Volcanoes National Park is Rwanda’s most ancient and Africa’s oldest national park hosting the world’s endangered mountain gorillas. Volcanoes National Park was the first area to host gorilla trekking in the whole world, having its first habituated gorilla family a group of 11 gorillas in 1979. Gorilla trekking in Volcanoes National Park stands on the great work of Dr. Dian Fossey, an American primatologist who introduced the relationship between gorillas and man. Her efforts made gorillas famous and conserved which aided in increasing the concentration of gorillas from being critically endangered to endangered as noted by UNESCO.

Dian Fossey set up Karisoke Research Centre and Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International in Rwanda after the death of her beloved gorilla. By the time of her death, the two organizations have worked so hard with the Rwanda government to conserve the mountain gorillas making gorilla trekking a peak tourist activity.

Gorilla trekking in Volcanoes National Park has been made possible by the 13 habituated gorilla families in the rainforests. Gorilla trekking in Volcanoes National Park is divided into 3 phases depending on the nature of tourists. At times tourists prefer moving shorter distances without hikes while some are too fit to proceed with hikes in the mountains.

Gorilla trekking phases

Easy trek: This is basically for people with health complications who still want to track gorillas and have some time with the giant lovely apes. People participating in easy treks usually have altitude sensitivity that makes them fear climbing high altitudes.

Medium trek: This is meant for people willing to handle average hikes of about 4 to 5 hours and are entitled to range from 30 to 55 years of age. This age can withstand high altitude conditions.

 Longer trek: Longer treks often last for 5 hours and beyond in the challenging rocks and mountains.

Which gorilla families are open for trekking in Volcanoes National Park?

Volcanoes National Park has 13 habituated gorilla families that are open for trekking all year-round among and these are Susa, Karisimbi, Isimbi, Agashya, Kwitonda, Umubano, Kwisanga, Noheli, Hirwa, and Muhoza.

Susa gorilla Family

The Susa gorilla family was habituated in 1974 with 7 gorilla individuals who were under the care of Dr. Dian Fossey from 1968 to 1985. Later on, the group split into more 3 groups including Karisimbi, Igisha, and Isimbi, living the group under the leadership of “Impuzamahanga” the dominant silverback with 19 individuals in total.

Sabinyo gorilla family

This is the easiest accessible gorilla family under the leadership of Gihishwamwotsi the dominant silverback who took over after his father Guhonda in 2020. The father Guhonda moved along with three other gorilla individuals and formed their own family.

Amahoro gorilla family

The Amahoro gorilla family was named after the character of its dominant silverback Ubumwe who is very peaceful and the word Amahoro means peace in Kinyarwanda. This family was habituated between 2001 and 2002 but unfortunately split in 2002 forming the Umubano gorilla family and Amahoro. The Amahoro gorilla family stayed under the leadership of Ubumwe with 19 members and the others were led by Charles a young silverback.

Agashya gorilla family

This gorilla family was habituated in the 1980s under the leadership of Agashya the dominant silverback who was replaced by Isano in 2021. The group has 19 individuals that were a combination of two families.

Kwitonda gorilla family

Is a group that was first thought confusing to be either in DRC or Rwanda until 2004 when it fully settled in Rwanda. The Kwitonda group was originally led by the dominant Kwitonda who passed on due to aging and was replaced by Akarevuro with competition from Kigoma who later in 2021 led a group of 20 individuals under peaceful splitting from the Kwitonda group.

Umubano gorilla family

This is a group under the leadership of Charles a dominant silverback that separated from the Amahoro gorilla family in 2002. The group was named Umubano which means “togetherness” in 2005 to build strength in the group members since they needed to work together and make the family strong successfully making up 14 individuals to date.

Kwisanga gorilla family

The Kwisanga gorilla family is one of the most recently habituated gorilla families, under the leadership of Kigoma the dominant silverback, heading 16 habituated gorilla individuals.

Noheli gorilla family

The Noheli family was named after Noheli the dominant silverback. The family consists of only 7 members. The Noheli gorilla family is the newest habituated family of 2021 with the smallest number of individuals.

Karisimbi gorilla family

 This was formed after splitting from the Susa gorilla family and became a permanent family on 20th August 2009. The group is under the leadership of Nyagaangaga who took over after Karisimbi the dominant silver back had passed on leaving the group with 10 members.

Igisha gorilla family

This is one of the biggest gorilla groups consisting of 34 individuals under the leadership of Igisha. The group was made by Igisha the dominant silverback who moved away from Susa B with 23 individuals in 2014 and they have been increasing.

Muhoza gorilla family

This is a group composed of 19 members under the leadership of Marambo who was lonely for a year, until he grabbed two females from the Agasha and Hirwa gorilla family giving birth to others as more joined as well from other groups.

Isimbi gorilla family

This is being led by Mukuregere the dominant silverback who took over from Getty who was the original group head

How is gorilla trekking in Volcanoes National Park?

Gorilla trekking in Volcanoes National Park is permitted after a tourist has acquired a gorilla trekking permit that costs USD 1500 and only 8 people per gorilla family are accepted. The time spent trekking depends on the trek done, either easy or longer trek. Before every trek, tourists are briefed at the park headquarters at 7:30 am and then handed an experienced ark guide to lead them.

When is the best time for gorilla trekking in Volcanoes National Park?

 The best time for gorilla trekking is during the months of June, July, August, and September, then December, January, and February since they cover the dry seasons of the park and favor trekking in the rainforests as well as gorilla trekking. However, these are very peak seasons for the gorilla trekking permits and should be bought early enough. The wet months are the cheapest months for all the lodges in Volcanoes National Park since most of them want visitors during that time.