Witnessing gorillas in their natural environment is a once-in-a-lifetime experience that some people claim can change their entire lives. Carefully orchestrated gorilla encounters take place as the gentle creatures go about their everyday lives. Skilled trackers and guides accompany small groups of tourists up bamboo-covered slopes to spend a priceless and breathtaking hour just a few feet away from the primates.
Gorillas, the biggest living primate, are found across most of the equatorial African rainforest. The gorilla species is often divided into two groups: lowland gorillas and mountain gorillas. The critically endangered mountain gorilla is found in the volcanic range that crosses Rwanda, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In Rwanda, gorilla tracking is both safe and reasonably accessible.
A National Park of Volcanoes is Ensuring the safety of Rwanda’s segment of the Virunga Mountains, Volcanoes National Park served as the backdrop for the film Gorillas in the Mist and was the epicentre of Dian Fossey’s well-known gorilla habituation and anti-poaching initiative. It is the only location in Rwanda where one may undertake gorilla trekking, and it is also the mountain gorillas’ natural habitat.
Twelve gorilla families in Volcanoes National Park are fully habituated, while a few more are habituated solely for scientific reasons. At least one silverback and multiple women and children make up the armies, or groups.
Since each soldier only receives eight tracking licences every day, the interaction is as private and inconspicuous as possible. It is strongly advised to make reservations in advance, either online or through a reliable tour operator, as there are only 96 permits available every day in Rwanda. Arriving at the Volcanoes National Park headquarters in Kinigi at 7 a.m, visitors are assigned to a family group based on their level of fitness and given instructions on proper gorilla visitation procedures.
The gorilla families include; Agashya, Sabyinyo, Sabyinyo, Sabyinyo, Sabyinyo, Hirwa, Bwenge, Ugyenda, and Muhoza.
The duration of hikes to their several locations, which reach altitudes of 2,500–4,000 metres, can range from 30 minutes to four hours or longer. In addition to carrying cameras and backpacks, porters are ready to provide assistance as needed along the trail.
The world is most familiar with Volcanoes National Park from the nearly two decades that American primatologist Dian Fossey conducted her groundbreaking research on the behaviour of mountain gorillas there. Fossey’s unwavering determination played a major role in curbing poaching while there were still gorillas to conserve. Fossey would ultimately pay the price for her commitment to saving her gorillas; the death of one of the numerous poachers she battled in her attempts to save the gorillas at the Karisoke Research Centre in December 1985 is largely believed to have been the result of her actions.
Gorilla in the Mist, a film that was shot on site at Volcanoes Park, was released three years after Fossey passed away, bringing her life’s work to a wider audience. A decade ago, the park’s gorilla tourist programme had seen little interest until Gorilla in the Mist brought attention to the mountain gorilla’s predicament on a global scale. In 1990, Rwanda’s primary source of tourism income was likely gorilla tourism, with Volcanoes Park being the most well-run and well-liked gorilla refuge in Africa.
Volcanoes National Park is an amazing place with a wide variety of ecosystems. One of the most striking and unforgettable landscapes in Africa is this range of steep free-standing mountains, which range in elevation from 2,400 metres to 4,507 metres. Fertile saddles created by hardened lava flows connect these ranges. Karisimbi (4507m), on the DRC border, and Mgahinga and Muhavura, on the Ugandan border, are the tallest points in the chain and the westernmost portion of the national park.
Since mountain gorillas live in Volcanoes National Park, tracking them is the most well-liked activity there. After following gorillas, the most significant activities are visiting the golden monkey family that they have become accustomed to, hiking to Dian Fossey’s former camp and grave on the forested slopes of Karisoke, and spending the night hiking to the top of Karisimbi.