Volcanoes National Park (Parc des Volcans)

“In the heart of Central Africa, so high up that you shiver more than you sweat,” wrote the eminent primatologist Dian Fossey, “are great, old volcanoes towering up almost 15,000 feet, and nearly covered with rich, green rainforest – the Virunga Mountains“.

Situated In the far northwest of Rwanda and borders the Virunga Mountains, the Volcanoes National Park protects the steep slopes of this magnificent mountain range – home of the rare mountain gorilla – and the rich mosaic of montane ecosystems, which embrace evergreen and bamboo forest, open grassland, swamp and heath.

An exhilarating trek through the cultivated foothills of the Virunga Mountains offers stirring views in all directions. Then, abruptly, the trail enters the Volcanoes National Park, immersing trekkers in the mysterious Intimacy of the rainforest, alive with the calls of colourful birds and chattering of the rare golden monkey, and littered with fresh spoor of the mountains’ elusive populations of buffalo and elephant. Through gaps in the forest canopy, the magnificent peaks are glimpsed, easily accessible and among the highest in Africa, beckoning an ascent.

Home to the Mountain Gorillas


The Virunga Mountains are the last outpost of the endangered mountain gorilla, and their lush slopes provide an appropriately dramatic natural setting for what is perhaps the most poignant and thrilling wildlife experience to be had in Africa. Nothing can prepare the visitor for the impact of encountering a troop of gorillas munching bamboo in their unfenced natural habitat. The sheer physical presence of an adult male silverback – three times as bulky as the average man, yet remarkably peaceable and tolerant of human visitors – defies verbal description. Nor are there words to convey the thrill of recognition attached to staring deep into the liquid brown eyes of these gentle giants, who share some 97% of their genes with humans.

How mountain gorillas survive today is largely due to the efforts of Diane Fossey, who is buried at the Karisoke, her research centre in the Virunga alongside some of the animals to which she dedicated her life to. Fossey became a household name following the release of the biographical film ‘Gorillas in the Mist’, which was set in the Volcanoes National Park, and shot on location there. Critical and public acclaim ensured that ‘Gorillas in the Mist’ also served to raise international awareness of the plight of the mountain gorillas, whose numbers have increased from an all time low of 250 in the 1970′s to almost 400 in 2001.

Roughly half of the world’s mountain gorillas are resident on the Rwandan slopes of the Virunga Mountains, where four habituated groups – ranging in size from seven to 37 individuals – can be visited by up to 32 tourists daily.

Permits to visit the gorilla are issued by the Rwanda Tourism Board (ORTPN) in Kigali. For more information on gorilla trekking, visit the Rwanda Tourism Agency website.

Read more on Wikipedia:

• Gorillas in Rwanda
• Golden Monkeys
• Virunga National Park
• Virunga Mountains
• Volcanoes National Park

Vast tropical rainforest in Nyungwe National Park


Extending for 1,000 square kilometers across the majestic hills of southeast Rwanda, Nyungwe National Park is the largest block of montane forest in East or Central Africa, and one of the most ancient, dating back to before the last Ice Age. A uniquely rich centre of floral diversity, the forest has more than 200 different types of tree, and a myriad of flowering plants including the other-worldly giant lobelia and a host of colourful orchids.

Nyungwe is most alluring for its primates: 13 species in all, including humankind’s closest living relative the chimpanzee, as well as the handsome L’Hoest’s monkey and hundred strong troops of the delightfully acrobatic Angola colobus. The most important ornithological site in Rwanda, Nyungwe harbours almost 300 bird species of which two dozen are restricted to a handful of montane forests on the Albertine Rift. The avian highlight of Nyungwe is the great blue turaco – an outlandish blue, red and green bird which streams from tree to tree like a procession of streamlined psychedelic turkeys.

An extensive network of well maintained walking trails leads through the forest to various waterfalls and viewing points. A comfortable rustic rest house and perfectly situated campsite lie alongside the main road, and the reserve can readily be visited as a day trip from towns of Butare and Cyangugu. Nyungwe does, however deserve more time, anybody who wants to track chimps and see several varieties of smaller primate will need two days there and dedicated birdwatchers might never want to leave!

Akagera National Park

Set at a relatively low altitude on the border with Tanzania, Akagera National Park could scarcely be more different in mood to the breezy cultivated hills that characterise much of Rwanda.

Dominated scenically by the labyrinth of swamps and lakes that follow the meandering course of the Akagera River, the most remote source of the Nile, this is archetypal African savannah landscape of tangled acacia woodland interspersed with open grassland.

Akagera is, above all, big game country! Herds of elephant and buffalo emerge from the woodland to drink at the lakes, while lucky visitors might stumble across a leopard, a spotted hyena or even a stray lion.

Giraffe and zebra haunt the savannah, and more than a dozen types of antelope inhabit the park, most commonly the handsome chestnut-coated impala, but also the diminutive oribi and secretive bushbuck, as well as the ungainly tsessebe and the world’s largest antelope, the statuesque Eland.

Camping alongside the picturesque lakes of Akagera is a truly mystical introduction to the wonders of the African bush. Pods of 50 hippopotami grunt and splutter throughout the day, while outsized crocodiles soak up the sun with their vast jaws menacingly agape. Magically, the air is torn apart by the unforgettable high duetting of a pair of fish eagles, asserting their’ status as the avian monarchs of Africa’s waterways.

Lining the lakes are some of the continent’s densest concentrations of water birds, while the connecting marshes are the haunt of the endangered and exquisite papyrus gonolek, and the bizarre shoebill stork – the latter perhaps the most eagerly sought of all African birds.