Basic Facts about Gorillas

Gorillas (family Hominidae) are one of the four species of great apes that are the closest living relatives of humans. Gorillas have arms, Read More

Where to see Gorillas

Eastern lowland gorillas are found in part of the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Uganda and Rwanda, while mountain gorillas are only found within the Virunga. Read More

Gorilla Trekking Safaris

No other wildlife encounter in Africa matches the astounding experience of spending time face-to-face with wild gorillas. Read More

Don’t Miss Kwita Izina 2019

Please mark the date! next year, 2nd September 2018, Rwanda will host the 14th Kwita Izina. This gorilla naming ceremony is one of the biggest tourism events. Read More

Best Time for a gorilla trek

There has been an ongoing debate on what is the best time to trek or track gorillas in Rwanda. Several arguments and opinions have been voiced in different avenues. Read More

What is included on a gorilla permit

How to aquire a gorilla permit is information prepared by Gorilla Adventure tours to guide you on how you can successfully get your Rwanda gorilla permit. Read More

Agashya Mountain Gorilla Family

This family initially had 13 mountain gorilla members and it was then called 13 group however the mountain gorilla numbers increased and today the family has 25 individual members including a dominant silverback, 12 females, 3 youth gorillas and 7 young ones. The dominant silverback Agashya won the leadership crown after over powering the then group leader Nyakairima in a deadly fight. After winning, Agashya decided to move the gorilla family uphill for protection against any intruders.
Agashya is very ambitious and with his efforts, he managed to increase the mountain gorilla numbers in his family from 12 to 25. Agashya is very protective of his gorilla family and once he senses any danger and intrusion, he moves with the whole mountain gorilla family uphill. This some times makes it harder for tourists to trek this gorilla family.

Susa A Mountain Gorilla Family 

This mountain gorilla family lives at a relatively higher altitude and most challenging mountain gorilla group to trek. The family was researched on and made famous by Dian Fossey an American zoologist who had taken long studying the mountain gorillas in Rwanda with her research base at Karisoke.
Initially with the highest mountain gorilla population – 42 mountain gorilla individuals, the Susa family was reduced to 28 individuals including 3 silverbacks 3 male mountain gorillas).
This mountain gorilla family was named Susa after river Susa that flows in the proximity of this mountain gorilla family. The Susa gorilla family has some of the oldest habituated mountain gorillas and its very famous for her twin mountain gorillas (Impano and Byishimo). Since the Susa family is hard to get to, it can be best trekked by the physically fit and adventurous tourists capable of hiking for a long time. For easy trekking of the mountain gorillas in the Susa family, trackers first go ahead of the tourists to trace where the family is and then directs the tourists accordingly.

Trekking the Susa family is offers exciting moments especially as tourists watch the twin mountain gorillas jump and play around. Other gorilla individuals in the family are seen either feeding or relaxing around the thickets.

Volcanoes National Park

The most famous destination in Rwanda, Volcanoes National Park has become synonymous with mountain gorilla tracking safaris and no visit to the country would be complete without visiting these majestic primates.

Volcanoes National Park is the Rwandan section of the great volcanic massif called the Virunga Mountains that straddles the borders of Rwanda, Uganda and the DRC. The massif covers a huge area of over 8,000km², encompassing six active and three extinct volcanoes. Gorillas, of course, pay no heed to borders and are known to cross between the countries, although most habituated groups are to be found in Volcanoes National Park. The massif is home to around half of the world’s precious mountain gorillas – some 400 of them – making Rwanda probably the best place in Africa for a tracking safari.

Volcanoes National Park also has a historic connection with gorilla conservation. It was the base for the ground-breaking work of primatologist Dian Fossey which started in the late 1960s and is evocatively portrayed in the book and film Gorillas in the Mis

Mgahinga Gorilla National Park

Mgahinga gorilla national park is located in the south western part of Uganda in Kisoro district and it is the smallest National park of the 3 national parks in the Virunga conservation area the other two parks are Virunga National park in DRC and Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda and all form 434-sq.km of this conservation area. The park was established in 1991 and it is governed by the Uganda Wildlife Authority with a size of 33.7-sq. km and it lies between altitudes 2,227m and 4,127m. It covers 3 of the Virunga volcanoes which are Mt. Muhavura (4,127), Mt. Gahinga (3,474), and Mt. Sabinyo (3,645).

The name Mgahinga was derived from the Kinyarwanda word “Gahinga” that means “Pile of volcanic lava stone heaps where cultivation is carried out”. To add on “Sabinyo” means “the old man’s teeth” and “Muhavura” means “Guide”. Mgahinga National park was established majorly to protect the mountain gorillas and in this same park also endangered Golden monkeys have made it their habitat.

It is really a stunning place with the three volcanoes as earlier mentioned where by hiking to the top of them gives an unforgettable experience. The Gahinga has a beautiful swamp at the top, Muhavura has a crater lake and the Sabinyo gives you the best and amazing experience ever whereby climbing to its summit you set a foot in 3 countries; Uganda DRC and Rwanda. Also along the slopes there are great scenic views of vegetation.

Mgahinga National Park is has about 39 mammals of these including the Mountain gorillas, buffaloes and elephants, also endangered golden monkeys. Others include; giant forest hogs, bushbucks, leopards, spotted hyenas, black fronted duikers among others. It also has around 79 bird species.

While in the park there is only one group that is tracked which is the Nyakagezi gorilla group, years before this group of Gorillas could move from country to country until it has to make Mgahinga its home, now also permits for tracking gorillas in this park are now available in Uganda and you are advised to book in advance.

How to get to Mgahinga

Volcanoes National Park is located in a small village called Musanze previously well-known as Ruhengeri, which is very accessible by public transport from Gisenyi or Kigali or from the airport. The drive to Volcanoes national park is 2 hrs and hence one can do gorilla tracking on the same day and drive back to Kigali after the trek. You will be required to arrive at the headquarters of ORTPN in Kinigi, at the park entrance, by 7:00 am, therefore, if you hope to trek gorillas for one day, you have to wake up very early for your journey so that you are on time. However, there isn’t any public transport from Musanze to the headquarters of the park at Kinigi

How to get to Mgahinga

The park is 510km away from Kampala the capital of Uganda and you can get there by Road or Air.

On road, it is approximately a 9-10hours drive from Kampala to Mgahinga, that is around 8 hours to Kabale town covering 434km and there are more 76km to Kisoro town, this route is tarmacked and a bit mountainous and steep.

Mountain Gorillas in are the most intriguing mammals on earth and second rarest of all gorilla species. They are mostly located on the slopes of the Virunga volcano region an extremely diverse ecosystem comprising of 3 gorilla parks including Volcanoes national park in Rwanda, Bwindi impenetrable forest and Mgahinga forests of Uganda and finally the Virunga national park in Congo. Our safaris take tourists and hike through mountainous bamboo rain forests to see gorillas in Rwanda’s Volcanoes national park. On the other hand, Bwindi has a thick rain forest which hosts almost a half of the remaining Mountain Gorillas and can be accessed from both Uganda and Rwanda. Alternatively the Virunga national park is another spot you can watch these gentle apes and here acquiring a gorilla permit is lower than its counterparts of Rwanda and Uganda although access to this park is either from Uganda or Rwanda. In all these parks, Golden monkey tracking can be done but on an extra fee. In Rwanda, Hiking mount Bisoke, Mount Karisimbi, Mount Muhabura, Mount Nyiragongo in Congo, are more activities you can have in these park areas.