3 Days Gorillas and Golden Monkeys

DAY ONE – KIGALI TO VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK

You’ll be picked up from your hotel or the airport and begin the journey to Musanze, Rwanda’s second largest city.

Set against the backdrop of the five Virunga volcanoes, Musanze will be your base from which to explore Volcanoes National Park.

DAY TWO – GORILLA TREKKING

After an early breakfast at your hotel, you’ll proceed directly to the Volcanoes National Park’s headquarters to meet your guides. After completing the briefing, you’ll embark on the once in a lifetime experience of tracking the mountain gorillas.

There is no guarantee how long or difficult your tracking experience will be as it depends on where the family of gorillas is and on weather conditions, It can take anywhere from two up to six hours of trekking through the mountain forest at relatively high altitudes. Fitness is definitely recommended for those wishing to undertake the excursion.

One of the most memorable experiences you’re likely to ever have, you’ll be allowed an hour of close contact with the gorillas once you’ve found them. You’ll be privileged enough to come within mere metres of a family of these rare and beautiful animals, observing their family dynamics and getting to learn a bit about each gorilla’s distinct personality in serene silence.

Once your time with the gorillas is done, you’ll return to your hotel for lunch.

If time allows, you may wish to pay a visit to the nearby Twin Lakes or to the Iby Iwacu Cultural Village during the afternoon. You may, of course, simply wish to relax at your lodge.

DAY THREE: GOLDEN MONKEY TREKKING

We’ll spend the day tracking another of the Volcanoes National Park’s primate inhabitants, the beautiful golden monkeys which can only be found in the Volcanoes Conservation Area.

You’ll trek through sun-dappled glades and dense stands of bamboo in search of these playful monkeys, who are well accustomed to visitors. This means you’ll be able to view the golden monkeys playing, feeding, and leaping from tree to tree as if you weren’t there. While your time with the monkeys is limited to an hour, this is ample time to see the inquisitive creatures in their natural habitat.

After a hot lunch at your lodge, you’ll then return to Kigali for your onward travel.