Volcanoes National Park is a very popular Rwanda safari destination because of mountain gorilla trekking expeditions. Mountain gorilla trekking is probably the best wilderness adventure activity on the African continent that gets travelers more personal than ever to wildlife.

This activity involves hiking through mountainous areas and forests in search of a creature that resembles/behaves like humans. Mountain gorillas are special among the gorilla sub-species because of their endangered status.

Gorillas thrive in the Volcanoes National Park because of the remarkable biodiversity. The vegetation cover consists of mainly bamboo forests, montane forests, swamps and grassland. The landscape is dominated by 5 volcanoes – Bisoke, Gahinga, Muhabura, Sabyinyo and Karisimbi. It is not only mountain gorillas that enjoy the beauty of the park but also other animal species like African forest elephants, duikers, bush bucks, giant forest hog, blue monkeys, golden monkeys, Angola colobus and birds.

A visitor must first acquire a gorilla permit and this goes for $1500 per person. After buying permits and booking your accommodation, the next thing is to show up at the park offices. On the day of tracking, travelers are required to be at the Volcanoes National Park headquarters early in the morning (at 7:00am) for briefing.

During the briefing session, the Rangers and Warden will share information about the park, the gorilla groups, and gorilla conservation activities and how to conduct oneself while with the primates. After the briefing, your gorilla permits and passports will be verified.

Only 8 people can track a gorilla group in a day. The Rangers will take you to different starting points depending on the gorilla group you are allocated. If you have any heavy luggage, you can hire a porter to help out.

The search for the gorillas in the Volcanoes National Park takes between 1 to 4 hours. You will usually find them feeding on shoots and leaves. Keep a distance of at least 7 meters from the nearest gorilla. Do not surround the gorillas or make loud noises out of excitement. You are allowed only 1 hour with the gorillas. Take the time to observe the family. After all this, descend back to the headquarters for your certificate and head back to lodge for lunch.

Embark on Iby’Iwacu cultural village one of the key features that make Rwanda safaris exceptional. Iby’Iwacu Cultural Village gives you a rare chance to meet local people, in their environment, with a taste of culture and traditions.

Be genuinely welcomed by the community as a special visitor while they proudly present to your aspects of their traditions and beliefs. The only way to get to know people, is getting close and interacting with local people, and taking part in their daily activities and most of all with them.

Iby’Iwacu village is located around Parc National des Volcans in Nyabigoma, Kinigi, Musanze district, Northern Province- have a visit to Iby’Iwacu to share with local people home and heritage treasures including lifestyles, activities, artifacts and ways of living of local people. Iby’Iwacu Cultural Village is committed at showcasing the ways of living, traditional lifestyles and dances to tourists.

Have a guided community walk to visit different sites and experience the everyday lives of the local people.

Culture guide will take you to see the king’s house replica with all the houses interpretation of all parts and stories attached to this cultural treasure. Be enthroned and become a king for some time while exercising king’s powers as presented to you by a village elder through a village ceremony.

Enjoy different types of traditional dances like Intore dance and famous songs of the gorillas sang by the famous Ngayabatema while listening to the melody produced by traditional musical instruments including African drums.

Listen to interesting stories about traditional medicine from a local traditional healer and get to know how medicinal trees, shrubs, grass are used to cure local patients.

Interested in Rwanda’s education? Make an exploration to Rwanda’s local schools to experience the education life in a developing country–become a student by attending lessons/a teacher by offering lessons.

Don’t leave this village without having a story to tell on Rwanda’s local foods-just have a local lunch or dinner with local people to see the skill they have when it comes to dinning time-No joke with food

Attend a local banana brewery process and have a taste on local banana beer. Explore the Batwa pottery making experience, lessons and engagement. Take part in daily life activities to get to know the local people, their culture, and their ways of living since the village is fascinating with a variety of cultural experience.