2 Days Two-Day Rwanda Gorilla Trek
2 days · Gorilla trek in Volcanoes National Park
About this safari
You have two days and one goal: sit with a mountain gorilla family. This trip is built for exactly that.
It suits travellers with a long layover, delegates with a free weekend, and anyone who cannot stay longer but still wants to trek. You see Kigali and drive to Volcanoes National Park on day one, trek the next morning, then return to the city or the airport.
Most gorilla trips take four days or more. If you can add time before or after, such as Nyungwe Forest or Lake Kivu, tell us when you enquire and we will fit it in.
Day by day
Day 1: Kigali city tour, then Volcanoes National Park
Your driver guide collects you in Kigali, from your hotel or the airport. The morning and early afternoon go to a city tour. Stops include the Kigali Genocide Memorial Site and Museum, the Nyamata Genocide Church and local markets.
This is a heavy part of the day. The memorial helps you understand what Rwanda has rebuilt since 1994.
After lunch we drive northwest to Volcanoes National Park. The road winds through the hills that earned Rwanda the name Land of a Thousand Hills. You reach your lodge in the afternoon, have dinner and turn in early.
Day 2: Gorilla trekking, then back to Kigali
After breakfast we transfer to the park headquarters at Kinigi for a 7:00am briefing. Rangers match you to a gorilla family based on where each group was seen the evening before. The park has 12 habituated families, among them Bwenge, Hirwa, Sabyinyo, Susa, Amahoro and Kwitonda. Only 96 permits are issued daily for the whole park, so we advise booking well ahead.
The walk can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 5 hours, at 2,500 to 4,000 metres. Some days the family is near the park edge. On others it has moved deep into the forest overnight.
Carry water and a packed lunch. A porter is worth hiring for the steep sections, and the fee goes to the local community.
If altitude or terrain concerns you, you can ride in a sedan chair, locally called a human helicopter, carried by local guides.
Once you reach the family, you spend one hour with them. Then it is lunch at the lodge and the drive back to Kigali, where we drop you at your hotel or the airport.
Where you stay
These are the lodges we usually use on this route. If one is full, we book a similar place of the same standard.
- Volcanoes National Park: Le Bambou Gorilla Lodge or Davinci Lodge (budget); Mountain Gorilla View Lodge, Five Volcanoes Lodge or Ingagi Park View Lodge (midrange); Bisate Lodge, One & Only Gorilla Nest, Bishop's House, Virunga Lodge or Sabinyo Lodge (luxury). Full board.
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Ready to plan your safari?
Tell us your dates, group and what you want to see
You’ll get a route and a price back, not a template. Planned by the team in Kampala before you land in Entebbe.