Getting to Volcanoes National Park
Getting to Volcanoes National Park is an easy and straight forward process as long as one follows the right procedures and directions. For an ultimate memorable and adventurous experience of a safari in East Africa, you do not have to miss out on this prominent national park known as Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda. Volcanoes National Park is rich with a diverse ecosystem that attracts a lot of visitors that plan to spend their holiday with wildlife on the African continent.
Volcanoes Park covers an area of 160 km2 and it is located in Ruhengeri, Musanze district in the northwestern part of Rwanda. Volcanoes Park is part of the Virunga Massif that shares boundaries with Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Volcanoes National Park has a great number of insights and serene views such as the dormant volcanoes that include; Mount Bisoke, Mount Muhabura, Mount Gahinga, Mount Sabyinyo, and Mount Karisimbi, and the spectacular forest vegetation in Volcanoes National Park.
Volcanoes National Park also known as Parc National Des Volcans (PNV) is one of the tourists’ favorite national park when they visit Rwanda. Volcanoes National Park is home for the endangered mountain gorillas that are only found in Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda. Apart from the mountain gorillas, Volcanoes National Park consists of other wildlife such as the charting golden monkeys, the tremendous bird species, and Forest elephants, spotted hyenas, Bushbucks, Giant forest Hog, and Buffalos among others. Some of the tourist activities in Volcanoes National Park include; hiking the dormant volcanoes, golden monkey trekking, mountain gorilla trekking, bird watching, forest walks inside the montane forests and bamboo forests and game drives among others.
Unlike in Uganda where reaching many of the national parks takes too many hours of car drive, reaching Volcanoes National Park is one of the easiest things to do. Volcanoes Park covers Burera district, Musanze district, Rubavu, and Nyabihu district in the northern province of Rwanda. This means it can only take 2 hours of car drive from the Kigali International Airport in Kigali. Reaching Kigali, Rwanda, travelers can use RwandAir or KLM an international flight company that flies mostly nonstop to its destinations. In this case, the destination is always Kigali International Airport. From the airport, you can hire a private car or use public means and if you use public means it pushes you to Musanze point and thereafter you will need a cab to reach the headquarters in Kinigi Park.
Since the distance is short to Volcanoes Park, surprisingly one can drive from Kigali to Volcanoes National Park headquarters on the tracking point on the day of trekking gorillas or game drives and they can join the team. This can only be possible if you hire a private car but not the public means of transport. To have a smooth journey to the site, one will need to pre-organize with the tour operators to cater for such services since most of them mainly organize the whole safari expedition but this will be a bit expensive but worth taking the advantage. The tour operators book for your accommodation facilities and transport facilities so when your time comes to travel to Rwanda, all is taken care of and you will not incur unwanted costs. You can also trek on your day of departure which is not the case with other countries like Uganda because of the distances.
Additionally, some of the tourists prefer to start their tour safari activities right from Uganda and head to Rwanda. On reaching Entebbe International Airport, one can drive for seven to eight hours long of car drive to the national parks in Uganda such as Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Mgahinga National park. These Uganda National parks are located in the southwestern part of Uganda which makes it easy to cross the border to Rwanda and visit Volcanoes National Park. Through Uganda, you will need to use the border of Cyanika in Kisoro district and can take 30 minutes to reach Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda.
Accommodation facilities in and near Volcanoes National Park
Planning to make a Rwanda safari you will need to have the best accommodation facilities that are close to the national park or within the national park. Volcanoes National Park has some of the best, cozy, secure and affordable accommodation facilities that range from luxury, upmarket, mid-range to basic or budget hotels and lodges. Most lodges and hotels are found mainly in Kinigi and Musanze that are close to Volcanoes Park and others are about one hour from the site. These lodges and hotels include the following;
Kinigi Guest House: Kinigi Guest House is located in the Kinigi district and about 11 km from Ruhengeri City. This guest house has the capability to host over 40 people and all rooms are well serviced with electricity and warm water. Kinigi Guest House is located on the floor of Mount Sabyinyo a dormant volcanic mountain that is good for hiking activities.
Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge: This luxury lodge is also located in the Musanze district near to the Volcanoes National Park’s headquarters. The lodge has over 8 cottages all having a pleasant view of the volcanoes rolling hills. The lodge features a sheltered balcony for relaxation and having breakfast. There is also a bar and a restaurant in the lodge.
Garden Place Hotel: It is located in Ruhengeri offering stylish accommodation to both holidays and business travelers. Visitors can easily access the hotel because it is about 30 minutes drive from the airport. The hotel features twenty-eight rooms with modern bathrooms having plenty of water and pressure. There is also a restaurant that serves all kinds of meals as well as the quality is legit.
Mountain Gorilla View Lodge: Mountain Gorilla View Lodge neighbors the Volcanoes National Park and it is located in the northern part of Rwanda. The Lodge offers thirty cottages which are made of stones and thatch. The main lodge has a restaurant serving complimentary meals as well as a bar.
Other great lodges that can be tried by the visitors include; Volcanoes Boutique Hotel, Gorilla Solution Lodge, Hotel Muhabura, Gorillas Volcanoes Hotel, and Le Bambou Gorilla Village.
Conclusion
Volcanoes National Park is one of the most visited national parks in Rwanda because of its diverse eco-systems. Visitors should always opt to check it out when it comes to mountain Gorilla trekking and hiking among others because you will have a splendor, adventurous and memorable experience of a lifetime.
