4 Day Mountain Gorillas Rwanda Safari

Early start to Ruhengeri, to start the Gorilla tracking for these 2 days. The next two days activities may be amongst the most exciting and challenging of our entire expedition. The Mountain Gorillas in the Parc National des volcanos are part of a worldwide population of just 700 individuals. The gorillas we are allowed to track belong to one of five habituated family groups. For up to five years each, these groups have undergone an extremely delicate process that has gradually brought them to tolerate the presence of humans for a brief period every day and allowed a few privileged visitors to interact with them in the wild. The gorillas are by no means tame, and are completely wild animals. However, experienced guides will accompany us on our tracking, many of who have been involved in the habituation process themselves. The guides will use their knowledge of the gorillas’ habits and information from the previous day to locate the group’s whereabouts. Because of this, the time taken to track the gorillas varies enormously, from as little as half an hour to as much as 8 hours before one returns to base. Once the gorillas are located, our group will be allowed a maximum of one hour with them. This is one of the world’s truly memorable experiences – a look into one of these magnificent creatures’ eyes brings home the bond that exists between them and us. It also brings home the poignant fact that they are on the edge of extinction, and that our presence here contributes to ensuring their continued survival. Overnight: Volcanoes Virungas/Mountain Gorilla View Lodge.

This morning you participate in another adventure tracking the “Little Primates” of the Virungas, the Golden Monkey (Cercopithecus Kandti), now listed by the IUCN as endangered because of their small numbers. We will be part of a select group of a maximum of 6 people, and the track will take most of the day. You return to Kigali in the later afternoon. Overnight: Kigali Hotel.

Today we enjoy a morning tour of the city, followed by an early lunch and a transfer to the airport to catch up with your flight to the next destination.