Rwanda gorilla trekking permits
Rwanda gorilla trekking permits are cards that travelers present at the briefing point to be allowed in the trekking activities in volcanoes national park Rwanda. Mountain gorilla trekking in volcanoes national park Rwanda is an activity that involves hiking different Virunga volcanoes in search of mountain gorillas in their natural habitats.
The mountain gorillas left in the world are about 1070 and these do live in three countries, Bwindi impenetrable forest national park a home to more than a half of the mountain gorilla population, and Mgahinga national park of Uganda, volcanoes national park of Rwanda, and Virunga national park of DR Congo.
Trekking mountain gorillas in Rwanda is done among the 10 fully habituated mountain gorilla families of volcanoes national park where we also find the grave of the great American primatologist Dian Fossey. To trek mountain gorillas of Virunga national park, you will need to have a valid gorilla trekking permit which can be acquired from the Rwanda Development Board.
Gorilla trekking permits are the most required documents when it comes to trekking mountain gorillas in volcanoes national park. it’s the gorilla trekking permit that you need to present to the park rangers at the time of briefing on the day of trekking. When you buy a gorilla trekking permit, you need to confirm whether your gorilla permits are available on the dates you want to trek before confirming a gorilla safari.
We normally advise clients to book their gorilla trekking permits in advance of 3-4 months because the trekking permits tend to sell out quickly due to the large numbers of people that want to trek mountain gorillas every day. There are 10 fully habituated mountain gorilla families open for trekking in volcanoes national park and only 8 people are allowed to trek a single gorilla family.
Mountain gorilla trekking in volcanoes of Rwanda involves tourists waking up early in the morning and heading to the Kinigi park headquarters where they present gorilla permits and get a briefing from the park rangers. later the armed ranger guides lead each group not exceeding 8 through different trekking trails on the slopes of Virunga national park as they search for mountain gorillas.
While searching the trekkers are likely to see different park animals like the bush pigs, duikers, giant forest hogs, elephants, several monkeys species, and birds such as red-backed shrike, Rwenzori turaco, Rwenzori batis, and strange weaver among others. Once the trekkers and ranger guides set eyes on mountain gorillas, they are given 1 hour to observe these primates and this will give them an opportunity to know about their habits, watch them do daily activities, and take photos.
Checking for the availability of Rwanda gorilla permits.
Tourists that are intending to visit Rwanda for mountain gorilla trekking and want the permits can check for the availability of these permits themselves by sending an email to the Rwanda Development Board a government body that regulates the national parks of Rwanda. They will reply to you to let you know whether the permits are there or not but once they are available, you will be asked to send booking fees.
The other alternative of checking the availability of permits is using a local tour operator and by this, you will just send them an email containing the dates that you want to travel and they will quickly check the availability of permits with the Rwanda Development Board and thereafter get back to you. if you find the permits available, it’s better you book with a local tour operator because they can even organize the whole safari for you including transport and accommodation.
Booking a gorilla trekking permit for Rwanda
Tourists from different parts of the world can now book their gorilla trekking permits with Africa Adventure Vacations. You will have to send an email containing the days you want to travel and using these dates, we shall check whether the permits are available and once they are we shall then send you an email containing different ways of how you can send money. You will later send us proof of payments and when we receive the permits, we shall go ahead and book permits for you and we shall send you scanned copies for your confirmation.
Gorilla Permit price for Rwanda
Rwanda gorilla trekking permits do cost $1500 per person per trek and this was increased from $750 in 2017. The permit price is for all categories of people who want to trek mountain gorillas and these are the foreign non-residents, foreign residents, and East African citizens. In Uganda and DR Congo, the permits are a bit cheaper with Uganda permits going for $700 foreign non-residents, $600 foreign residents, and shs250,000 East African citizens. The DR Congo permits are also cheaper than those of Rwanda with permits going for $450 in the dry season and $200 in the low season.
Why book Rwanda gorilla permits in advance?
All tourists intending to visit Rwanda most especially for mountain gorilla trekking in volcanoes national park are advised to book their trekking permits in advance of 3-4 months. This is so because the permits of volcanoes are few compared to the number of tourists that want to trek most especially in the dry season (June to September and December to February) therefore securing your permits in advance enables you to be rest assured of the trekking.
Number of gorilla trekking permits in volcanoes national park Rwanda
Volcanoes national park Rwanda has 10 fully habituated mountain gorilla families and since only 8 people are allowed to trek a single-family per day it implies that 80 gorilla trekking permits are issued out by the Rwanda Development Board on a daily basis. These gorilla trekking permits are presented by trekkers on the day of trekking and after they are collected and taken back to Kigali city at the offices of the Rwanda Development Board for recycling.
