In Africa, there are three countries that offer mountain gorilla trekking safaris including Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Tracking mountain gorilla is a magical experience worthy to be done because of the existence of the primates in these parks. These apes are exciting to see to amongst. Less explored and feared by many Africa tourists because of her past insecurities, Democratic Republic of Congo today is a very safe destination currently taking visitors to visit the Virunga National Park for mountain gorilla and the Mount Nyiragongo.
In Democratic of Republic of Congo, mountain gorillas are found in Virunga National Park a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in the eastern side of DRC bordering both Uganda and Rwanda. The park is home to over 200 mountain gorillas situated in the southern part of the park.
I spent a week through Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). I first contacted Jackie because I wanted to go to Uganda first then to DRC after seeing the documentary Virunga, which was nominated for the academy award in 2014 about the disappearing mountain gorillas. Because I had a week, Jackie tailored a personal trip which included all the transportation, accommodations, meals, guide and a safari through the Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda.
Jackie was very responsive throughout the whole process and assisted in obtaining a DRC visa. On the first day of my tour, Emma was guide. He picked me up from Entebbe International airport and was on time and during the whole entire ride to Queen Elizabeth National Park, he was very informative and educated me on the cultural, economic and political realities of all the countries that I was going. He was very educated, informed and I was exposed to a lot of information from first-hand perspective.
During the first two nights, I stayed at a wonderful lodge near Queen Elizabeth National Park. The food was great and the lodge was situated next to the lake and during the nights, I could see hippos grazing the land. At the national park, Emma was again wonderful and was able to find many animals including lions and elephants.
After having a wonderful safari in Uganda, we crossed to Rwanda and I stayed in Gisenyi at Discover Hotel. If you are coming from the Rwandan side Kigali, it takes close to four hours driving from Kigali city to the town of Gisenyi. It is the next town to Goma after journeying the two borders; it takes about 1 and a half hours driving to get to the Park’s Headquarters.
Emma had a DRC representative at the border of Congo who was already waiting for me to transfer to Kibati station. Since the hike was starting at 10:00am, we arrived there by 9:15am in order to be briefed in time. Porters can be hired at the base of the climb to carry loads for $24 round trip. The maximum weight that porters are authorized to carry is 15 kg. Porters can be arranged by speaking with a Virunga National Park ranger at the Kibati station, so I paid for one porter to help me with my Mikeno package. The time required to reach the summit depends on the average fitness of each group, but typically takes 4 – 6 hours. So our hike took 4 hours include break stops.
This first part of the hike was a warm-up stage of the hike: just a 45-minute trek over reasonably flat ground in the jungle. This was the easiest section of the walk, although the fact that I found it surprisingly challenging. The hike starts at 2,000 metres, which I knew from previous experiences at altitude, my body found hard to acclimate to. It was the longest part of the hike, far steeper than the stages we’d encountered before. We were gaining altitude rapidly now, taking huge steps continually upwards with little time for rest. Up we climbed some of us on our hands and knees, all of us taking it slow and steady, the smell of sulphur now beginning to penetrate our nostrils. And all suddenly we reached the summit.
All climbers overnight in the summit shelters because the best viewing is after dark. For this reason, Nyiragongo climbs are a two day affair. Most groups make it back down before noon the following day. It was like staring into a photo. I’d spent so much time researching Nyiragongo that now that I was finally here, it didn’t feel real. I was so in awe that I had to keep blinking to prove to myself this wasn’t a dream. It was like I was in a dream. One of the guides brought around hot cups of coffee, which were gratefully sipped as we stared down into what felt like the gates of hell.
Virunga offers a meal package to hikers, where you can pay for a cook to climb the volcano with you, hand out snacks and drinks at rest stops, and then put together an three course meal in a toasty-warm cabin when you reach the top. The decision, for me, had been a no brainer, and from the moment I stepped inside the chef’s hut, I was glad I’d opted for it.
Climbers typically descend the volcano at between 6:30 – 7:00 am the next morning and arrive back at Kibati station by 11:30 am. If one intends to fly out of Kigali on the same day, please make sure to schedule your departure flight after 6 pm. Early morning we descended back as they drove me to Mikeno Lodge for my dinner and overnight stay.
Early morning after my breakfast, we transferred to Virunga Headquarters for gorilla briefing. The guide at the park took us through a briefing before heading into the forest for the awaited trek. He covered the geography and history plus the code of conduct while with the mountain gorillas. We were given masks to put on to avoid gorillas from getting any kind of human illness. We entered in the forest to start the search for gorillas.
We hiked for 1 and half hours search for them and at last we located them feeding, others were playing, sleeping, jumping of tree branches. We spent only 1 hour observing and watching them while taking amazing photos and videos. We came across a family of 10 mountain gorillas. Such a life-changing experience, as I have so many stories to tell people, but in a trip like this, one has to experience it to believe it, the mountain gorillas in Virunga National Park can be visited anytime during the year, however some paths are hard to pass through during the wet seasons of May, April and November. Mountain gorillas can also be found in Uganda where a gorilla permit costs $600 per person and for Rwanda it is sold at $1500 per person.
I highly recommend this company especially Jackie and Emma. If you are planning to track mountain gorillas in Virunga National Park, I kindly advise you to book you safari with Gorilla Safaris Tours. Congo gorilla permit costs $400 per person per trek.
1 comment