Activities in Volcanoes National Park 2021
Activities in Volcanoes National Park 2021: Volcanoes National Park is the most famous National Park in Rwanda, located about 2 to 3 hours from Rwanda’s capital Kigali, the park is made up of five virunga mountains (Mt. Karisimbi, Mt. Bisoke, Mt. Muhabura, Mt. Gahinga, Mt. Sabyinyo) and a rainforest. The park borders Uganda’s Mgahinga National Park and DRC’s Virunga National Park.
Volcanoes National Park is known mainly for being home to the endangered mountain gorillas and most of the visitors to the park, visit the park to take part in the mountain gorilla trekking experiences in the park.
In 2020, like for most National Parks around the world, Volcanoes National Park was closed off for some time during the country’s lockdown to crab the spread of COVID19. But the park was reopened for tourists in August of 2020 and as of the writing of this article the park is fully open and operational, welcoming guests each day.
With that information, we hope you will be able to visit the great Volcanoes National Park this season and all through 2021. And here below we have highlighted some of the activities you can look forward to in the park in the year 2021.
Mountain Gorilla Trekking
Volcanoes National Park is top destination in Rwanda and East Africa because of the mountain gorillas that live in within the park’s rainforest. The park currently has over 250 mountain gorillas that are distributed among 11 mountain gorilla families that include but not limited to Amahoro, Karisimbi, Sabinyo and others. These mountain gorilla families are habituated and ever ready to receive visitors. The activity of visiting and seeing the mountain gorillas is known as mountain gorilla trekking.
Mountain gorilla trekking is a must do activity for you in 2021 because of the awesomeness of these endangered apes that also share almost 98% DNA with human beings.
Mountain Gorilla trekking about 4 to 6 hours with one hour spent with the mountain gorillas; the experience normally starts with a briefing at the park headquarters and then after you enter the forest under the guidance of a trekking ranger.
Golden monkey trekking
Volcanoes National Park rainforest is also home to the famous golden monkeys that can also be trekked while at the park. In 2021, this is one activity you should try out. It is quite similar to mountain gorilla trekking but less tedious because monkeys live in lower altitudes compared to mountain gorillas, so they are normally in the foothills of the forested mountains. The golden monkeys are also habituated in larger groups than the mountain gorillas but you will still spend an hour with the monkeys before you exit the forest. This whole experience normally takes about 3 to 4 hours.
Hiking
As earlier stated Volcanoes National Park, encompasses five virunga mountains, this makes it the perfect destination for a hiking adventure in 2021. All the five virunga mountains in the park can be hiked any time of the year and normally 2 of the five are hiked; thus Mt Karisimbi and Mt Bisoke. Each mountain offers a different and unique experience as well as challenge to the hiker.
Mt Bisoke is usually a one day and one night hike, well as Mt Karisimbi is usually a 3 day or 2 nights hike. Mt Karisimbi is also quite a more physically demanding mountain than Bisoke. Both mountains however have amzing craters at the peaks and breath-taking flora and fauna along the hiking trails plus scenic views of the region.
Iby’Iwacu cultural Village
Iby’Iwacu cultural Village also known as the Gorilla Guardians Village is within close proxy with Volcanoes National Park, which makes it very convenient for visitors visiting Volcanoes National Park to visit the village on their trip. At this cultural village you will engage in several Rwandan traditional activities that will make you appreciate the Rwandan people even more; these activities include folk songs, dances, stories, norms and rituals among other things. You can also try out the traditional foods and herbs while you are at the cultural village. This 2021 make sure you don’t pass up the opportunity to experience the Rwandan culture at this amazing cultural village.
Musanze Caves
Back then when kingdoms and traditional leaders were the authority in Rwanda the musanze caves were used by the kingdom officials to store their food that they had collected from their subjects. These caves are a natural beauty and wonder and though they are no longer used by the kings (because kingdom rule has since been ceased), they remain as historic sites to tell the Rwandan traditional story and history. These caves are not far from Volcanoes National Park and in 2021 you should make sure you visit these caves as you visit Volcanoes National Park.
