Gorilla Trekking Hack – How to See Gorillas in Rwanda for $75
If you’re anything like us, you may have found yourself in East Africa wanting to go gorilla trekking but unwilling to pay the crazy price tag that comes with it. With prices between $700 – $1500 USD, any long-term traveller knows how far this sort of money can get you!
Fortunately, there’s hope for us yet. Read on for an awesome hack that might have you seeing mountain gorillas for just $75 USD. Yep, you read the correctly, $75 USD!
Rwanda Travel Resources
- Getting there: search for flights to Rwanda
- Where to stay: find a guesthouse, hostel or hotel
- Guidebook: pick up a copy of Bradt’s Rwanda
- How to get around: rent a car or 4WD
- Travel insurance: get travel insurance for your trip
- Money: get a Wise travel card to save big time in Rwanda
- Gear: pick up a Steripen for clean water 24/7
Regular Gorilla Trekking
With only 1000 left in the world, mountain gorillas are listed as an endangered species by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). And they’re not just scarce – they only live in the wild in 3 countries in the entire world: the DRC, Rwanda and Uganda.
So, for those of you out there wanting to see these bad boys (and girls) in the wild, your options are limited to one of these 3 countries.
Read about How to Go Chimpanzee Trekking for $20
Gorilla Trekking in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)
Gorilla trekking in the DRC has been an on-again, off-again thing for a while now and was once the preferred choice for budget travellers. While it’s still possible to go gorilla trekking in the DRC, the recent political unrest has made it more complicated to do so (i.e., Virunga National Park is closed and you have to venture further south).
This leaves just Rwanda and Uganda as the main contenders to spot mountain gorillas in the wild.
Gorilla Trekking in Rwanda and Uganda
In true East African form, Rwanda recently skyrocketed the price of their gorilla trekking permits to $1500, while Uganda’s gorilla trekking permits (currently $800 USD) continue to steadily climb. What this means is that if you want to go on a pure gorilla-spotting trek in either country, be prepared to spend a lot of your hard-earned dough to do so.
Read next: The Ultimate Guide to Hiking the Congo Nile Trail
Rwanda Gorillas Budget Hack: The Rumour
During our overlanding travels in Africa, we heard repeated rumours of a potential hack to the Rwanda gorilla trekking experience.
The basis of the rumour is essentially this: Rwanda’s mountain gorilla population (over 400 of them) is entirely concentrated in Volcanoes National Park. While securing a gorilla trekking permit is very costly ($1500 USD), it’s waayy cheaper to simply book one of the several hikes in Volcanoes National Park and take your chances at seeing gorillas along the way.
Never the type to shy away from a challenge, we decided to put this to the test.
Travelling to Zambia? Read our list of the Best Alternative Things to Do in Zambia
Rwanda Gorillas Budget Hack: Our Experience
After doing a little digging, the Mount Bisoke trek seemed to offer the greatest chance of spotting mountain gorillas of all the hikes in Volcanoes National Park. Therefore, we hopped online and booked our $75 USD Mount Bisoke trekking permit. The following week we arrived at Volcanoes National Park at 7 a.m. to head out out on our hike.
Read all about hiking Mount Bisoke
Creating an incentive
Before taking off, I asked our guide if we’d get to see any gorillas. He glanced at me with a coy smile and a shrug and said “maybe”. I then let him know that if we did get lucky enough to spot one, I would give him a big tip.
Note: the reason I did this is because I’d been told that the Rwanda gorillas are tracked using GPS. Therefore, it wouldn’t be hard for our guide to know if we came close to any.
Our hike to the summit, while pleasant enough, was relatively uneventful. After summiting and making our way back down, I was beginning to lose hope of seeing any gorillas. Just as I found myself saying, “oh well, it was worth a shot”, BOOM, to our left, was a family of several gorillas, including a massive silverback!
Ok, the gorilla family was still 20 or so meters away, but we had a good view of them. We’d also heard that if you see gorillas during the hike, you’re only allowed to spend 15 minutes with them and you’re not allowed to take any photos (this is actually detailed in the Mount Bisoke hiking permit). However, these rules weren’t enforced for us as we took many photos and spent around 20 minutes with them. It was a really cool experience!
How good are your chances of seeing Rwanda gorillas?
Now, we have no idea of the odds or percentages here, but we reckon they’re okay. Many people we met have seen them en route and so did we. For example, we had a man in our group who had done the trek before and saw gorillas. Now, he’s seen them 2 out of 2 times. We had another lady in our group who had two different friends who had done the hike previously. One saw gorillas, the other didn’t.
For us, the odds seemed high enough to be worth the gamble.
Read about Visiting a Himba Tribe in Namibia
Other Rwanda Gorillas Budget Hacks
We’ve also heard of hikers on other trails in Volcanoes National Park spotting gorillas. This includes the hike up Mount Sabyinyo and the hike to Diane Fossey’s grave.
The day before our hike, we met a couple who hiked Mount Sabyinyo and saw gorillas on the first 10 minutes of the hike. This sounds like a rarer chance, but it’s still worth noting.
How to Use Our Gorilla Trekking Budget Hack
Now that we’ve got your attention and your interest in hiking Mount Bisoke to spot gorillas, we’ll detail all you need to know about the hike.
Best Time to go Gorilla Trekking
The best time to go gorilla trekking in Rwanda is during one of its two dry seasons. The long dry season is from June to September and the short dry season is from December to February. During this time, you have the best chance of clear weather (although rain can always happen!) and the trail will be relatively dry.
If you end up gorilla trekking in Volcanoes National Park during the rainy season, expect muddy and slippery conditions.
How to Book Mount Bisoke
The Mount Bisoke hike can be booked directly through Volcanoes National Park. Permits must be purchased ahead of time through this link. We believe that up to 30 permits are issued each day, however, we only had 11 people in our group.
We suggest that people book their permits at least one week in advance in order to secure their desired dates.
You can pay for your online booking with a credit card. However, if like us, your card is blocked online in foreign countries, we recommend using a Wise card. It’s what we do and it’s never let us down.
Of course, you can always arrange a hike to Mount Bisoke as part of a tour and there are many on offer!
How to get to Volcanoes National Park
To get to Volcanoes National Park, you must first get to Ruhengeri (aka Musanze).
It’s pretty easy to get to Ruhengeri from most places in Rwanda.
From Kigali, there are frequent buses to Ruhengeri departing from the main bus station in Nyabugogo. Each bus company has their own office, just look out for the signs that say “Kigali-Musanze.” The journey should take around 2 hours.
From Gisenyi, buses that are bound for Kigali pass through Ruhengeri.
If you’d like to book in advance, check fares here.
Once you’ve reached Ruhengeri, you’ll need to take a moto-taxi to Volcanoes National Park headquarters (where you’ll meet the team on the day).
How difficult is the Mount Bisoke hike?
As always, this depends on your experience. We found it moderate, but others in our group found it very hard. The trail can be very steep, slippery and muddy and there is a lot of elevation to gain and lose over a short distance.
Also, you need to be really careful with your footing. This is where hiking poles can come in handy. It’s also possible to hire a porter ($10 USD pp) to assist with the challenging sections.
Travel insurance, as always, is essential. If something goes wrong, you want to be covered. We use and recommend SafetyWing. Trust us, we’ve used a lot of travel insurance and they really are the best.
How good is the hike up Mount Bisoke?
Strictly as a hike, we found the Mount Bisoke hike to be good but not great. The crater lake is nice to see and there are good views from the summit (weather dependent) but it’s unlikely to blow your mind. So at an expensive $75 USD is Mount Bisoke worth it?
Overall though, yes, it is worth it. Why? This is because, ah hello, there’s a chance to see gorillas – which usually costs $1500 USD, so why not take the chance!?!?
What to pack for Mount Bisoke
What to Wear
It’s cold up at the summit, plus the trail is muddy, so you’ll want to wear the right clothes. We recommend the following:
What to Bring
Where to Stay Near Mount Bisoke
Budget
Kinigi Asoferwa Lodge
This lodge is a popular spot for camping (in the parking lot). At $ 10 USD pp (negotiable), it’s a good option as the views are nice and it’s a 5-minute walk to Volcanoes National Park headquarters. We don’t recommend getting a room here though.
Mid-range
This is the favourite amongst Rwanda’s expats, with clean and affordable rooms.
High-end
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. This means that if you buy or book anything through them, we’ll earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. This helps us run this website and create comprehensive guides to help you get off the beaten track. We only recommend products and/or services that we use ourselves and trust.
