How much time do you need at Volcanoes National park?
How much time do you need at Volcanoes National park? Volcanoes national park is a popular destination in Rwanda with the star attraction in Rwanda’s tourism industry. To most visitors traveling to Rwanda without visiting the volcanoes national for gorilla trekking experience would be regarded as an incomplete experience.
Volcanoes’ national park in Rwanda is part of the Virunga Massif that extends to Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Virunga Massif is the home to half of the gorillas with volcanoes national park sharing more gorilla in this block. This presents Virunga as one of the destinations where you can come and trek the gorillas. Volcanoes national park is the oldest national park and it has an attachment with conservation efforts geared by the late Diane Fossey who is based here to research Mountain gorillas that started in the late 1960s.
Volcanoes National park is situated in the northern part of Rwanda in a town called Musanze which used to be known as Ruhengeri. This town is a hub for gorilla tourism as every tourist/visitor going for a gorilla trekking safari must pass through this town. Travelers will need to move for about 2 hours from Kigali capital city to reach Musanze. Just Kiningi village is a nearby village where the park headquarters are located and the point where all visitors meet for briefing before they proceed for safari activities within the park.
How much time you need at Volcanoes National park will depend on the activities you wish or intend to participate in Volcanoes National Park and therefore some visitors may need to stay at Volcanoes for hours, others for days, or even a week depending on your budget and interest.
Visitors can participate in gorilla trekking Safaris in Volcanoes National park. At the moment no wildlife safari is amazing than encountering endangered mountain gorillas in their natural habitat. Visitors can see gorillas, copulating, playing, feeding, nesting, and dozing just the humans do. Rwanda’s volcanoes present the best opportunity for you to experience this thrilling activity.
12 habituated gorilla families in Volcanoes National Park are open for tourism and are widespread in different parts park. The activity starts very early in the morning at 8 with breeding and then a group of 8 visitors starts the trek under the control of a guide and a tracker. The activity of gorilla trekking lasts for about 2 to hours in volcanoes National park. Once a gorilla family is spotted, visitors are allowed for 1 hour to watch them as they maintain a 7-meter distance. The gorilla trekking permit which is a must document for you to see gorillas cost 1500 United States dollars. The hours spent on this activity vary depending on the distance traveled by a gorilla family and the level of fitness of the visitor.
Visitors can decide to take other safari activities other than mountain gorilla trekking in Volcanoes National Park. Visitors can decide to take various hiking trails which lasts for different hours. Visitors can take the Diane Fossey trail to see her grave and the Karisoke Research Center she introduced. Visitors will spend several hours here walking on lighter steep areas and you decide to hike for the whole day by following the mount Bisoke trail.
Other primates of interest available at the Volcanoes National Park include the tracking of golden monkeys, which you need only one hour to spend with them upon seeing them. These primates move swiftly and you can as well spend like 5 to 8 hours on this activity. Visitors can also spend 2 to 3 hours on cultural encounters as they mingle with local traditions and see how people do benefit from tourism conservation efforts. You can explore traditional cultural performances at Intore and Iby’Iwacu Cultural Village which are all located near the park headquarters.
In conclusion, therefore how much time you spend at volcanoes national park will depend on the interests in terms of safari activities to be engaged in as well as your interests. You can decide to spend a minimum of one day and even travelers can as well spend the whole week to volcanoes National park in Rwanda. Come and book with Africa Adventure Vacations for more information about safaris to Volcanoes National park.
