We collect you from your Kigali hotel around 04:00–04:30 and drive northwest toward Volcanoes National Park—past rolling farmland and the Musanze highlands to the Kinigi park headquarters. Arrive in time for registration, a short RDB briefing on trek etiquette, and assignment to a habituated gorilla family matched to fitness where possible.
Then the trek itself: bamboo, nettles, and volcanic slopes with trackers leading the way. Locating the family can take from under an hour to several hours. Once found, you stay with the gorillas for the regulated one hour—watching the silverback, mothers, and juveniles in a landscape that feels both intimate and wild. Certificates are usually issued after you exit.
A simple packed lunch is taken near HQ or on the road. By mid-afternoon you begin the return drive to Kigali, typically arriving early to mid-evening depending on trek length and traffic. This is a rewarding but exhausting day—we recommend an easy dinner and an early night.