Oh yes, a combined safari in Rwanda that caters to both gorillas and wildlife is just amazing. This startling republic, also known as the land of a thousand hills, is an extraordinary country to count on your top list of places to visit all the time. Though it’s known as a small country, all about the country is appealing, right from nature, history, and the hospitality of Rwanda.
The country is always flooded with greater crowds of tourists who come to visit and experience what Rwanda presents. The broad safari presentation is a special one that can’t even be made possible in many African destinations. Gorilla trekking, chimpanzees, golden monkeys, wildlife safaris, volcanic hiking, and emotional history are the things to expect when visiting Rwanda.
Rwanda Gorilla Safari
Rwanda gorilla safari represents almost the rest of the gorilla trekking destination. However, the country is well rated for upmarket trekking. The gorilla safaris are Africa’s highlights of the rest of the safaris; you haven’t explored Africa if you have not explored or trekked the gorilla. Most of the visitors to Rwanda come here for a chance with the man’s closest friends, the mountain gorillas.
Gorilla trekking, unlike wildlife safaris, is more adventurous; it’s only possible by applying your moving abilities and dwelling in the deepest of the tropics to search for endangered species. Gorilla trekking is interesting; after paying a high price for your trekking permit, you have to face the deep tropics again.
Where to Trek Gorillas in Rwanda
Mountain gorillas are only available at Volcanoes National Park, which is the world’s most famous gorilla trekking destination. When planning to trek gorillas in Rwanda at Volcanoes National Park, it is more competitive because you have to secure your trekking place earlier. Gorilla trekking has a lot of limitations, and these are associated with conservation.
Before these endangered species are ready for trekking, they first undergo habituation, which is aimed at making the species familiar to human presence.
Volcanoes National Park is a portion of Virunga Volcanoes National Park. Volcanoes dominate among the gorilla population in the conservation areas, and almost half the individuals residing within the VCA. The park has 12 habituated gorilla families that are available for trekking.
Volcanoes National Park is located on the northern side of Rwanda, and this small park has the largest impact on the tourism patterns of the country. Over half of the tourists coming to the country’s main target look forward to being in the tropical jungle with the gorillas.
To trek gorillas, one must have a permit, and a permit costs $1,500. With the permit, guests are capable of entering the forest, searching, and having an hour before the giants.
How is Gorilla Trekking Like?
A gorilla safari means, after developing a mind for trekking, securing a permit to enable you to get fixed on the date that you wish to trek. To reach that trekking date, you must report to the park information center before 7:30 a.m., then go through a briefing on the trekking etiquette that applies.
Then, following the briefing, get grouped and assigned a certain habituated gorilla family in a group of 8 trekkers. Then, with the help of an armed ranger guide, they will enroll in the tropical rain forests to initiate a search for the gorillas. The search continues through the bamboos and valleys, as gorillas in Virunga Conservation Area mainly live in the lowland land areas.
The search continues through unmade paths, through valleys, moist vegetation, and muddy and slippery grounds. The trek is a real hurdle; however, seeing the gorillas face-to-face, you just realized this is a moment never experienced in life. When the gentle giants are encountered, trekkers have unlimited hours of watching and getting entertained with the gorillas.
Rwanda Wildlife Safari
It’s a case of Africa’s rewards, which are mainly wildlife safaris. Visiting Africa means taking a wildlife safari, which mainly continues within the savannah closets. Rwanda is a very rewarding tourist destination when it comes to wildlife safaris. Wildlife safaris are mainly known to be the savannah thrillers of being settled in the 4×4 pop-up and enjoying all that nature has to offer.
Rwanda is a marvelous country that miraculously shares both the central African tropical forests and the stretches of the East African savannahs, mainly on the eastern arm of the country. Wildlife safaris in Rwanda are mainly known and only enjoyed at Akagera National Park on the borders of Rwanda and Tanzania, eastward from Kigali.
Akagera National Park
The only Savannah – themed park in Rwanda, Akagera National Park, is home to many wild species, including the big five (lions, leopards, elephants, rhinos, and buffaloes), which makes this park a safari paradise. It is situated in the eastern part of the country, about a 22-hour drive from Kigali, and shares borders with Tanzania.
The park is Rwanda’s largest protected area, covering a total area of 1122 km2. A diverse ecosystem’s high biodiversity includes thickets, savannah forests, and marshes, among other habitats. The primary river Kagera that flows across the lake largely divides it in half and is decorated with several streams of lakes, rivers, and swamps.
Wildlife Safaris at Akagera National Park
The nature of the park is relatively flat, not like the rest of Rwanda’s landscape, which is rolling. The golden savannahs are very supportive of a crowd of wildlife species, including animals, birds, plants, insects, and many others. There is nothing more entertaining than going to Akagera with your 4×4 pop-up to see a variety of wildlife species.
Wildlife safaris are special compared to gorilla trekking; in the case of gorilla trekking, the concentration is on watching the gorillas. But with wildlife, it’s about wildlife watching, and the watching is unlimited due to the variety, which is not yet revealed.
Going for a safari drive through Akagera National Park is all about watching variety and various forms of experiencing nature. A wildlife safari at the park is done through various adventure experiences that perform amazing traveler’s experiences.
When visiting Akagera for a safari, there are a number of adventures to undertake, and these adventures include game drives, which are the champion among all.
A game drive is done seated in a safari-customized vehicle, which takes then a boat cruise, which is done on Lake Ihema, the largest lake in Akagera National Park, is very rewarding, with several water and land mammals that are watched within and on the shores of the lake. Then, bird watching and nature walks are all driven by a variety of encounters.
