Mountain Gorillas Safari at Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda

Mountain Gorillas at the Volcano National Park in Rwanda are an absolute delight and I was amazingly lucky to have visited them recently. I got to spend time with the Amaharo family at the park which is a collection of mostly dormant volcanoes in Rwanda. Since I was traveling solo and did't connect with a travel agency there, my experience to see them a little different from others. I tried to do the trek with minimum cost (which was still quite high) and did all the coordination by myself. The fact that most people speak good English there certainly helped me :)

amahoro mountain gorillas volcaoes national park rwanda africa
Gorillas of Rwanda

Mountain Gorillas are found only in the continent of Africa and belong to the category of highly threatened and extremely rare species. Rampant poaching and a threatened habitat has reduced their numbers from several thousands in the last century to only about 880 now. There are currently only two places in the world where you can see them - Virunga Mountain range (Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo) and Uganda's Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Mountain Gorillas are not in zoos anywhere in the world, and the only way to see them would require a visit to either Rwanda, DRC or Uganda. Due to the turmoil in DRC, I visited Rwanda to see these majestic animals in the wild.

Read my story below and share your Gorilla experiences (or any other feedback in the comments section below :)

Initial Reluctance

I have been against the idea of a zoo for a long time, I can't imagine looking at these majestic animals from across the world stashed up in small spaces so that us humans can look at them on a free Sunday. Frankly speaking the thought is revolting to me.

So when I visited Rwanda going for a Gorilla trek was the last thing in my mind as I was convinced it would be a slightly bigger version of a zoo and I didn't want to be a part of it. I must also admit that I was embarrassingly unaware of Gorillas in general, and somehow didn't even think there was anything worth knowing. I consider myself a people's man and animals to me come much later as subjects for travel or photography. All this changed when I reached Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda.

Volcanoes National Park - Brief History

Located in the most beautiful location of the country and surrounded by five extinct volcanoes, the Park was originally established in the year 1925; it was also the first ever national Park to be established in Africa. However, Gorillas continued to be hunted, often in connivance of park authorities. Much of this changed only when Dian Fossey arrived on the scene in 1967. She spent most of her time after that within the park, till her unsolved murder in 1984. She not only studied Gorillas in detail and became close friends with numerous families, she can also be credited with their conservation. She fought with poachers, often physically herself. Not as popular with her staff, she managed to get close to the gorillas and bought them back from the brink of extinction (the y are still considered highly endangered).

Gorillas and their families

Closely linked by DNA, gorillas (family Hominidae) are one of the four species of great apes that are the closest living relatives of humans – the other three are chimpanzees, bonobos and orangutans. Great apes are different from monkeys for a variety of reasons: they are larger, walk upright for a longer period of time, don’t have tails and have much larger, more developed brains.

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Head of the Amphora family

Gorillas are ground-dwelling and live in groups of 6-12 with the oldest and largest silverback leading a family of females, their young and younger males called blackbacks. The silverback makes the decisions on when his group wakes up, eats, moves and rests for the night. Because he must protect his family at all times, the silverback tends to be the most aggressive. In such situations, he will beat his chest and charge at the perceived threat.

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Enjoying :)


Gorillas are shy animals that are most active during the day. At dusk, each gorilla constructs a ‘nest’ of leaves and plant material in which it will sleep. Mothers usually share their nests with nursing infants.

Young males may leave their family groups as they become older and either live as solitary silverbacks or create their own family groups. The silverback has the exclusive rights to mate with the females in his group.

(ref: Defenders)

Poaching

We have been poaching these beautiful animals for many years now. There were two key reasons - at the beginning of the last century zoos became popular across the West and they all needed exotic animals as trophies that they could show off. Due to this, there was a huge demand for gorilla babies. Gorillas are extremely protective of their young ones and in many cases, to take one or two babies, the entire Gorilla family of 15-20 adults had to be killed.

The other reason for poaching was the demand of Gorilla hands which were popular as ashtrays. Unbelievable, but sadly true...

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Posturing to show strength

Poaching has not stopped even now, the animals are always at risk of being killed. Every year forest rangers find hundreds of traps in the forest area which are kept to catch the animals. Despite destroying so much in the past, we are intent on destroying even more. I am not sure when this madness will end...

Planning the Trek

Coming back to my trip, after my first visit to the Reception centre of the park, I was intrigued by these majestic animals. I was still not convinced that I should go for the trek, but this visit made me read up quite a bit about Gorillas and Dian Fossey. Musanze had decent internet connectivity, and I was up late learning and absorbing.

Another huge deterrent for me was the price tag. The trek costs a whopping $ 750.

amahoro family mountain gorillas volcaoes national park rwanda africa
Beginning of the trek...

However, on my last night in Musanze I was completely convinced that I must do the trek. I didn't have any money on me and I could not withdraw any more cash form the ATMs due to limit on maximum daily withdrawals. So the only option left for me was to use my credit card. Using a card is of course not a problem, but often the card machine doesn't work at the reception centre. It was almost a nail biting finish for me, till my card was swiped and I got an approved receipt! Now I was finally enrolled for the trek. The rather slow receptionist who was making the receipts gave me preference over all the other guides and pissed them all off, I was, however, very happy :)

There are a total of 19 gorilla families in the park, out of which 11 can b visited. The rest are part of research and can not be accessed. I had asked around before about which family I could visit and had decided on Amahoro family. It is the second largest group and has the largest number of Silver backs (male gorillas over the age of 12 years). As this was not the peak tourist season, I actually could pick the family I wanted. In peak season the treks are booked months in advance and you can't just come, pay money and do the trek. I was super lucky to be here in the non-tourist season!

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Our guide explaining the Amphora family and its dynamic...

Since it was rainy season, I borrowed a rain jacket and gloves (to save my hands from stinging nettles). Our guide gave us an introduction of the family, and some more instructions on how we must respond in case of an aggressive gorilla. Only a group of eight are allowed to visit a family in a day, so it was small and cozy group. Apart from the eight of us and the guide, we also had four armed escorts.

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Our armed escorts!

The Trek

The trek could take anywhere between one to five hours, depending on where the specific family is. Thankfully gorillas do not live on mountain tops, so we didn't have to climb a volcano all the way to the top.


amahoro family mountain gorillas volcaoes national park rwanda africa trek
Walking through the beautiful fields...
amahoro family mountain gorillas volcaoes national park rwanda africa trek
The thick and green foliage....
amahoro family mountain gorillas volcaoes national park rwanda africa trek
Trek is not very tough, but quite fun!
amahoro family mountain gorillas volcaoes national park rwanda africa trek
Another silver back in the group!

I had already trekked up to Mount Bisoke, so anything else was a piece of cake. There were only a few steep hikes and we all managed to do it all without much assistance. A couple of girls in the group were slow, but then it was also their first trekking experience.

Before the trek starts, a group of men called trackers, already go in the mountains to locate the gorilla family. As the gorillas do not sleep at the same spot on two days, its not easy to predict their location. The good thing is that they are not GPS tagged and so they pretty much live as wild animals with little interference from us, except, of course, when we come face to face :)

The following is a video I made with some of the small snippets I made on my iPhone. Its both made, edited and uploaded form the phone itself :)

If you like what you see, do subscribe to my YouTube Channel for more fun travel videos:






Tips and Tricks:

  1. It is not impossible to visit the gorillas as a backpacker like me, but be careful what time of the year it is. The peak season is June to September and any visit at that time would require booking in advance.
  2. It is a very expensive trek ($ 750) and its good to know that in advance
  3. Going in a group can help you reduce transportation cost as each 4x4 costs $ 80/ day (you need a vehicle to drive upto the start of the trek)
  4. Carry water, and also some food. You will have to leave it a little before you meet the gorillas, but it would be very useful on the return trek
  5. Wear good shoes and thick trek pants. The trek is full of stinging nettles and even a light brush against them can be very painful (I can say that with experience)
  6. Photography must certainly be done but shutter sounds can disturb the gorillas. I think using a good phone camera is also a good idea (I used iPhone 6 for all pictures and videos there)
If you are looking for photography tips, here's an excellent guide: Best photography tips for Gorilla trek.

Rwanda is not the only country where you can see gorillas in the wild, neighboring Uganda is also well-known for that. Read more: Mountain Gorillas of Bwindi Forest

Comments

  1. Hari OM

    "I condor myself a people's man and animals to me come much later as subjects for travel or photography." ... how ironic then, that a typo should echo another endangered mountain species!



    Sid, by undertaking this, by being open and having a genuine curiosity, you have experienced one of the world's truly special things - and brought it to us in you own fun style.


    I must say I tend to the opposite approach - for me animals and nature and history and such, come before the photographing of people. On the whole, I agree with you about zoos - certainly of the type which tend to prevail. I have come to appreciate, however, those establishments which are actively involved in conservation. It is a sad fact, but a necessary one, that conservation and preservation and on occasions, re-establishment in wild, must start from such places... and it is the funding from visitors to view the animals which goes to such work. I imagine this is also why the charge for the trek you share here is so high; firstly it will discourage 'silly sightseers' and secondly it will be going into the research part of the establishment.


    Loved this post Sid; when the vid turns up on the tubular (not there at time of writing), will comment there also... YAM xx

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  2. Sid, am speechless....what I dream, you have actually visited and experienced... the family of silverbacks. Great photos.I did not know they have such Gorilla treks and you actually can see them so close. Those guards were making sounds??? communicating with gorilla? Good you posted video clip. It gave me goosebumps to see this rare animal through your post.

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  3. Such a wonderful post about your visit. Looks quite exciting!

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  4. Thanks Yamini :) I have corrected the typo you mentioned though your comment gave me an opportunity to explore a great bird in detail :)


    BTW I love your comments :)

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  5. Thanks Shilpa! I remember you had asked for this post a long time back and I took quite some time to post it...


    Those guards were making sounds to soothe Gorillas - they are really well trained and know the sounds Gorillas make to communicate.



    :)

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  6. It was really very exciting! Despite my apprehensions I loved it...

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  7. yes, i remember..thanks for giving me free trip to the forest ;) These forest gaurds are really good in their job!
    let me confess..for me too documenting animal, birds and nature been always priority, but since I come across your blog, I too have started clicking the pictures of people :)

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  8. Wow this sounds like an amazing experience, always been on my bucketlist. Thank you for sharing!

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