Getting to Volcanoes National Park
Getting to Volcanoes National Park is simple and straightforward though the routes have many corners but they roads are well tarmaced. Volcanoes national park is a haven for the rare and endangered species of mountain gorillas and golden monkeys and is located in the North Western region of Rwanda in Ruhengeri – Musanze district with headquarters in kinigi. Volcano national park also covers districts like burera, rubavu and nyabihu and it is 65 miles (105 km) from Kigali the capital city bordering Uganda mgahinga gorilla national park and Virunga national park of democratic republic of Congo. These three gorilla homes fall under one region called the Virunga conservation area.
Volcano national park is more famous for the endangered gorillas and Rwanda as a country has earned a lot of foreign exchanges for the park since it most visited destination in Rwanda by tourists interested in gorilla trekking. Volcanoes national park harbors more than 40% of mountain gorillas’ population in the world though it is also a home for other animals like golden monkeys, elephants, reptiles, birds and many more.
Volcanoes national park is also known as Parc National Des Volcans and can be accessed both by road and air. For foreigners and you need to have a valid passport with a visa which can be arranged by your tour operator. You will also need a yellow fever card from your home country. A Rwandan tourist visa can be purchased online and costs USD 145 for East Africa visaS & USD 75 for an e-visa.
Getting to Volcanoes National Park by Air: The international airport of Kigali is the main gate away located in Kigali the capital city and nearest to the park, from the airport it’s a 2 hour drive. Many airlines do conduct daily trips to Rwanda at reasonable prices depending on choice of class and comfort for example KLM airline, Brussels Airlines, Kenya Airways, Qatar Airways flights, Ethiopian Airlines flights, RwandAir, Turkish Airlines and South African Airways.
Getting to Volcanoes National Park by road: You can access volcanoes national park using any means of road transport. It is the only quick and cheapest means of transport there, from the airport and needs you to board a bus to musanze town which is two hours’ drive. It is advisable to talk to your tour operator and use a hired car since from musanze town there is no public means of transport to kinigi park headquarters.
Many companies offer rental cars at a fair price less than USD 50. Kingi is 12km north of musanze in Ruhengeri and due to good road conditions it is possible for tourists especially gorilla trekkers to trek and drive back to Kigali on that same exact day. Buses operated by Virunga district service run trips from musanze to kinigi with the first departure at 6am for RWF 350 and the trip takes 35 minutes.
