Would you like to travel to the Volcanoes National Park? This is the most accessible park for gorilla trekking in Africa.
Location of Volcanoes National Park
The Volcanoes National Park is surrounded by five Virunga mountains in the northern part of Rwanda. The park lies in the Musanze District (former Ruhengeri). The protects five Virunga volcanoes that include Karisimbi, Bisoke, Muhabura, Sabinyo and Mgahinga. Because it is located in the Virunga Mountains, It forms part of the extension of the Congo-Nile Divide, separating two of Africa’s most important watersheds.
How to Get to Volcanoes National Park
The Park is located in Musanze (Former Ruhengeri) which is 2 hours drive from Kigali. When you reach the town, you will find Karisoke centre where research about these gorillas is carried out from. The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International is responsible for this activity.
The easiest to reach Volcanoes National Park is to use Musanze which was called Ruhengeri which can be basically reached by using a public transport from Gisenyi, and Kigali on the very day you track (you need to be present at the ORTPN office in Kinigi, along the park entrance, by 07.00), however this Is not a dependable choice of using public transport. There’s no public transport available between Musanze and the park headquarters at Kinigi.
This Park can be accessed by both air and road transport, whereby with the former, you land at Kigali International Airport then proceed to the Park on road. Volcanoes National park is situated about 105 kilometers/65 miles west of Kigali in a small village-Musanze (Northern Province) and is a 2 hour’s drive to access the Park hence someone can track these Mountain gorillas and still go back home on the same day. Musanze can be accessed by Public transport from Gisenyi or Kigali. However, there is no public transport from Musanze to Kinigi Park Headquarters.
All trekkers have to arrive at the Park Headquarters for briefing by 7am; hence tourists who spend overnights in Kigali have to start driving by 5am.
Therefore, Parc National des Volcans (PNV) is the prime destination that draws thousands of tourists to the Land of a thousand hills because it is one of the four National parks in the entire world where the Mountain gorillas can be tracked. This Park is the most visited of all the four countries because it is just 105 kilometers/65 miles and 2 hours drive from Kigali International Airport, hence tourists can track and go back on the same day.