How to get to volcanoes national park
How to get to volcanoes national park , Volcanoes National park Rwanda is part of the great Virunga area , the virunga relief stretches through 5 volcanoes out of the 8 Virunga volcanoes shared by Uganda, democratic republic of Congo and Rwanda itself. Volcanoes national park stretches through districts of urera, Musanze, Rubavu and Nyabihu covering an area of 160 square kilometers, the park is situated in a small village of musanze formerly known as Ruhengeri that is 105 kilometers from kigali international airport.
Kigali international airport is located on the eastern edge of Kigali at kanombe approximately 5 kilometers from Kigali the capital city of Rwanda. Kigali international airport is the main serving international airport when entering and leaving Rwanda.
The park is a spectacular tourist destination and most loved by tourists in Rwanda, what makes this park more fascinating is that it is a home to the critically endangered mountain gorillas. Virunga national park is also a home to a variety of wildlife species such as buffaloes, black fronted duikers, bush bucks, giant forest hog, bush pigs, spotted hyenas and many more. Apart from animals the park is also to a wide range of bird species such as the Ruwenzori turaco, handsome francolin and many more which are of interest to tourists. In volcanoes national park a tourist can participate in many breath taking activities like mountain gorilla trekking, Dian Fossey tom hike, mount karisimbi and bisoke hike and many more
The park is accessed from Uganda, Kigali town of Rwanda and from democratic republic of Congo by either air or by road.
Kigali international airport
From Rwanda that is Kigali town
For tourists flying into Rwanda, the only main gate away is by using a flight to Kigali international airport which is 116.3 kilometers from the park, approximately 2-3 hours’ drive. From the airport you can use either public means of transport or privately hired transport means, there is many bus companies which connect to musanze village such as Virunga Express, Kigali bus service and Ritco buses at a reasonable price.
When you are coming from Gisenyi town it’s a 1-2 hours’ drive to Musanze via Ruhengeri- Gisenyi round and you can use Gisenyi buses.
From Uganda
From Uganda Volcanoes national park is accessed by either road or transport, this applies to tourists who have combine safari to both Uganda and Rwanda, the park is at a distance of 518.7 kilometers a 9 hours 7 minute drive from Kampala the capital city of Uganda and can be accessed by air or road according to the preference of the tourist.
- By road
From Uganda, by road the park is accessed using kabale-mbarara road. When driving you cross through Kampala, Mpigi, Masaka, Mbarara, kabale, Kisoro districts to cyanika border where you cross over into Rwanda. After cross cyanika border you embark on a 1 hour’s drive to the headquarters of Volcanoes national park, when travelling to the park you can use either public transport means or private means. By public means there are many bus companies offering transportation to Rwanda at a reasonable fare, for private means of transport you can use a private car offered to you by your travel agency.
- By air
By air there are many airlines offering scheduled flights from Uganda to Rwanda’s Kigali international airport, airlines offering flights such Uganda airlines, Rwandair, Ethiopian airways, Kenya airways and many more.
From musanze village there is no public means of transport to connect to the park’s headquarters in kinigi, you will use a cab to connect to the park’s headquarters for an amazing safari experience.
Volcanoes national park can also be accessed from democratic republic of Congo, especially for tourists on a safari incorporating Virunga national park and Volcanoes. From democratic republic of Congo a tourist can use both air and road transport. Crossing over from democratic republic of Congo to volcanoes national park is a drive of 8-9 hour’s covering a distance of 386.2 kilometers, you cross over to Uganda from Congo and connect to volcanoes national park via Ntungamo- Katunguru road.
By air you can use a flight from Goma airport to Kigali international airport or you can cross over to Uganda and get a flight from Entebbe to Kigali international airport and then connect to the park.
VISIT VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK FOR A MAGICAL EXPERIENCE AS YOU ENCOUNTER THE BEAUTIFUL HUGE PRIMATES THE MOUNTAIN GORLLAS, GOLDEN MONKEYS, THE MESMERISING SCENICC VIEW, WILDLIFE VIEWING AND MANY MORE.
