Volcanoes National Park is the setting for a memorable Rwanda gorilla safari as well as for tracking golden monkeys.  The volcanic mountains of the Virungas straddle Rwanda, Uganda and the DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo). Over half of the world’s population of 1000 mountain gorillas live here. They can thrive in the endangered high bamboo forests on these equatorial mountains.  In Rwanda, the Volcanoes National Park protect 12 habituated mountain gorilla groups. So this is one of the best places for gorilla tracking in the world.

However, gorilla tracking in Rwanda is a highly regulated affair, given their endangered status. And permits are both very expensive, ($1,500 per person per track), and hard to come by. So we recommend booking as far in advance as possible (i.e. from several months to 2 years ahead). Each day, only one group of walkers is allowed to track each group of gorillas. And they try to match the fitness levels of the walkers to the rough proximity of each group. But this is not an exact science, so your gorilla tracking experience may be anything from 2 to 7 hours. Once you find them, you are allowed to spend one magical hour in their company.