2 Days Virunga Gorilla Trekking Safari
2 Days Virunga gorilla trekking safari / congo gorilla safari is a short yet fascinating activity that allows travelers most especially the primate lovers to spend a full hour in presence of endangered mountain gorillas in Virunga national park magnificent park and oldest of all parks in DRC. Virunga mountain gorilla trekking safari still remains one of the cheapest gorilla safaris in Africa with Congo permit costing $400 per person in high season and $200 per person during low seasons as compared to a Ugandan permit that costs $600 and by July 2022, it will be at $700 while a Rwanda gorilla trekking permit costs $1500 per person. The advantage of trekking gorillas in DRC is that Congo harbors both Mountain gorillas and low land gorillas thus one can opt for a double trek to visit both lowland and mountain gorillas in DRC with in Kahuzi Biega National park thus combining this safari with a visit to Kahuzi Biega enables you to encounter both endangered mountain gorillas and endangered eastern lowland gorillas in Kahuzi Biega national park and both trekking permits go for $400 per person per hour.
This 2 days Virunga Gorilla trekking safari starts from Rwanda for a visit to Kigali Genocide memorial sites, then proceeds to Virunga national park for a fascinating mountain gorilla trekking safari.
Note: This safari requires that you arrive and stay in Kigali the previous night before the start of the safari or be at Kigali international airport or Goma airport early in the morning before midday.
Highlights of the 2 days Virunga gorilla trekking safari
- Day 1: Kigali City tour and transfer to Virunga National park
- Day 2: Virunga Gorilla trekking and departures
Detailed Itinerary
Day 1: Kigali city tour
- Kigali city tour: On day 1 of 2 days Virunga gorilla trekking safari, you will be picked up from your lodge in Kigali or from Kigali international airport and have a day city tour where you will visit the Kigali genocide memorial sites, visit the kimironko market, have an enroute lunch and transfer to Virunga national park for clearances before proceeding to the lodge for check in, enjoy your dinner and have an overnight stay.
- Meal plan: Enroute lunch and Dinner
- Accommodation: Kibumba tented camp/ Mikeno lodge/ Bukima tented camp
Day 2: Virunga Gorilla trekking and departures
- Virunga Gorilla trekking: On day 2 of 2 days Virunga gorilla trekking safari, you will wake up as early as possible, have your served breakfast and pack your lunch box before meeting your driver to transfer to park head offices for a gorilla trekking briefing. During the briefing, you will be informed about the dos and don’ts while in the habitat of mountain gorillas. After the briefing you will drive again to the trailhead of the gorilla trekking safari in Virunga national park where you will meet with the armed rangers, guides and porters for hire then off to the wilderness you enter in search of habituated mountain gorillas. During the trek, you will encounter some mammals including forest hog, different primates such as blue monkeys, black and white colobus monkeys, and red tailed monkeys among others. As soon as you get closer to the particular allocated mountain gorilla family, keep a minimum distance of 7m and do not make unnecessary noise, just spend your one-hour taking photographs and asking all the information you need to know about mountain gorillas.
- Departures: After gorilla trekking, return to the lodge freshen up, check out of the lodge and meet with your driver and embark on the journey to Kigali direct to your lodge in case you have an overnight in Kigali or transfer to Kigali International airport for departures to another destination.
Meal plan: Breakfast and Enroute lunch
End of Trip
This 2 days Virunga Gorilla trekking safari includes;
- Park entrance fees
- A 4×4 safari vehicle and fuel
- Gorilla trekking permit
- Airport pick up and drop off
- Security and ranger fees during the gorilla trekking
- Visiting Kigali genocide memorial sites
- All activities in the itinerary
- Meals as per itinerary
- Accommodation for one night
- Enough packed drinking water
- English speaking tour guide
This 2 days Virunga Gorilla Trekking safari Excludes;
-
- Flight and travel expenses such as Visa and air ticket
- Life Insurance
- Laundry fees
- Tips
- Souvenirs
- All beverages such as juices and alcoholic drinks
- Email and airtime services
- Exclusive activities on the Itinerary
Conclusion: This 2 days Virunga gorilla trekking safari is the shortest primate safari that allows travelers on a DR Congo safari to spend between 2 to 7 hours trekking mountain gorillas in Virunga national park and then spend an hour in their presence learning their different manners such as feeding, breast feeding, copulating, nesting among others in Virunga national park DRC. This 2 days Virunga safari can easily be combined with other activities on additional days such as 3 days Virunga and Nyiragongo hike, 4 days Virunga and Nyiragongo hike, 5 days great ape safari and many more . It can even be combined with a safari to Uganda the pearl of Africa, and Rwanda the land of a thousand hills.
