If flying into Kigali today, you will be met on arrival at the airport. You will be introduced to your safari driver-guide and there will be a tour briefing. Please ensure that you have provided us with your flight arrival details.
Depending on your arrival time, there is an optional city tour of Kigali, including a visit to the Gisozi Genocide Memorial.
For anyone who has arrived into Kigali prior to Day 1, then we will meet at the meeting point at 12.30pm for lunch.
After lunch, we depart for the journey to Ruhengeri, the base town for your gorilla tracking. The drive takes about 2 hours, on a fairly good road which offers spectacular scenery of Rwanda's hilly countryside.

After an early breakfast at the lodge, we drive to the park headquarters for registration and park and gorilla trekking formalities. Afterwards there will be a short drive to the slopes of the Virunga Mountains at the edge of the Volcanoes National Park for briefing by the park's guides.
Gorilla permits allow visitors to spend up to one hour with a family of gorillas each day. In order to safeguard the gorillas, only 6-8 people may visit each day. In the interests of the gorillas, people with colds, flu or other contagious diseases will not be permitted to trek.
Gorilla trekking may be very strenuous and walking boots are recommended. The area is often shrouded in mist and frequent downpours are common at all times of year. A waterproof jacket can be very useful.
Accompanied by your guides and trackers you will follow simple pathways into the rainforest. The terrain is hilly and can be muddy and slippery, however the views of the Virunga mountain range are spectacular and more than make up for the tough inclines. As you walk, you may see signs and tracks of other animals as well as enjoying bird, monkey and insect sounds of the jungle.
Following their spore and night nests, your guides will lead you to the gorilla group. Some gorilla groups may be a 5 hour walk away from base camp, whilst other groups can be located within an hour. It is difficult to predict where the gorilla group might be and this adds to the excitement and unpredictability of the trek. The length of the trek will depend on the position of the gorillas, but commences at about 2000m above sea level.
After encountering a gorilla family your guides will settle you down and enable you to watch the group interactions. Visitors are not allowed to get closer than 5 meters to the gorillas, but sometimes the gorillas themselves forget this and come very close indeed! Family groups are generally made up of several females, their playful young and one or two mature silverbacks. Young gorillas are extremely entertaining and enjoy showing off their climbing, tumbling and play-fighting antics. Mothers watch on and silverbacks generally maintain a respectful distance whilst keeping a protective eye on their family. Depending on their daily pattern, gorillas may be encountered resting in a sunny or shady spot or on the move as they travel from one feeding patch to another. Whatever else they are doing, gorillas are usually also eating and it is fascinating to watch them in the giant salad bowls which make up their habitat.
Photographing gorillas is allowed, but flash photography is prohibited. Anyone wishing to use a video camera must pay for a special permit.
After enjoying your gorilla trek you will return to the lodge for lunch. In the afternoon, if time permits we visit the twin Lakes Bulera and Ruhondo.