3-Day Rwanda Gorilla & Golden Monkey Trekking - Volcanoes National Park

On arrival at Kigali International Airport, your guide meets you and provides a briefing. Depending on your arrival time, a Kigali city tour can be arranged, with options including the Kigali Genocide Memorial, the Kimironko craft market, and the Kandt National Museum. After lunch in Kigali, the drive to Musanze in the Northern Province takes approximately two hours through Rwanda's rolling green hills. En route, an optional stop at the Ellen DeGeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund — a conservation research facility near Musanze — provides context for the gorilla trekking ahead. Dinner and overnight near Volcanoes National Park.

Distance: Approximately 2 hours from Kigali to Musanze

Activity: Optional Kigali city tour; drive to Musanze; optional Dian Fossey Fund campus visit

Accommodation: Lodge or hotel near Volcanoes National Park, Musanze

Meals: Half Board

After breakfast, transfer to the Rwanda Development Board headquarters at Kinigi by 7:00 AM for the morning briefing on gorilla trekking protocols. Your group is assigned to a specific gorilla family and sets out with an armed ranger escort. Trek duration depends on where the gorillas have ranged overnight — from one to four hours through forest and volcanic slopes. One hour of observation is permitted with the gorilla family at a minimum distance of 7 metres. If the trek concludes in the morning and time permits, an optional afternoon visit to the Iby'wacu Cultural Village — also known as the Gorilla Guardians Village — offers an insight into traditional Rwandan culture and the community's relationship with the gorillas over generations.

Distance: Trekking within Volcanoes National Park; Kinigi to Musanze

Activity: Mountain gorilla trekking; optional afternoon Iby'wacu Cultural Village visit

Accommodation: Lodge or hotel near Volcanoes National Park, Musanze

Meals: Full Board

After breakfast, transfer again to the park headquarters for the morning briefing, this time for golden monkey trekking. Golden monkeys are an endemic Virunga species found only in the Virunga Massif straddling Rwanda, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. They are notably more active and fast-moving than gorillas, foraging through bamboo forest and sometimes venturing into surrounding gardens. Following the trek, lunch at your lodge before the drive back to Kigali for drop-off at your hotel or the airport.

Distance: Trekking within Volcanoes National Park; approximately 2 hours return to Kigali

Activity: Golden monkey trekking; return to Kigali

Accommodation: N/A – return to Kigali

Meals: Half Board

Extend your trip

Combine this Volcanoes package with Nyungwe Forest chimpanzee trekking for a full Rwanda primates circuit — see our 5-day Rwanda primates safari. For a 7-day Musanze adventure adding Bisoke hiking and Lake Burera, see our 7-day Volcanoes National Park adventure.