KL's Travelogue: 20091128 Volcanoes National Park

With colleagues and friends, 6 of us had visited the Volcanoes National Park for the last mountain gorillas on earth. We spent a night at Gorillas-Volcanoes Hotel (USD 110), but the mosquitoes in the room kept me awake almost throughout the night.

All tourists have to report themselves at ORTPN office (Rwanda Office of Tourism and National Parks). We were told only 7 Gorilla groups were open to the tourists presently, ranged from 7 to 20 gorillas each. Max 8 tourists were allowed to visit per group per day. The one we were going to spent with named Umubano, comprised of 11 members including 2 babies. Our guide was Felix.

After half an hour drive on the so-called “African massage” service road, we parked our cars at a village. The guide “advised” us to hire a watchman to look after our cars, this cost of EUR 5 was kind of blackmailing, I believed.

The trekking took approx 1.5hr. The sceneries were great, passing through green farms and villages, kids were asking for money or shoes or pen. Guide explained the diets of the gorilla, and reminded us repeatedly of our behavior for safety and conservation sake.

Some parts of the trek were full of mud, but much better than my expectation. The final stretch was a little challenging when climbing up very steep slopes. The weather turned cloudy, light showering. The Silverback (leader of the group) was the 1st gorilla we have spotted, sitting just 3m from us. This lazy beast sat idly crossing his arms with head bowing down because of the rain. Other gorilla members were scattered around. Our cameras clicked non-stop. We had only a small place to stand, and not allowed to move somewhere else. We were only allowed to stay 1 hr with the gorilla, said not to overstress the beast.

With my resident visa, I paid USD 250 for the visit permit, otherwise USD 500 would be charged to the tourist. I think the price is OK, considering this was an opportunity of the life time.

Felix explained the enormous efforts were being carried out to protect these primates. The statistic shows more than 700 gorillas are living presently in Uganda and Rwanda… couldn’t remember what he said about Congo statistic. A certificate was given to each participant end of the trip.

(the photos below are partly collected from my colleagues and friends).