An early morning pickup takes place in Kigali. From there, travelers are driven to the Grande Barrière border crossing at Goma, before continuing into Virunga National Park. The rest of the day is spent settling into a lodge or tented camp inside the park, such as Kibumba Tented Camp, ahead of the following day’s trek.
The day starts with a safety briefing at park headquarters, where rangers explain trekking guidelines and what to expect. Trekkers then hike into the forested slopes of the Virunga volcanoes accompanied by experienced ranger guides, tracking a habituated gorilla family through the vegetation. Once located, visitors are permitted one hour with the gorillas to observe their behavior and take photographs, before hiking back down to the camp.
After breakfast at the camp, travelers are driven back across the border and transferred to Kigali in time for an onward flight or departure.
The trip is compact but immersive, combining a scenic overland crossing near Lake Kivu with a single, focused day of gorilla tracking in Kahuzi-Biega National Park.
This 4-day itinerary combines mountain gorilla trekking with a summit hike of Mount Nyiragongo, one of the world’s most active volcanoes, in Virunga National Park.
Virunga National Park is Africa’s oldest national park and one of the last places on Earth where mountain gorillas roam free in volcanic rainforest.