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A host to Rwanda’s highest number of mountain gorillas, the tour to the Volcanoes National Park is a life changing adventure. Travelers get to experience close encounters to the species in their natural habitat. Volcanoes National Park is the most accessible gorilla park in the world. It’s a two-hour journey from the Kigali International Airport, located in Ruhengeri.
Protection of the Gorillas
Volcanoes National Park is the more popular of the national parks that host mountain gorillas, followed by Bwindi Forest National Park located in Uganda. In the 80’s, mountain gorillas were at the verge of extinction. As a result, gorilla trekking has highly been sensitized, and controlled to avoid impacting the gorilla habitation, negatively.
Regulation within The Gorilla Parks
In the countries where the mountain gorillas are found i.e. Congo, Rwanda and Uganda, the respective governments decided to make park admission fee permits that are more expensive than any other fees remitted to any other national parks. As a result, this has gone along way in limiting the number of people taking up gorilla trekking to try minimize stress on the apes (stress can alter the gorilla behavior or even result to their death).
A maximum of 8 permits are sold per day per group to minimize overwhelming the gorillas. Strict guidelines are also set that are to be thoroughly adhered to. Information provided before commencing the trek within the park.
Other wildlife
Volcanoes national park is additionally home to golden monkeys (Cercopithecus mitis kandti), Spotted Hyena (Crocuta crocuta),buffaloes (Syncerus caffer), elephants , black-fronted duiker (Cephalophusniger), and bushbuck (Tragelaphus scriptus). The park also harbors 178 bird species including at least 29 endemics to Rwenzori mountains and the Virunga's.
