Rwanda Gorilla Trekking Tours in Volcanoes National Park
As you plan Rwanda gorilla trekking tour to Volcanoes National Park, read through this highlighted tour guide to ensure a smooth and an unforgettable gorilla adventure. This write up entails gorilla trekking tips to the home for gorillas in Rwanda. The gorilla safaris that involves the 1 day trip, a 2 day gorilla safari and the 3 days Rwanda gorilla tracking offers you an opportunity to visit the endangered primates in their natural habitations.
What to do on the gorilla trekking day in Rwanda?
Wake up early, have your breakfast and then leave your hotel carrying your gorilla permit with you to the park head offices. Ensure that you have packed and the necessary gorilla trekking gears including trekking boots, gloves, insect repellants, a hut, binoculars, water resistant bag, long-sleeved wear, rain jackets, snacks plus packed lunch. Also carry a walking stick and water among others. These essential items are what you should expect on the day of your gorilla trekking expedition in Rwanda.
Also move with your passport as you transfer to the park headquarters for an early morning pre-trekking briefing by park guides. Your passport names should match with your gorilla permit to confirm you are the lawful holder of the permit. Every gorilla visitor is recorded before the trekking adventure. Some tea or coffee is served as you are kept amused by the native traditional Kinyarwanda performers. These local dancers give you a good beginning of a vigorous yet stimulating day before the guides give you tips on personal conduct during the trek until you return.
Following a short-lived briefing on protection measures and the expectations of the day, you will be put in groups of 8 people and each cluster of people is assigned a single gorilla family to visit. Volcanoes National Park Rwanda has 10 gorilla families, hence 10 groups of 8 trackers each permitted to see the gorillas.
Allocating gorilla visitors to groups is largely based on the fitness, age and their physical body capabilities. For instance, tourists above 50 years plus any other vulnerable people are assigned groups which are easy to find and rarely stroll widely from the trailheads. Worth still, visitors with special preferences about certain families may notify their guides in advance to assist them in bargaining for gorilla family units with the needed attributes.
Gorillas being wild creatures in their natural environment, may not be easy to because at times they wander in search for food. Hence, there is no guarantee that they are near, distant or easy to find. And those gorilla families assigned to the bodily fit and energetic visitors and always considered tedious to trek, may easily found on a specific day making the entire experience unpredictably interesting.
Every gorilla trekking family is assigned guides and two armed AK-47 wielding rangers with one leading the group in front and another one walking from behind for security reasons. The purpose for armed rangers is to protect guests against any wild animals or irate wild gorillas. The men with guns are trained to fire into the air first in order to shock away the animals. And this is very rare especially when all alternatives like hiding away from such daring animals are exploited. For assurance purpose, mountain gorillas in Rwanda have never witnessed or heard any case when wild animals confronted the sightseers and the guides had to fire ammunition. In several occasions, rangers advise guests to hide or stay still up to when the animals disappear. Overall, the National Park policy is safety rather than sorry in case of danger.
The gorilla group you are trekking will have two trackers sent early morning to before your coming to trace the gorilla family whereabouts as well assessing their likely directions. Trackers correspond with the guides movements of gorillas in order to determine the best access to the gorilla family. In case you are sure of your physical fitness, ask your guide to help you use porter services at the park gate. And a porter is hired for around USD 15 to 20 basing on the luggage weight, distance and terrain.
Hiking to find the Gorillas
The entire duration of trekking to locate the gorillas in the wild is not predictable since the primates are wild animals. The trek may last as short as 30 minutes to as longer as eight hours to bump into. The woodland is green, moist and in some way sunny and there are no visible walking pathways. The topography is of hilly and sharp volcano gradients where it is essential for visitors enforce up to the steep slopes by holding onto tree branches, plant roots or thickets to hold balance. It is advisable to follow the guides closely through the best paths. In case you want to have a break, call on your guide to wait.
Visitors are advised to carry some energy giving snacks plus bottled mineral water for quenching thirst and increasing hiking energy.
The Actual Gorilla Encounter
Once visiting trekkers find the mountain gorillas, the clock ticking begins. Tourists are advised keep noiseless, move unhurriedly and shun abrupt movements that may annoy the gorillas. It is better to sit on the ground and avoid looking directly into gorillas’ eyes, a conduct that may anger them as they mistake you for an enemy about to fight.
Looking into the eyes of the gorilla is not a problem as long as it doesn’t charge at you. When it does so, stay onto the ground and lower you gaze as a gesture that you are submissive and not someone going to confront them. As you are close to the gorillas, it is better to prepare your cameras and be on standby to take photos of your choice and don’t forget to disable the flashlights and sounds which may irritate them.
During your presence, the gorillas are seen feeding, resting, walking around or up in the trees branches playing. Endeavor to get the best view for photographing the gorillas as you learn about their behaviors. Try to follow them just in case they are walking away but ensure that you keep a reasonable distance of not less than 7 meters. In the gorilla presence, make sure you listen and follow closely the instructions from your guide.
For the convenience during gorilla trekking, trackers will guide you through the jungle as they clear the bush with machetes in order to have a perfect closer view of the gorillas. Mountain gorillas are peaceful primates considering their implausible sizes. It is astonishing to spot the silverbacks getting up and moving around in a show of authority in its space.
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