VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK
This 160km² national park protects the Rwandan sector of the Virunga Mountains, range of six extinct and three active volcanoes which straddles the borders with Uganda and the DRC. The Volcanoes Park is part of a contiguous 433km² Trans frontier conservation unit that also includes the Virungas National Park and Mgahinga National Park, which protects the DRC and Ugandan sectors of the Virungas respectively. The three national parks are managed separately today ( that is if the word “managed can be applied to any park in the DRC at the time of writing). Prior to 1960, however, the Volcanoes and Virungas Parks together formed the Albert National Park.
Under Belgian colonization, the Albert National Park was established by the decree of 21 April 1925 in the triangle (considered a gorilla sanctuary ) formed by the Karisimbi, Mikeno and Visoke volcanoes. At the time of its creation it was the first national park in Africa to be known as such. The institute dup arc national Albert was created by decree on 9 July 1929. A further decree on 12 November 1935 determined the final boundaries of the Albert National Park, then covering 809,000ha. About 8% of the park lay in what is now Rwanda and today constitutes the Volcanoes National Park, while the rest was in the Congo. At the time of independence, Rwanda’s new leaders confirmed that they would maintain the (the mountain gorillas were already well known international) despite the pressing problem of overpopulation.
Ranging in altitude from 2400km to 4,507 the Volcanoes National Park is dominated by the setting of volcanoes after which it is named. This chain of steep, all free standing mountains linked by fertile saddles which were formed by solidified lava flows , is one of the most stirring and memorable sights in East Africa . The tallest mountain in the chain, and the most westerly part of the national park, is Karisimbi on the border with the DRC. Moving eastward, the other main peaks within the national park are Visoke on the DRC border; Sabinyo at the juncture of Rwanda, Uganda and the DRC, and Gahinga and Muhabura on the Uganda border.
The Volcanoes National Park is best known to the outside world as the place where for almost 20yrs the American primatologist Dian Fossey under took her pioneering studies of mountain gorilla behaviour. It is largely thanks to Fossey’s single-mindedness that poaching was curtailed while there were still some gorillas to save. For her dedication , Fossey would pay the ultimate price still some gorillas still unsolved – murder at the Karisoke Research Centre in December 1985 is generally thought to have been the work of one of the many poachers with whom she crossed swords in her efforts to save her gorillas.
Three years after her death, Fossey’s life work was exposed to a mass audience with the release of Gorilla in the mist, a cinematic account of her life filmed on location in the Volcanoes Park. Gorilla in the Mist drew global attention to the plight of the mountain gorilla and generated unprecedented interest in the gorilla tourism programme that had been established in the park some ten years earlier. In 1990, the
Volcanoes Park was the best organised and most popular gorilla sanctuary in Africa and gorilla tourism was probably Rwanda’s leading earner of tourist revenue.
The wheels came off in February 1992, when the park headquarters were attached, two park employees were killed, and the research centre established by Dian Fossey had to be evacuated. The park reopened to tourism in June 1993, but it was evacuated in April 1994 because of the genocide. In late 1995, it once again reopened to tourism, only to close again a few months later. Gorilla tracking was finally resumed on a permanent basis in July 1999, since when the number of tourists visiting the Virungas has increased rapidly. More details of gorillas and gorilla-tracking follow later in this section.
Gorillas and golden monkeys aside, primates are poorly represented by comparison with other forests in Rwanda and Western Uganda. Little information is available regarding the current status of other large mammals, but 70-plus species have been recorded in Uganda’s neighbouring Mgahinga National Park, most of which probably only occur in the larger Rwanda section of the Virungas. Elephant and buffalo are still quite common; judging by the amount of spoor encountered on forest trails, but is very timid and infrequently observed. Also present are giant forest hog, bush pig, bushbuck, black-fronted duiker, spotted hyena, and several varieties of small predator. Recent extinctions, probably as a result of deforestation, include the massive yellow-backed duiker and leopard.
A bird checklist
for volcanoes National Park compiled in 1980 totaled 180 species. About 15 previously recorded species were noted during a 2004 biodiversity survey, but it is possible that several other forest specialists have vanished since 1980. A local specialty is the vulnerable swamp-dwelling Grauer’s rush warbler, while at least 16 Albertine Rift endemic are present, including handsome francolin, Rwenzori turaco, Ruwenzori double –collared sunbird, Ruwenzori batis, strange weaver, dusky crimson-wing, collared apalis, red-faced woodland warbler and Archer’s ground robin.
Gorilla tracking
Remains the most popular activity here, with a total of up to 40 permits issued daily, eight for each of the five habituated troops. But Volcanoes National Park is not just about mountain gorillas. Tourists who previously came for just one night can now stay for four or five and still not run out of things to do. Trekking, walking and climbing are now well organised, from a two-day ascent of Karisimbi to a non-strenuous nature walk to a cluster of crater later, but the most exciting innovation is that tourists can now visit habituated troop of the near-endemic golden monkey. Click here for gorilla tracking safaris in Rwanda.
GETTING THERE AND AWAY
The normal base for visiting the Volcanoes Park is Musanze (formerly Ruhengeri), which can easily be reached on public transport from Gisenyi, Kigali on the day you track (you need to be at the ORTPN office in Kinigi, by the park entrance, by 07.00), but this isn’t a reliable option using public transport. There is no public transport between Musanze and the park headquarters at Kinigi.
WHERE TO STAY AND EAT
There is no accommodation within the national park and overnight camping is forbidden. Check with ORTPN about camping possibilities nearby. For those on a restricted budget, the best option is to overnight in Musanze, but smarter and more convenient accommodation is available near the park headquarters at Kinigi or at the superior but more distant Virunga Lodge overlooking Lake Burera. It is also possible to stay in Gisenyi or Kigali the night before trek, but this is not so realistic as it used to be now that the assembly time has shifted from 08.00 to 07.00- you need to allow at least two hours for the drive from Kigali and 90 minutes from Gisenyi, and would most likely be late in the event of a breakdown or puncture.
Hiking
Several non-gorillas –related hikes are now offered to visitors. The ascent of Karisimbi is a two-day excursion costing US$150; ORTPN will provide guides but trekkers should have suitable clothing and camping equipment. A shorter option (costing US$50) is the ascent of Mount Visoke to its crater late at 3,711m; the upward climb takes about two hours. For the less energetic, walks of about two and a half hours (US$30) to the nearer crater lakes and in the forest are thoroughly enjoyable and will be particularly rewarding to birdwatchers!
It is also possible to visit Dian Fossey’s tomb and the adjacent gorilla cemetery at the former Karisoke Research Camp. This trek costs US$50 per person and involves a 30-minute drive from the park headquarters to the trailhead than a 10-minute stroll to the park boundary. From here, the ascent through the forest takes anything from 90 minutes to three hours, depending on your fitness and how often you stop to enjoy the scenery, while the descent takes 1-2 hours. Fossey’s old living quarter – which she nicknamed the mausoleum – is now a ruin, while several other landmarks in the camp are signposted.
In addition to the fees listed above, all activities attract a daily park entrance of US$25. All arrangements for these activities can be made through the ORTPN offices, whether in Kigali, Musanze or Kinigi (if you want to pay by MasterCard that can be done in Kigali). Note that all hikes depart from the park headquarters at Kiningi at round 07.30 (check-in-time 07.00), the same departure time as for gorilla tracking, which means that visitors can undertake only one activity per day within the park.
Parc devocanoes gorilla tracking park, Nyungwe national Park, Lake Kivu and Akagera National Parks. 
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