Stuart Forster describes gorilla trekking in Rwanda, at Volcanoes National Park, rating it among the world’s top wildlife experiences.
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“Maintain a minimum distance of at least seven metres,” we were told by guides at least three times during the pre-trek briefing. It’s taken less than five minutes in the presence of the gorillas and, already, that golden rule is broken.
The female is advancing towards me and, frankly, I don’t know where to put my eyes. They said we shouldn’t look the silverback males directly in the eyes – they perceive it as a challenge to their authority – but, flustered, I can’t remember if anybody mentioned what we should do if one of the female mountain gorillas climbed out of the nest and started heading straight towards us.
Trekking in Volcanoes National Park
Directly to my right, I’m trapped up against a dense thicket of bamboo and there’s simply no way I can move away from her. She’s lowering herself down what looks like a drawbridge of fallen bamboo towards the dark, muddy floor of the heavily forested mountainside. Each of her deliberate movements and every snapping stem reverberates in the tight space among the bamboo that provides the gorillas’ habitat plus the mainstay of their diet.
It’s too late to head left and back down the narrow path we came along. The guides made it clear that we should never advance towards the gorillas; they regard it as threatening behaviour. The females are not as aggressive nor as bulky as the 220-kilogram silverback males but, as I sneak a look at the gorilla heading towards me, I really hope I didn’t annoy her by pointing my camera at her a moment ago. It was a wasted effort anyway; the density of the tropical vegetation means it’s way too dark to photograph without the use of a flash, which is not permitted.
Gorilla trekking in Rwanda
Before heading to this part of Rwanda I read about the work of Dian Fossey, the American zoologist who spent 18 years studying the behaviour of mountain gorillas here in the Volcanoes National Park. I attempt a Fossey-inspired brief and deferential glance at the still advancing gorilla. Our eyes meet, fleetingly, but I’m unable to read anything meaningful from her facial expression. Surely it has to be a good sign that she seems calm and isn’t baring her teeth?
Fossey expressed strong reservations about allowing tourists to trek into the tropical rainforest to view gorillas. If anything happens to me she would, I suppose, have said it is of my own making. After all, it was me –along with four other tourists – that chose to enter the gorillas’ territory.
Expert guides and trackers
To get here we walked for two energy-sapping hours in the presence of knowledgeable guides and hard-working trackers. The guides say we’re at an altitude of around 2,700m, yet there’d still be several hours of walking ahead of us if we planned on reaching the 3,634m high summit of Mount Sabyinyo.
One of Fossey’s key concerns about allowing humans close to gorillas was that we carry and can transmit illnesses that sometimes prove deadly to the great apes. Might I, due to this unexpected proximity, pass on a disease I’m not even aware of carrying and thus be responsible for wiping out a family or even the species?
Meeting a mountain gorilla
The gorilla walks on towards me. Her arms extend in front of her and she rolls noticeably with every step, reminding me of an aged woman struggling to carry shopping. She’s now less than a metre away and I start to fully appreciate her powerful build.
Also, because I feel safer looking at her body rather than into her eyes, I note the coarseness and length of her thick black hair. It’s at least as long as my index finger.
As she draws level with me she turns her head towards me and looks into my eyes. I don’t feel threatened, just in awe of the intelligent creature in the process of weighing me up and tolerating me as a guest in her environment. She nudges her shoulder into my left bicep and brushes past, pushing on through the bamboo and into dank terrain that I would have struggled to traverse.
Of course, I’d hoped to see gorillas here in the Volcanoes National Park. Never, though, had I expected such a close meeting.
I rate trekking to view mountain gorillas in Rwanda among the world’s top wildlife experiences? If you’ve seen mountain gorillas in the wild, why not leave a comment below.
Hotels near Volcanoes National Park
There’s a smattering of quality accommodation in the vicinity of Kinigi in northern Rwanda. You can search for hotels near Volcanoes National Park on Booking.com:
Books about Rwanda
Planning a trip to view mountain gorillas? You may find the following books about Rwanda useful:
If you’re looking for a guidebook you’re likely to find the Bradt guidebook Rwanda with Eastern Congo a handy one to have with you:
The Culture Smart! book on Rwanda is billed as the ‘essential guide to customs and culture’:
Enjoy viewing wildlife? Fodor’s has published a book entitled The Complete Guide to African Safaris:
Many books cover the Rwandan Genocide. Among them is We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families by Philip Gourevitch:
Location of Volcanoes National Park
The map below shows the location of the Volcanoes National Park Headquarters, the meeting place for gorilla trekking in Rwanda:
Video of gorilla trekking
Here’s a link to a short video with footage captured during my day gorilla trekking in Volcanoes National Park:
Further information
Learn more about travel and tourism in Rwanda on the Rwanda Tourism website.
Rwandair operates flights to Kigali from London Heathrow with a stop in Brussels. The duration of the flight to Rwanda is 10 hours 30 minutes.
For further details about Volcanoes National Park see the Rwanda Development Board website.
Thank you for visiting Go Eat Do and reading this post about gorilla trekking in Rwanda. You can view other stories about African wildlife on this website, including a look at a game drive in Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park. Check out this post for local tips on things to do and see in and around Volcanoes National Park.
Stuart Forster, the author of this post, is a freelance travel writer with a strong interest in wildlife and nature. His work has been published in National Geographic Traveller, Wanderlust and national newspapers.
Photos illustrating this post are by Why Eye Photography.
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A version of this post was first published on Go Eat Do on 3 May 2013.
Faustin L. Kanuma
September 24, 2018 at 05:50Beautifully written. An amazing experience that. Your visit as well, through the permit you paid for and other tour expenses you paid for, not only go a long way to protect these creatures, but the neighbouring communities get the benefits too.
Stuart Forster
September 25, 2018 at 08:43Thanks Faustin. Yes, I met several people from local communities who explained why they supported conservation in the region.
Gava H
October 6, 2021 at 12:31The guides makes the whole experience safe that would have been thrilling.
One thing i still treasure about the guides, is that they mastered the behaviors of mountain gorillas.
Can’t forget how they calmed a gorilla that charged against me
Go Eat Do
October 7, 2021 at 12:36The guides that led me to view the gorillas were excellent. They understand so much about the mountain gorillas and their behaviour.
Deepa Tiwari
July 5, 2023 at 12:04Amazing and Informative post
Go Eat Do
August 1, 2023 at 07:17Thank you. Seeing wildlife in its natural habitat is a true privilege.