3 Day Gorilla Trekking Rwanda with IMANI TOURS

Included and Paid on Top

Included in the $1,460: airport or hotel pickup and drop-off, the Kigali city tour with the Genocide Memorial and Kimironko market, the twin lakes Burera and Ruhondo visit, driver-guide service, meals as per itinerary and two lodge nights. Not included: personal expenses and tips. Paid on top: the gorilla permit at $1,500 and the golden monkey permit at $100 per person, plus any visa and porter fees. Porters are available at the park to carry packs and help on the route, and no official fee is printed.

The listing's included items do not list either permit, so plan to buy both separately. Every other figure on this page treats permits as extra. Ask the operator to confirm in writing before you pay.

Drinks and Extras

The listing does not state that drinks are included. The What to bring list tells you to carry a packed lunch, which suggests lunch is not provided on trek day beyond the hot lunch at the lodge afterwards. Ask the operator what drinks at the lodge and on the road cost, because that is not stated either.

Visa and Health

Rwanda allows citizens of all countries to get a visa on arrival without a prior application, with fees capped at $50 single entry or $70 multiple entry. AU, Commonwealth and La Francophonie citizens get a free 30-day visa. If you might add Uganda, the $100 East Africa Tourist Visa covers Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya for three months and is issued by the first country of entry.

Travelers from countries with yellow fever risk need a valid certificate, and Rwanda Migration advises carrying the certificate even from non-endemic countries. CDC recommends malaria prophylaxis for Rwanda and hepatitis A and typhoid vaccines for most travelers.

Permit Deadline and Money

Book the gorilla permit as early as you can, because only 96 are sold per day. On the RDB portal you pay 40 to 99 percent when a slot opens and the balance before 30 days to confirm. Rescheduling a confirmed permit costs a 20 percent processing fee, approved automatically more than 7 days out.

No refund is made for late arrivals or flight delays, so build slack into your flight plans. Cash payment at the park is not permitted.

Kit and Fitness

The listing asks you to bring comfortable shoes, a camera, sunscreen, a packed lunch and insect repellent. For steep wet forest add waterproof clothing, long sleeves, gloves and hiking boots, and gumboots, raincoats and gloves can be hired at park headquarters. The listing warns that gorilla trekking is physically demanding and that the weather is unpredictable.

It is not suitable for pregnant women, people with mobility impairments or people with heart problems, and it carries no stated minimum age, so confirm with the operator that everyone in your party is at least 15. Altitude sickness is a risk in parts of Rwanda and only limited medical facilities are available, so walk slowly and drink plenty of water.

Day by Day

Day 1 starts with pickup at your Kigali hotel or the airport by your driver-guide. You do a city tour taking in the Kigali Genocide Memorial and Kimironko local market, have lunch, then drive to Volcanoes National Park for dinner and your first lodge night. Visit Rwanda calls the drive north about three hours.

Day 2 begins with a drive to the park headquarters for the gorilla briefing, then the trek, then a hot lunch at the lodge and an afternoon at the twin lakes of Bulera and Ruhondo. Day 3 is an early pickup for the golden monkey briefing at the park office, the monkey trek, then the drive back to Kigali with a lunch stop at a local restaurant before drop-off at your hotel or the airport.

Getting There

The RDB portal puts Musanze at a 90-minute drive from Kigali, and Kinigi headquarters sits 13 km beyond Musanze. The listing does not name its vehicle type or a departure time, so ask the operator both when you book.

What You See

This listing routes day 1 through the Kigali Genocide Memorial and Kimironko local market, with lunch before the drive. Comparable operator itineraries use the same pattern, a brief city tour covering the Gisozi Genocide Memorial Site and a local craft market, because most flights land in Kigali and the afternoon is too short for anything else.

The Time Budget

Volcanoes National Park is about 104 km from Kigali, roughly 3 hours by road because of speed limits. So a city stop of a few hours still gets you to the lodge for dinner if your flight lands in the morning. If you land after midday, ask the operator whether the city tour runs on day 1 or gets moved to the last day, because the listing does not say how it handles late arrivals.

Who Should Skip It

If you have already spent time in Kigali, you can save half a day by booking a tour that goes straight north, such as the Kingfisher 2-Day Gorilla and Golden Monkey Safari. That tour covers the same two treks in a shorter format.

The Rules on Trek Day

Report to the registration centre at park entry at 7:00 am, with the briefing at the RDB offices in Kinigi. Groups are capped at 8 visitors per gorilla family and viewing time is limited to one hour. Keep 7 metres, about 22 feet, from the gorillas.

The minimum age for gorilla tracking is 15 years, which is the park rule in both Rwanda and Uganda, so any age bands shown on a booking form are booking categories rather than the trek rule. Hikes last anywhere from 30 minutes to four or more hours at altitudes of 2,500 m to 4,000 m. Anyone with a cold, flu or other contagious illness is turned back, and wearing a facemask is part of the Gorilla Friendly Pledge.

Permits and How to Buy Them

The Rwanda gorilla permit costs $1,500 per person per day for foreign non-residents, and this tour does not include it. Only 96 permits are issued daily, eight per troop, and bookings are first come first served. You book on the RDB portal directly or through an operator as a package.

Advance booking works by paying 40 to 99 percent when a slot opens, with the balance due before 30 days to confirm. If you track all day and fail to find a family, 75 percent of the tracking fee is refunded. The golden monkey permit for this tour is a separate $100 for foreign visitors.

This route never leaves Rwanda, so there is no border crossing.

The Same Trip Across the Border

Uganda sells the same experience cheaper. The gorilla permit in Bwindi or Mgahinga costs $800 for foreign non-residents, dropping to $600 in April, May and November, bought from the Uganda Wildlife Authority through licensed operators only. Treks run 2 to 7 hours at lower altitude, Bwindi sits between 1,160 and 2,607 m, and visitors keep 10 m from the gorillas.

From Kigali you cross at the Katuna or Cyanika border posts. The Bugoli 1-Day Bwindi Gorilla Trek from Kigali costs $300 plus the $800 permit, and Uganda needs its own $50 visa or the $100 East Africa Tourist Visa. Look at Uganda if the permit price is your deciding factor, and at the 4-Day Rwanda and Uganda Gorilla Tour if you want to trek both countries in one trip, since it includes the Uganda permit and the Rwanda golden monkey permit.

Golden Monkey Tracking

This tour uses day 3 for golden monkey tracking in Volcanoes National Park. The trek reports at 7:00 am at Kinigi headquarters, takes a maximum of 16 people per group, has a minimum age of 12, and troupes can include up to 30 monkeys. The permit for foreign visitors is $100.

It is a shorter and easier outing than the gorilla trek, which suits travelers with tired legs on day 3.

Other Options on Other Tours

Other three-day itineraries fill day 3 with a cultural and community visit, sometimes with Intore dance, or a conservation stop. One operator route sends the afternoon to the Ellen DeGeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund to learn about conservation work. If a culture day matters more to you than monkeys, compare the Eco Adventure 3-Day Gorillas and Batwa Trip in Uganda, which adds a Batwa community visit.

Fitness Decides It

Gorilla groups for tracking are allocated depending on the guests' physical fitness. Rangers know where each habituated family spent the previous night, so they match the day's hike to the group in front of them. Volcanoes National Park has twelve gorilla families open to tourists, each with at least one silverback.

Asking for an Easier Trek

You can request a gorilla family to suit your fitness level, and the practical move is to tell your guide at the briefing or the evening before. Say plainly if you want the shortest possible hike. The trek itself can run between 90 minutes and the whole morning depending on the family assigned, so the request can save you several hours on steep ground.

Porters are available at the trailhead to carry backpacks and cameras and help on the route, which most first-time trekkers use regardless of fitness.