3 Days Congo Gorilla Safari from Kigali City Rwanda Ultimate (Virunga National Park) Tour 2021/22
3 Days Congo Gorilla Safari from Kigali City Rwanda Ultimate (Virunga National Park) Tour 2021/22. Virunga National Park is Africa’s oldest national park. The park is special because of its remarkable biodiversity and landscape.
All this is because of its location in the middle of the Albertine Rift. It consists of savannah grassland, plains, afro-montane forest, and marshlands.
Virunga national park has two of the most active volcanoes in the African continent including Nyamuragira and Nyiragongo.
These two volcanoes account for 30 percent of the most recent eruptions in Africa.
They also give the park a unique afro-alpine kind of vegetation. Virunga also is home to 218 species of mammals including Thomas cobs, elephants, lions, buffalos, and the rare Okapi.
Virunga national park is home to the largest population of hippos in the world. Over 19,000 can be found in the numerous rivers within and outside the park. Amazing right?
However, the key attractions in the park are the mountain gorillas and the climbing mount Nyiragongo. 20 percent of the remaining population of mountain gorillas are found here.
Uganda and Rwanda may have mountain gorillas but Virunga national park has the only mountain gorilla orphanage in the world.
After trekking the gorillas, tourists have an opportunity to visit this interesting Centre for free. The Congolese Institute for nature conservation (ICCN) is responsible for the overall management of the park
The 3 days Congo gorilla tour, therefore, starts from Rwanda before crossing to Goma town in Congo via Gisenyi. The gorilla in Congo package includes visiting Lake Kivu and touring Kigali town.
Highlights of this 3 Days Congo Gorilla Safari
- Gorilla trekking in Virunga national park
- Visiting lake Kivu
- Touring the city of Kigali
This you Need before heading for Gorilla Trekking
- Good hiking boots with good traction but comfortable
- Thick cotton gloves to protect your hands from scratches
- A light raincoat in case the weather is not good
- Packed snack and water for drinking
- Porters to help with a heavy backpack
Detailed 3 Days Congo Gorilla Safari from Kigali City Rwanda
Day 1: Arrival, Tour of Kigali City, and Transfer to Virunga National Park
On arrival, our guide will pick you from the airport if you’re just arriving or will pick in your hotel in Kigali, after briefing you about the tour, he will take you for a tour around the city of Kigali.
You will visit the former presidential palace, the genocide memorial site, the main city market, and artisan shops.
This is a great opportunity to buy souvenirs or gifts for friends and family back home. After that morning city tour, the driver will hit the road for the journey to the Congo border.
On reaching the congo border, you will have lunch, clear with migration offices, and be handed over to the Virunga National Park Authorities for transfer to your lodge in the park. You will later then have dinner and overnight
Recommended Accommodation:
- Mikeno Lodge
- Kibumba tented camp
- Bukima tented camp
- Meal plan: Lunch and dinner
Day 2 of the 3 Days Congo Gorilla Safari from Kigali City Rwanda: Gorilla Trekking in Virunga Congo, Evening Relaxation or Visit the Senkwekwe Centre
This is the biggest day of this Safari. You will wake very early to plan yourself and take breakfast and pack your lunch.
This is all done as you wait for the park authorities to pick you up from your lodge.
The benefits of staying in the park or close the park offices are that you will start the briefing for the gorilla trek on time.
There are 8 habituated gorilla groups in congo. You will be allocated a gorilla group based on your level of fitness among other factors.
Listen to instructions from the guides and the rangers while with the gorilla’s family. Stay calm and don’t make unnecessary noise and movements that might provoke the gorillas.
Take as many pictures as you can with them but make sure your camera flash is off. After your one hour with the gorillas, return back to the starting point where you will meet your guide to drive you back to the lodge for rest.
In the evening you may opt to take a walk or relax in your lodge or visit the gorilla orphanage at the Senkwekwe Centre if you’re staying in Mikeno Lodge. Later you will return to your lodge for dinner and overnight
Recommended Accommodation:
- Mikeno Lodge
- Kibumba tented camp
- Bukima tented camp
- Meal plan: Lunch and dinner
Day 3 of the 3 Days Congo Gorilla Safari from Kigali City Rwanda: Transfer Back to Kigali for Departure
Wake up at your own leisure, take breakfast and check out from the lodge. Start your journey back to Kigali.
The park authorities will drive you up to the border crossing point where you will cross back into Rwanda.
There you will find our guide-driver (Mega wild safaris) waiting to drive you back to Kigali
- Meal plan: Breakfast and lunch
Background Information of the 3 Days Congo Gorilla Safari from Kigali City Rwanda
Virunga National Park
Formerly Albert National Park, is in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (Kinshasa). Created in 1925, it has an area of some 3,050 square miles (7,900 square km) and contains a vast diversity of habitats.
The park’s southern tip rests on the northern shore of Lake Kivu, a short distance from the town of Goma to the east.
The Virunga mountains lie between lakes Kivu and Edward and extends into Rwanda and Uganda.
The great volcanoes of this range, clothed in cloud forests, include the dormant Mikeno, Karisimbi, Visoke, and Sabinio (sabinyo), as well as the active Nyiragongo and Nyamulagira. Farther north is Rutsushuru falls and Mai Ya Moto Sulfur springs.
Much of the park’s central region is occupied by Lake Edward. To the northeast the Ruwenzori Range soars to more than 16,000 feet (4,880M)
Elevations, climate, and habitats vary notably in Virunga National Park. Both the highest and lowest recorded rainfall in the republic occur within the park’s boundaries:
While annual rainfall at lake Edward is some 20 inches (500 mm), the west slope of mount Rwenzori, less than 47 miles (75 km) away, receives more than 118 inches (3,000 mm).
some of the Rwenzori Mountains are permanently snow-capped, and glaciers exists at high elevations.
The park also encompasses savannas, peat bogs, marshes, lava plains, eastern steppe vegetation, and various types of forests, including tropical rainforest and bamboo
The park is home to abundant wildlife including elephants, whose numbers began decreasing in the late 20th century, and lions, which also face various threats.
Hippopotamuses, rare mountain Gorillas, Okapis, antelopes, warthogs, and pelicans all lives in Virunga as well
The human population there, which was negligible when the park was established, increased considerably during the late 20th century.
UNESCO designated the park a World Heritage Site in 1979, and was placed on the list of world heritage in danger in 1994, because of the growth of permanent settlements within the park and the influx of a great number of refugees’ war in neighboring Rwanda.
The increased human population contributed to deforestation and poaching and some natural animal migration patterns have been seriously disrupted
Adventure the Presidential Museum on the 3 Days Congo Gorilla Safari from Kigali City Rwanda
This palace, now known to be a museum, is located in the outskirts of Kigali city; in the eastern side.
It was known to be the residence of the Rwandan president before the 1994 Rwandan Genocide. Prior to this tragedy, the palace had housed two Rwandan presidents plus their families
A visit to this historically noteworthy palace you an insight into the tragedy happened on April 6th 1994, when president juvenal Habyarimana’s plane was gunned down.
Unfortunately, he was in the company of the Burundian president, who did not survive either
It contains debris from this catastrophic occurrence which gave impetus to the already mentioned 1994 stain in Rwanda’s history, whereby the embittered Tutsi and Hutus wielded pangas plus other deadly tools at each other, massacring everyone who crossed their path; young or old, male or female, innocent or guilty
Besides the alluring history behind this palace, there are some features about it that are worth seeing.
These include the various fruit trees in the compound, the art piece that was gifted to the then president, plus the lavish nature of this democide which has become a much sought-after museum for most history lover.
A tour guide on site is position to give visitors all details denoting to all the rooms of this building, plus any other mementos one may be curious about
King’s Palace Museum
Situated in Nyanza ya Butare district, presently known as Huye, this history laden site was constructed in 1932.
It is a traditional stead with an unmistakable tinge of modernism to it, and a blend of these makes this place a must visit place for all tour enthusiast
According to www.visitrwanda.com it is a reconstruction of the traditional royal residence, and the King’s palace is a beautifully-crafted thatched dwelling shaped like a beehive
This ethnographic museum encapsulates a great deal of Rwandan monarchial history; which sort of rule was abolished after Rwanda’s independence from their colonial masters.
In its backyard, the cattle that formerly belonged to the monarchy are tended to, and their lineage has been maintained even after the abolishment of the kingdom that rewarded them as a great source of prestige
These cattle, which have a striking resemblance plus some genes of the famous Ankole long-horned cattle of Uganda, have one intriguing attribute.
From the time they are mere calves, they are nurtured to listen to their voice of their herdsmen, and these sing them soothing songs and take care of them like the precious jewels they are.
While at the palace, therefore, one gets to experience all the aforementioned plus some royal regalia like the symbol of power, mats and chairs, all made in a peculiar way
3 Days Congo Gorilla Safari from Kigali City Rwanda Inclusions
Safari includes:
- Transportation in a tour van/Landcruiser
- Service of an English -speaking tour guide/driver
- All activities mentioned in the itinerary
- Park admissions
- Accommodation on full board
- Entrance fees to all destinations as per the program
- Transfer to and from the airport
Safari exclusions
- All activities not mentioned in the program
- Phone calls bills
- Tips
- International transfers
- Gratitude to tour guides
- Personal insurance
- Personal effects of any nature
- Hotel fees before and after the safari
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3 Days Congo Gorilla Safari from Kigali City Rwanda Ultimate (Virunga National Park) Tour 2021/22