A Life-Changing Experience: Rwanda Gorillas
Rwanda, also known as the land of a thousand hills, is known for its breathtaking scenery and is blessed with incredible wildlife living through its montane rainforest and volcanoes. It is home to the largest living primate, the gorilla. This incredible country receives visitors from all over the world who come to see these beautiful creatures.
Gorillas are spread across Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Uganda and are subdivided into two species mainly, mountain and lowland gorillas. Seeing these magnificent creatures in their natural habitat is an incredible lifetime experience. After a face-to-face encounter with these primates, many visitors describe the adventure as a life-changing travel experience.
Volcanoes National park is the best place to visit during your luxury vacation to have an encounter with mountain gorillas. It is located in Musanze province and is approximately 2 hours drive from Kigali, Rwanda's capital city.
The journey up the mountain is quite an adventure. Before hiking, you are divided into tour groups and allocated a gorilla family. Volcanoes National Park has well-trained and experienced rangers who guide the trek, making navigating through the rainforest and locating the gorillas easy. The park rangers and guides will often clear the walking trails engulfed with undergrowth, making it impossible to walk.
The trek up the mountain takes about 2-4 hours and can be pretty overwhelming for a physically unfit person. Besides that, the walking trails are muddy and slippery during the dry and rainy seasons. In addition, you can opt to hire a local porter to assist in carrying your bag; the cost range is 10$-20$. Hiring a porter allows you to navigate the rugged terrain easily.
Eventually, after the long walk, you will have the opportunity to see the gorilla families. You are allowed to watch the gorilla for an hour from a distance (5m away), but there is no one-on-one interaction with the gorillas as they can unexpectedly go wild. Watching the gorillas go about their activities such as feeding, fighting, and playing is spectacular. Visitors are advised to avoid being noisy when watching the gorillas as it may disrupt their activities. The one-hour duration spent watching the mountain gorilla family passes by so fast that some visitors opt to take two treks.
Bottom line
Taking a luxury vacation to experience mountain gorilla trekking is exceptional in every way and an adventure you will leave to cherish.
