Gorilla Trekking in Rwanda

The velvet-green slopes of the Virunga Volcanoes are a lofty and lush paradise. In the rainforests here–buzzing with the sounds of jungle life–the soft mists prevail as they did when Dian Fossey wrote her legendary book Gorillas in the Mist. And the creature that drew Dr. Fossey is the same one which beckons to us: the rare and regal Mountain Gorilla. This post-safari extension to Rwanda is based from luxury lodgings and gets us up-close-and-personal with these gentle giants twice.

Itinerary

DAYS 1 & 2  Kigali and Parc Nacional des Volcans, Rwanda

Talk to someone who’s paid a visit to the mountain gorillas of Rwanda’s highlands and you are likely to hear near-rhapsodic praise for a rare, beautiful, and often very moving experience. Our carefully orchestrated visits begin in Kigali, revitalized Rwanda’s charming capital, which we’ll tour before heading northwest to the Virunga Volcanoes, a stately chain of jungle volcanoes that top out at Mount Karisimbi’s 14,787 feet, higher than any Rocky or Sierra Nevada. We’ll settle into our exquisite lodge accommodations, the base for our wanderings in these almost supernaturally verdant precincts.

The next day, led by our guide and his crew, we begin making our way through a forest of trailing vines, trilling bird calls, giant lobelia, and mossy hagenia trees—a Jurassic, emerald world—walking toward an encounter with one of the park’s ten habituated (meaning they aren’t frightened by us) families of mountain gorillas; no more than eight people are allowed to visit any given family for more than an hour each day. Seeing a 450-pound male saunter by only a few yards away is something you’ll want to tell your grandchildren’s children about.

(For a first-hand look at gorilla trekking from the traveller’s perspective, see this dispatch by Joy Phelan-Pinto.)

DAY 3  Parc Nacional des Volcans

We’ll pay our respects to a different gorilla family today, noting the subtle cultural differences between clans, getting more insight into why the great animal rights activist Pat Derby said, “They are brave and loyal. They help each other. They play and have humor and they harm nothing. They are what we should be.”

DAY 4  Depart Kigali

We’ll make the drive to Kigali for our homeward flights. (One final note: travellers who’d like to visit more of our primate relatives should ask us about easy-to-arrange side trips that put us in contact with chimpanzees and colobus monkeys.)