2 Days Gorilla trekking in Volcanoes Trip Report by Kato Peter Guide

On the first day, l picked the client Kay at Sambora Hotel with her packed breakfast at 6:30am early in the morning. Before leaving the hotel, l briefed her about the whole trip plan and then l took her to the Volcanoes headquarters for pre-trekking briefings, where we both attended our briefings respectively. I got her the best gorilla family, she wanted the lgisha family which is dominated by the sliverback Igisha and it has a lot of playful babies.

After our briefings, we went into our car and drove to the starting point. After trekking from Karisimbi mountain, l drove her back to Sambora hotel to pick her luggage and transferred her to One and Only hotel where we were given a warm welcome and she had a beautiful night.

The following day at 6:30am, l drove her back to the Volcanoes headquarters to do her last gorilla trekking and we were given Umubano gorilla family dominated by Charles (silverback). It’s one of the cooperative family. After trekking, l drove her back to One and Only hotel to have her lunch.

Kay was very excited, she felt like it was magical and she couldn’t believe that she had looked directly into the eyes of the gentle and calm silverback. She was also overwhelmed to see the silverback watching over its family, the juveniles playing and the mothers breastfeeding their babies. She said that she felt emotional seeing our close relatives in their natural homes. After her trekking experience, we drove back to the hotel and l gave her enough time to relax. She checked out at One and only hotel during evening hours and l drove her to Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda. On the way, we made a stopover at Sooko centre, along Kigali-Musanze highway to stretch a little bit, buy snacks, coffee and use washrooms. We then continued with our journey to Radisson Blue hotel and convention centre in Kigali. It took us 3 hours to reach because it was raining heavily but everything went well.

Kay was friendly and caring, with a mind full of wonder and a heart full of excitement, ready to explore. It was such a great experience with her. Overall, the trip was successful and memorable. Thank you so much Kay for choosing and entrusting Active African Vacations and Volcanoes National Park.

Special thanks to Mr. Billy Ssali, an expert in organizing trips, Agnes, Grace and other staff members for entrusting me and I am eager to contribute to the team’s success and look forward to a productive collaboration.

Yours faithfully,
Kato Peter
Tour guide, Active African Vacations