Rwanda Gorilla Trekking, done properly

The complete guide

Where it happens: Volcanoes National Park

All gorilla trekking in Rwanda takes place in Volcanoes National Park (Parc National des Volcans) in the far north-west, on the borders with Uganda and the DRC. The park protects the Rwandan slopes of five of the eight Virunga volcanoes — Karisimbi (4,507 m, Rwanda's highest point), Bisoke, Sabyinyo, Gahinga and Muhabura — in a band of montane forest, bamboo, and higher up, giant lobelia and heather. It was first protected in 1925 as part of Albert National Park, the first national park created in Africa.

The park headquarters and gorilla briefing area are at Kinigi, about 12 km from the town of Musanze and roughly 105 km — around two and a half hours by good tarmac road — from Kigali. That short transfer is Rwanda's great advantage: you can land in the morning, sleep near the park, and trek the next day, or do the whole thing as a gorilla trekking day trip from Kigali. See Kigali to Volcanoes National Park for the route.

Rwanda's 12 gorilla families

Of the gorillas living in Volcanoes National Park, 12 groups are habituated for tourism. Habituation is a slow process — typically two years or more — of researchers and trackers spending time near a wild family every day until the gorillas accept calm human presence as normal. It does not tame them; they remain fully wild, find their own food and range freely. It simply means a group of quiet people nearby is no longer a threat.

Each family is visited by a maximum of 8 people a day, for one hour, which is where the national total of 96 permits comes from. Families differ a lot. Sabyinyo and Agashya often range lower and closer to the park edge, making for shorter treks; Susa and Karisimbi live high on the slopes of Mount Karisimbi and can involve long, steep walks. Our guide to Rwanda's gorilla families covers each group's history, size and typical trek.

You can't book a specific family in advance — assignment happens at the morning briefing — but you can influence it. We tell the park team the day before if someone in your group needs an easier walk or, the opposite, is hoping for a long, challenging trek.

The best time to go

Gorillas don't migrate, and trekking runs every day of the year. The question is weather and permit pressure. Rwanda has two dry seasons — June to mid-September and mid-December to February — when trails are firmer and most visitors come. The long rains (March to May) and short rains (October to November) bring muddier slopes and the occasional downpour, but also fewer people, easier permit availability and lusher forest.

At this altitude it can rain in any month, so pack a rain jacket regardless. See our month-by-month guide for detail.

How fit do you need to be?

You need to be fit enough to walk for a few hours over uneven, sometimes steep and muddy ground at 2,500–3,000 metres. That's it. You do not need to be an athlete, and plenty of travellers in their sixties and seventies trek every week. The real variable is distance: on one day the family is 40 minutes from the trailhead, on another it is three hours away. A walking stick, a porter and a steady pace make an enormous difference. Read our honest fitness and difficulty guide and the gorilla trekking packing list before you go.

The rules, and why they exist

Mountain gorillas share about 98% of our DNA, which means they catch our illnesses, and a common cold can be deadly to an animal with no immunity to it. Most rules come from that:

• Keep at least 7 metres from the gorillas
• Minimum age 15 on the day of the trek
• Don't trek if you have a cold, flu or fever
• Maximum one hour with the family, groups of up to 8
• No flash photography, no eating near the gorillas, keep voices low
• Wear a face mask if your ranger asks you to

Our gorilla trekking rules and etiquette guide explains each one, including what to do if a silverback charges.

Rwanda or Uganda?

Uganda's gorilla permit is cheaper at $800, and Bwindi is home to roughly half the world's mountain gorillas. But reaching Bwindi from Entebbe takes the best part of a day by road, the forest is steeper and denser, and most itineraries need at least three days. Rwanda's $1,500 permit buys you a far shorter transfer, generally easier terrain, and the ability to fit gorillas into even a short trip. If time is your constraint, Rwanda wins; if budget is, Uganda deserves a look.

We compare them properly in Rwanda vs Uganda gorilla trekking.

How to book gorilla trekking in Rwanda

1. Send your dates. Tell us your preferred trek date(s), number of travellers, nationality and where you'll be staying. A WhatsApp message is fine.
2. We check RDB availability the same day and send a written quote with the permit and service fee shown separately.
3. Secure the permit. Permits are paid in full to RDB to be reserved, so we take the permit amount first and issue your permit confirmation in your passport name.
4. Final details. We confirm your pickup point, share a packing list and tell the park team about any fitness or mobility needs.
5. Trek. Your driver-guide meets you at 4:30 AM and takes care of the rest.

The step-by-step version, including what documents RDB needs and how cancellations work, is in how to book a gorilla permit.

How many days do you need?

One day is enough to see the gorillas: our day trip from Kigali leaves at 4:30 AM and is back the same evening. Two days lets you sleep near the park and see Kigali properly (2-day gorilla safari). Three days adds golden monkey trekking and time to rest (3-day gorillas and golden monkeys). If you can afford it, trekking twice with two different families — as on our luxury gorilla safari — is the best way to guarantee the encounter you've imagined.

With five days or more, combine the gorillas with the rest of Rwanda: the Big Five in Akagera (5-day gorillas & Big Five), chimpanzees in Nyungwe (5-day gorillas & chimps), Lake Kivu (7-day gorillas, Big Five & Kivu), or all of it in our 10-day complete Rwanda safari.

Where your gorilla permit money goes

Rwanda's high-value, low-volume model is a big part of why mountain gorilla numbers have grown. Permit revenue pays for ranger patrols that remove snares, daily monitoring of every habituated family, and field veterinary care. A share of park revenue is invested in schools, clinics and water projects in the communities around the park, and porters' cooperatives give local families a direct income from keeping the gorillas alive. In 2018, the IUCN moved mountain gorillas from Critically Endangered to Endangered. Read more in mountain gorilla facts.

Beyond the gorillas

Volcanoes National Park has more to offer than one famous hour. Golden monkey trekking ($100 permit) is a lively, easier trek in the bamboo zone. The Dian Fossey tomb hike climbs to the ruins of the Karisoke Research Center, where the primatologist who made the mountain gorillas famous is buried among the gorillas she studied. Fit hikers can summit Bisoke to its crater lake or spend two days climbing Karisimbi. And every year, usually around September, Rwanda names its newborn gorillas at Kwita Izina in Kinigi. For somewhere to sleep, see where to stay near Volcanoes National Park.