Congo gorilla treks are exceptional in a way that travelers have a chance to meet and interact with two gorilla species unlike in other destination. Gorilla trekking can be done in Virunga National Park for mountain gorillas or eastern lowland gorillas in Kahuzi Biega National Park. Also, the two gorilla tours can be combined to ensure a more magical gorilla encounter.
The Virunga National Park can be accessed from Kisoro town in Southwestern Uganda. Kisoro town (Nearby town to the Boarder) is 2-3 hour drive from Kigali in Rwanda, and 6-8 hours from Kampala (Uganda’s Capital). The gorilla trekking rules and regulations in Congo are similar to those in Uganda and Rwanda and travelers must follow to ensure successful and peaceful encounters.
Congo’s Virunga National Park is home to 8 habituated gorilla families available for tracking all year round. Just like all 3 locations in central and East Africa where gorilla tourism takes place, gorilla trekking in Congo is a strictly run gorilla conservation project based on gorilla protection and safety. The guide, trackers, armed guards (to protect against threatening elephants) and porters lead visitors to where a family of the gorillas is located. Gorilla Permits into Congo cost $400 Per Person, which today stands as the cheapest option to see gorillas in their natural habitat.
Eastern lowland gorillas are peaceful and quiet apes – They can bark, roar or scream when the need arises. Gorillas never attack or become aggressive without provocation. The males may fight over females once in a while but only occasionally. Gorillas communicate using a variety of sounds or body language. They spend their day grooming, climbing, swinging on tree tops and playfully chasing each other. Their diet consists of leaves, stems, fruit and shrubs. They live in groups that are led by a dominant silverback. The other males in the group can choose to live as bachelor in the group before hopefully taking over from the dominant silverback or leave to find mates.
Mount Nyiragongo is a magnificent active volcano that features the world’s largest lava lake making it one of the few volcanoes in Africa that offers some of the top hiking and climbing possibilities. Standing as one of the great geological mysteries in the history of volcanic expedition is located in the Democratic Republic of Congo inside the greater Virunga National park about 20kms north of the town of Goma and lake Kivu just on the western border of Rwanda. Goma is lies on the northern shores of Lake Kivu only one kilometer from the Rwandan border next to the town of Gisenyi.
The beautiful strato volcano is famous for persistent active volcanic activity in its huge crater lake on top of the summit any volcanic enthusiast would look no further but to peer down into the churning lava lake and see, hear hot gases exploding up gives you a chance of rare photography. Although predictable and safe for tourists, the time required to reach the summit depends on the normal fitness of each group of visitors. The topography changes in stages right through the climb, thick jungle filled with very big ant colonies and open out trees that house some reptiles.
The volcano’s forested lower slopes are a home to a variety of animals such as the bush bucks, the blue monkeys, colobus monkeys and baboons including man’s closest ape the chimpanzees offer a thrilling opportunity to experience the far-reaching views of the western arm of the Albertine rift while emerging up to the ascent of a 1.2 km diameter summit teemed with devoid vegetation of heather and ferns recovering from the remarkable violent volcanic eruptions.