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from $1.500,00
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Mountain Gorilla Trekking

Volcanoes National park
Not Rated
Duration

2 to 5hrs

Cancellation

No Cancellation

Group Size

Unlimited

Languages

English, Francais

Rwanda is one of only three countries in the world where the critically endangered mountain gorillas live.

Gorilla tracking in Rwanda is often described as “life changing” and with good reason. With only 900 estimated Gorillas left in the world, to see these gentle creatures in their natural habitat is a truly unique moment.

Gorillas make their homes in and amongst the bamboo-covered slopes of the Virunga Mountains in the Volcanoes National Park in northern Rwanda. Trek to see them and you’ll be introduced by your expert trackers and guides to one of the fully-habituated families of mountain gorillas and you can stay with them for an awe-inspiring hour, often crouching just a few feet away, whilst the gorillas go about their daily lives.

Hikes in the mountains can last anywhere from 30 minutes to 4 hours + depending on the family allocated to your group and their rental. The journey back can take just as long goal you are Often the carried along by the euphoria you feel at seeing the gorillas!

Expert guides give a pre-trek briefing on specific protocols and rules for visiting the gorillas That Live Within an altitude of 2500 and 4000m. Porters are available to help carry backpacks and cameras, as well as helping you with your footing along your hike which can be hard work, but well worth it.

Gorilla Families

There are ten families living in the Volcanoes National Park that are fully habituated and available for visits by the public (whilst others are habituated for scientific research purposes only). Each family consists of at least one Silverback (but sometimes as many and four), along with several females and a group of youngsters.

Susa

The Largest group with 38 gorillas. They’re hardest to trek as they tend to range high into the mountains. They have rare 5 year old twins named Byishimo and Impano.

Sabinyo

17 members Sabyinyo is an easily accessible group led by the powerful silverback Guhonda.

Amahoro

19 gorillas, led by the calm and easy going Ubumwe. To reach Amahoro, it’s usually a fairly steep climb but it is well worth it!

Agashya

(Formerly known as Group 13) today it has 22 members – a very positive sign for conservation.

Kwitonda

23 members led by Akarevuro, originally habituated in DRC so they tend to range quite far making it a moderately difficult trek.

Umubano

a family of 13, who broke off from Amahoro with leader, Charles.

Hirwa

This group has 18 members and only fairly recently formed from former Group 13 and Sabyinyo family members. They are led by Munyinya.

Highlights

  • The overall length of your hike to the mountain gorillas is unpredictable depending on how far the gorillas have moved being wild animals. It may take as little as 30 minutes to find your gorilla family and as long as five to seven hours.
  • The forest is verdant, humid and somehow light and there are no discernible trekking paths. The terrain is full of hills and steep volcano slopes where you will be required to pull yourself up steep grades by grasping onto branches, plant roots, bushes and more. Follow the lead of the guide as to the best path and form to take. If you need a break, let your guide know.
  • It is also advisable that you carry with you some energy giving snacks and bottled mineral water to quench your thirst and give you more energy.

7:00 AM arrival at park reception& welcome tea and Coffee

Short briefing before tracking

7:30 AM briefing and group dispaching

A ride to the last stop.

08:00 AM Drive to tracking point

Tracking Gorillas.

09:00AM Start tracking

The experience last one hour, but the walk to where the gorilla are can take lost or short time depending on chosen group. So remember to ask group depending on your fitnes to hike.

  • Specialized bilingual guide
  • Entrance fees
  • coffee
  • Additional Services
  • Private Transport
  • insurance

5 – 7 hours

English
Francais

animals
nature
Ourdoors
wildlife

Activity's Location

Volcanoes National park

Do you arrange airport transfers?

Airport and Hotel transfers are not included in the price of this Activity, however you can book for an arrival transfer in advance. In this case, a tour operator representative will be at the airport to greet you. To arrange this, please contact our customer service team once you have a confirmed booking.

Refund

Visitors who fail to track gorillas (VNP) the whole day as a result of the Gorilla group's movement shall be given another chance or receive full refund on their permit. However, those who would have tracked the whole day and failed to make contact with a gorilla family for one reason or another will be refunded 75% of the tracking fee.

No Refund is made in case of late arrivals or flight delay, absence or cancellation of trip for any other reason.

Restrictions

The minimum age for Gorilla tracking is 15 years.

You may be denied access to the Park if you are sick with a cold, flu or other contagious illness.

Equipements needed?

Better always to bring hiking chose, raincoats , working sticks.

When and where does the tour start?

This tour start at Kinigi RDB office where After a quick briefing on safety measures and what to expect during the day, you will be grouped in groups of 8 people maximum and each group is assigned one gorilla family to trek. Rwanda has 10 gorilla families, hence 10 groups of 8 people each are the ones allowed to track on a particular day.

from $1.500,00

Owner

adminzest

Member Since 2023

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CANCELLATION TERMS

Applied cancellation fees differ between packages (including accommodation and/or car rental) and tours.

  • For cancellations received up to 30 calendar days before the scheduled departure, a 5% cancellation fee will be charged.
  • For cancellations received 15 -29 calendar days before the scheduled departure date a 10% cancellation fee will be charged.
  • For cancellations received 7 -14 calendar days before the scheduled departure date an 15% cancellation fee will be charged.
  • For cancellations received within 7 calendar days before the scheduled departure date a 20% cancellation fee will be charged.
  • Note that all these charges are not applied for National Parks activities/permits, so in case of cancelling your package or tour, refunds will not be applied for paid park visiting permits. This means that before making any refund, Green Zest Travels will first share a detailed quotation of what is to be refunded.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

GREEN ZEST TRAVELS is a full-service travel and tourism company. It has an aim to help tourists to discover Rwanda destinations including country’s stunning scenery and warm beauty, rich heritage and vibrant culture offering you a truly unique vacation experience.

Green Zest Travels is a certified member of the Rwanda Tours and Travel Association (RTTA) and Licenced under Rwanda Development Board (RDB) with its Head Office located in Kigali-Nyarugenge KN 50 ST (Next to Chez John Restaurant, opposite Impact Hub in Kiyovu-Rugunga)

Before making any reservation with us, we suggest you to read these Terms and Conditions carefully, as they constitute a contract agreement between us and you from the time the booking is made. The person who makes the booking accepts these conditions on behalf of all the people in the group and is responsible for all payments due.

By submitting a booking, you confirm to us that you comply with these terms and conditions.

Once you have submitted your booking and personal details through www.grenzest-travels.com, you will receive a confirmation and pro-forma invoice of your booking to the e-mail you will provide. Please note that all online bookings require payment of 30% of the total package price at the time of the booking. If the total price is less than 1000 USD or booking occurs less than 15 days before your arrival date full payment is required.

 

If you prefer to pay for your booking with a bank transfer, please contact us and send detailed information regarding the booking (Tour, Car type, Arrival date…)

Most of the bookings are confirmed instantly; however, packages that include overnight accommodation and car rental may take a bit longer. One of our sales representatives will contact you not later than two business days (48 hours) to re-confirm the booking.

The travel documents will be delivered to you once the full payment has been received. You will receive your travel documents: vouchers and itinerary via email.

Please print out these documents, as you will need to show them for all services during your visit to Rwanda.

If by any chance our travel consultant is unable to obtain confirmation (car rental/accommodation is not available) an alternative will be offered by Green Zest Travels but on the same level with the previous confirmation item.

Booking services with Green Zest Travels are available only to persons aged 18 years and older. By submitting a booking, you agree and confirm to us that you comply with these arrangements.

Note: Booking and payments apply only for tours, activities and transport; for hotel reservation, all you need is to send an enquiry.

TERMS OF PAYMENT

Please note that all online bookings require payment of 40% of the total package price at the time of the booking. If the total price is less than 1000 USD or booking occurs less than 30 days before your arrival date full payment is required.

You will be informed by e-mail when you need to pay the balance of your booking which is 30 days before your departure date.

  • We accept online payments, Master Card, Visa, American Express Powered by Direct Pay Online(DPO) and Its PCI DSS Level 1 Compliant.
  • We accept Mobile Payments within East Africa, MTN (Rwanda & Uganda) M-pesa (Kenya), Airtel Money, Tigo pesa
  • Bank Transfer or Cash payment on arrival

If you prefer to pay for your booking with a bank transfer, please contact us here and send us all the information regarding the booking, name of the tour, type of car, accommodation and arrival date.

There is a service fee for processing Visa or MasterCard payments and American Express card but a service fee of 3.9% applies and will be added to the final invoice.

All Prices quoted by Green Zest Travels are in USD for Internationals & in RWF for local Tourists and per person, unless otherwise specified. All payments and refunds are due to the mentioned currencies. Green Zest Travels is not responsible for any changes in currency exchange rates that might occur from the time of booking until a refund is made.

  • All rates quoted or shown in our tariffs are based on current prices. All prices mentioned on our website include value-added tax. Green Zest Travels reserves the right to alter or change already published prices on the website without notice in the event of currency fluctuation, government taxes, or any costs increases that is outside our control.

    Green Zest Travels reserves the right to alter routes, itineraries or departure times due to weather or other reasons that are beyond company’s control but notify the client about the changes. Please notice that in the case of changes of flights, the passenger is responsible for any additional costs that become payable as a result of such changes.

    If a day tour, package or group tour is cancelled due to circumstances outside our control or minimum numbers are not reached, we will refund the money you have paid, and Green Zest Travels shall then have no further liability towards you.