Every day, a number of tourists seeking for authentic wildlife safari experiences gather at Kinigi volcanoes national park headquarters ahead of their quest to see the rare mountain gorillas in their natural wild. These great apes inhabit the forests of volcanoes national park located in northwestern Rwanda.
Rwanda is a small country with very beautiful natural attractions that always leave most tourists in the country very astonished. The beauty of Rwanda is first felt with the first step at Kigali international airport and once you start heading to Volcanoes National Park, you realize why the country is called the land of a thousand hills. While at Kinigi in any of the standard accommodation facility around, you are embraced with magnificent views of some of the major mountains that form part of the Virunga volcanoes (mount Sabyinyo, Gahinga and Muhabura) where some of the mountain gorillas live.
On the morning of the day of the gorilla visit, all those heading for the expedition are expected to wake up early and have their breakfast and then proceed to the national park headquarters where they are served with more tea or coffee if they want as they get entertained by the Rwandese traditional dancers. After, they are divided into trekking groups of eight people that are then allocated to guides and the mountain gorilla family they will be trekking.
Allocation of a specific mountain gorilla family depends on ones preference for example tourists who might not be able to move in the forests for long hours are given mountain gorilla families that can be got to after relatively short hours of trekking. Some tourists may be interested in tracking the mountain gorilla families with many juveniles and young ones, which they can be allocated. You should however note that to be allocated a specific mountain gorilla family, you should inform your tour operator early enough or inform the guides at the briefing point early enough before the hike starts.
Just after the allocations, a briefing is done to ensure the safety of all those heading to the jungles and immediately commence the journey. The hike involves moving through the real African wild viewing a number of wildlife like birds, other primates like monkeys, a number of tree species some of which stand several meters high. The hike is not boring at all as the guide usually explain and give details of some of the identified wildlife species. This provides a very unique Rwanda safari experience before you even get the reason for your hike (the mountain gorillas).
Just before you know it, you are told that the mountain gorillas are near and you are then given a reminder of the safety measures especially keeping a reasonable distance away from the mountain gorillas, not using flash photography and most importantly avoiding mimicking mountain gorilla behavior like beating the chest as it may trigger an attack.
The gorillas after feeding just seat and relax as the silver back closely monitors all its members. The juveniles not bothered by human beings presence keep on jumping, playing around looking back at the tourists who closely look at them. This moment is very surprising but what shocks more is looking at the female mountain gorilla pampering her young ones just like humans. This with no doubt makes you realize that yeah, mountain gorillas are some of the wild animals sharing a DNA that is 95% similar to humans. They are very friendly animals and have learnt to with stand peoples presence in their natural homes. You can take photographs to capture these remarkable moments that just last for an hour.
The feeling of being closer to mountain gorillas in their habitats is very exclusive. To enjoy it, just get your self a permit at only $750. This should be done early enough as there are only 80 permits available a day.
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