is an extraordinary rainforest sanctuary that protects the critically endangered mountain gorilla. This park is the beating heart of Rwanda’s conservation success story.
Every gorilla trek is a deeply emotional journey. Slipping through the dense, mist-shrouded bamboo forests to sit quietly with a silverback and his family is one of the most profound wildlife encounters on earth. The "high-value, low-impact" tourism model ensures the protection of the primates and funds community development.
Beyond the gorillas, the park offers tracking for the endemic and playful golden monkeys, hikes up the dormant volcanoes (like Mount Bisoke), and the pilgrimage to the Karisoke Research Center where Dian Fossey pioneered gorilla conservation.
June to September and December to February (dry seasons) are best for tracking.
Rwanda
national park
Gorilla trekking permit: $1,500 per person per trek. Other activities vary.
Habituated mountain gorilla groups offering visitors a magical, strictly controlled one-hour audience.
A dramatic chain of five dormant volcanoes draped in lush afro-alpine moorland and dense bamboo.
Rare, highly active, and brilliantly colored primates endemic to the high-altitude bamboo forests of the Virungas.
