Amazing things to do in Volcanoes National Park Rwanda : Volcanoes national park is one national park that you shouldn’t miss when in Rwanda safaris. Volcanoes national park offers marvelous and unforgettable things and only when you visit the park is when you will experiences and meet with this amazing activities that offer unforgettable adventure experience. Volcanoes national park is fame of its Mountain Gorillas. The park was gazetted as a national park in 1925 purposely to protect and conserve the endogenous Mountain Gorillas of Rwanda. Volcanoes National Park is located in the northwestern part of the country in Musanze earlier known as Ruhengeri. volcanoes national park covers an area of approximately 160 square kilometers of rainforest comprising of five of the eight volcanoes in the Virunga Mountains such as Sabyinyo, Gahinga, Muhabura, Bisoke and Karisimbi .volcanoes national park covers Rwanda’s share with the Virunga conservation area and is bordered by Virunga national park in Democratic Republic of Congo and Mgahinga gorilla national in the pearl of Africa. The park is home to half word’s remaining endangered mountain gorilla trekked by tourists in 10 habituated mountain gorilla yearly with a huge population of the mountain gorillas in Uwinka gorilla group with about 60 individuals. The park also boast beautiful vegetation types which act as food for a variety of wildlife including birds species, animal species for example buffaloes, bush backs, elephants, giant forest hogs, golden Monkeys, hyenas, black-fronted duiker among other.
Volcanoes national park offers visitors a number of amazing things and activities including gorilla trekking, golden monkey tracking, birding, Dian Fossey grave, cave exploration, guided nature walks, picnics, volcano hiking among others. Here are some of the things to do while exploring volcanoes national park.
Golden monkey tracking
Golden monkey tracking in volcanoes national park is one of the main activity conducted in the park by many tourists. Volcanoes national park is the only national park in Rwanda that offers golden monkey trekking tours, trekking this wonderful golden monkeys involves hiking along the Virunga mountains of volcanoes national park in order to access this wonderful and rare habituated golden monkeys. During these adventurous hike to Virunga mountains, you will get a great opportunity to spot some of the astonishing attractions that constitutes to the park beauty such as bird species like common moorhen Ruwenzori night jar, long-crested eagle handsome francolin, dusky crimson wing, red-faced woodland warbler’s ground robin, African Rwenzori grey throated tit , marsh harrier, Rwenzori Batis, Dusky turtle love, paradise flycatcher, animal species, vegetation and also amazingly lake kivu and the Rwandan twins lakes.
Volcanoes hiking
Volcanoes national park is a home for five of the eight extinct volcanoes. Virunga Mountains is one of the fame attractions in Rwanda and the main activity in the volcanoes national park. Travelers during the Rwanda safari to volcanoes national park have an added adventure experience of hiking to the summit of any of the Virunga volcanoes which rewards then with therefore have an added advantage of hiking to the top of any Volcano which reward them with remarkable views of Rwanda’s rolling hills, Kigali city, a number of attractions like the mountain gorillas, golden monkeys swing in the baboon trees, birds species ,Virunga volcanoes, the Rwandan twins lakes, lake kivu and local communities around the park among others .Mt Karisimbi is one of the most hiked Volcano in the Virunga region and the experience is worthy the hike.
Gorilla trekking
Gorilla trekking is ranked to be the most commonly done activity within the park, which also attracts many tourists to visit the park. Volcanoes national park is a home to over 340 mountain gorillas that are always available to be trekked. Gorilla trekking always takes about 2-5 hours depending on where the mountain gorilla species are located however, tourists are always encouraged to arrive an hour before the trekking at Rwanda development board offices where they always first go through the registration process and later they are given short briefings about the rules and regulations that they should follow during the trekking such as; they are advised to avoid eating and drinking while in the presence of the gorillas, avoid maintaining a direct eye contact with the species, keep a distance of about 7 meters while in the presence of the species among others. After that, they are then put in different groups with a maximum number of eight people depending on which guerilla groups they are willing to trek and each of these groups is being accompanied with a park guide whose role is to guide and ensure the safety of both the tourists and the animals. After the gorilla species are located within their natural habitats, tourists are always given about 1 hour to interact with the species and it is during this period that tourists get to learn about the behaviors and characters about the mountain gorilla species such as; they observe how they eat and feed their young ones.
Dian Fossey Grave Hike
Dian Fossey tomb hike offers unforgettable hiking experience and a lifetime opportunity to explore Dian Fossey gorilla conservation legacy. Dian Fossey is remembered for many things and as a researcher, she spent over 18 years studying about gorillas in the Virunga region. Karisoke Research Centre was set up to aid her research work and to continue with her conservation work, Dian Fossey Fund was founded. A hike to her grave will provide you with deep information of her aims to conserve and protect the mountain gorillas. While on hike, you will also be able to see some mammals such as Buffalos, Elephants, different bird species, plants, and if you are lucky to meet a family of gorillas. You will also be able to see the grave of Dian Fossey Most loved Gorilla grave called Digit next to Fossey’s Grave.
Twin lakes Burera and Ruhondo
After carrying out one of the major activities like gorilla trekking, one way to relax is to visit the twin Lakes of Ruhondo and Burera. A boat cruise through the deep waters of these two lakes will reward you with beautiful sights of birds and the vast hilly landscape with waterfalls. Visiting the lake islands gives you time to mingle with the locals to learn about their rich heritage and culture that defines them and makes them different from the other tribes in Rwanda.
A visit to the twin lake of Burera and Ruhondo will reward you with the astonishing views of the volcanoes. Panoramic views of the hilly terraced agriculture fields. You will also see local fishermen rackets their canoes as they are fishing. The perfect view of the twin lakes is at Volcanoes lodge.
Bird watching
Volcanoes National park is a birding destination with about 200 bird species recorded and astonishingly twenty nine bird species are endemic to the Albertine rift. sharp birders can enjoy the sight birds species like Grauer’s rush warbler, Rwenzori Turaco, Rwenzori batis, Archer’s ground robin, Red- faced woodland warbler, Rwenzori double- collared sunbird, the dusky crimson- wing, collared batis, Dusky turtle love, strange weaver, the African marsh harrier, common moorhen, long-crested eagle, gray throated tit, and handsome Francolin among others.
In conclusion, therefore, Volcanoes national park has a variety of activities to do and is Rwanda’s top tourist destination, contact Achieve Global safari for all your inquiries about Activities and attractions in Volcanoes National Park Rwanda.
