Why plan a Rwanda Gorilla Safari with Encounter Africa Safaris

Plan a Rwanda gorilla trekking with us at Encounter Africa Safaris and we will help you with all the necessities needed for having a good gorilla safari in Rwanda including booking and purchasing of the gorilla permits, transport to Volcanoes National Park where gorilla trekking is carried out, we make sure that you are comfortable, enjoy your gorilla safari, book accommodation and offer expert advise to all our clients. These and more are some of the reasons for planning your Rwanda gorilla safari with Encounter Africa Safaris. Below are the reasons why planning a Rwanda Gorilla Safari with Encounter Africa Safaris is the best option for all tourists.

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1. Experience with planning Rwanda gorilla safaris

Encounter Africa Safaris has decades of experience in planning and organising Rwanda Gorilla safaris, making it top of the list for planning your safari. Planning the Rwanda gorilla safari involves the purchase of the gorilla permits, booking of accommodation and transport and organising other add-on safari activities that can be added to gorilla trekking. All these logistics can easily be organised by Encounter Africa Safaris at a cost to ease and ensure that you enjoy your Rwanda gorilla safari. As Encounter Africa Safaris, below are some of the logistics that we help our clients with when it comes to Rwanda gorilla safaris.

The purchase of the gorilla permits: Encounter Africa Safaris, through their professional safari consultants, helps with the booking and purchasing process of gorilla permits, which are the only tickets that will get you access to the mountain gorillas in their natural habitat. All you have to do is get in touch with the dates you wish to track the mountain gorillas, provide a copy of your passport especially the biodata page, other documents that will be requested and timely send in the money for the permits. Note that permits are only purchased after payment has been made. After all this, leave the rest to us and we will purchase it on your behalf and send you a copy.

The cost of the gorilla permits in Rwanda is $1500 for foreign non-residents, $200 for East African citizens and $500 for both foreign residents and citizens from other Countries. Rwanda also offers discounts on gorilla permits and for more information, get in touch with us or check out our website to learn more about the discounted gorilla permits.

Our role is to make sure that the permit purchase process is easy and fast for all our clients.

Accommodation: This is an important part when planning a Rwanda gorilla safari and Encounter Africa Safaris is here to help you choose the right, safe and comfortable safari for all our clients. Depending on your budget, we partner with different accommodation facilities that are categorised into luxury, mid-range and budget accommodation facilities. Some of the facilities that offer comfort and are safe for tourists during a Rwanda gorilla safari include Virunga Lodge, Singita Kwitonda Lodge, One&Only Gorilla’s Nest, Sabinyo Silverback Lodge, Mountain Gorilla View Lodge, Kinigi Guest House, Gorilla Volcanoes Hotel and Da Vinci Gorilla Lodge.

When getting accommodation for our clients, we make sure that we get facilities that have the best amenities and facilities, are safe, comfortable and fit in your budget.

Transport: Encounter Africa Safaris helps with organising transport within Rwanda to and from Volcanoes National Park, where gorilla trekking takes place. They provide well-maintained 4x4 safari vehicles that are comfortable and safe, with professional driver guides to pick clients up from the Kigali International Airport to Volcanoes National Park and then back to the city centre as the safari comes to an end. The driver guides provided by Encounter Africa Safaris ensure that your safari is a knowledgeable and adventurous gorilla safari in Rwanda.

Other safari activities: Apart from gorilla trekking, Encounter plans other add-on safari activities that you can combine with gorilla tracking, depending on what you want from the safari. The different activities you can take as add-ons include chimpanzee tracking, mountain hiking, guided nature walks, cultural trips, cycling and attending the Kwita Izina ceremony, where baby gorillas are named, among others.

2. Encounter Africa Safaris offers customised gorilla tracking itineraries

Gorilla trekking is a top tourist activity in Rwanda, and at Encounter Africa Safaris, we make sure that we make our clients customised gorilla trekking itineraries that fit their preferences. All the customised itineraries are created by our knowledgeable tour consultants who have years of experience in planning Rwanda gorilla safaris. And these are also done with the help of clients putting their preferences into consideration before an itinerary is approved.

Encounter Africa Safaris organises different types of gorilla trekking safaris, and these are budget, mid-range and luxury gorilla trekking safaris. The budget of the client determines which type of safari can be organised for them.

The customised itineraries are planned, putting many factors into consideration, and these include accommodation, transport and other safari activities to act as add-ons. We work hand in hand with the client to ensure that the itinerary matches their preferences for the best gorilla trekking adventure in Rwanda and this also ensures customer satisfaction. Before the final itinerary is printed, a copy for confirmation is sent.

3. We guide our clients when planning a Rwanda gorilla safari.

As Encounter Africa Safaris, we guide our clients on what to do when planning a Rwanda gorilla safari and this definitely makes us the best option for you. Gorilla trek planning can be easy and at the same time difficult, and we make sure that we ease the burden of our clients by not only helping them plan but also providing safari advice where necessary. We provide advice on different aspects of planning and some of these include:

Accommodation: It sometimes becomes overwhelming to decide on which accommodation facility to go with, and this is where our consultants come in with the different facilities we partner with to help you make the right choice of accommodation, depending on your budget. We also advise our clients to book accommodation in advance to get better deals.

How many days to spend on your safari: The gorilla trekking safari usually takes 3 days, but you can still have fewer or more days depending on what the tourist wants. Encounter Africa Safaris advises their clients whether to spend fewer or more days, and this is usually determined by the travel budget and safari activities one intends to participate in.

When to go for the Rwanda gorilla safari: The Rwanda gorilla safari can be arranged all year round, but the best time is during the dry season (June to September and December to February) because the trekking conditions are favourable and there is little or no rainfall. The wet season (March to May and October to November) is a favourable time to travel for tourists who prefer fewer crowds and are on a budget, but you need to be ready for the rains. At Encounter Africa Safaris, we provide all these options and help you plan your gorilla tracking safari at any time of the year that you wish to take it. Just note that the safari has to be booked in advance at least 3 to 6 months because of the high demand.

What to pack: This is one of the many things that tourists wish to know and is important when planning a gorilla trekking safari. Encounter has a list of essentials that you can pack for the Rwanda gorilla safari and these include long-sleeved shirts, light-weight trousers, sweaters, scarves, socks, waterproof raincoat, waterproof backpack, waterproof knee-length hike boots, adjustable gaiters, gardening gloves, a sunhat, sunscreen, insect repellent, a camera, binoculars, snacks, refillable water bottle, first aid kit and a flash light among others.

Follow the gorilla trekking rules: The gorilla tracking rules and regulations are extremely important. We always remind our clients to remember and follow all the rules and regulations when it comes to gorilla trekking because they help in the conservation of the mountain gorillas. Below are some of the rules and regulations when gorilla trekking in Rwanda.

• You must be at least 15 years old to be able to gorilla trek in Volcanoes National Park.
• Every trekking group has an hour with the mountain gorillas after finding them in their natural habitat.
• Only groups of 8 trekkers are allowed to track a gorilla family per day.
• You need to keep a distance of 7 meters from the mountain gorillas.
• Littering in Volcanoes NP is not accepted and has been prohibited.
• Human waste has to be buried in a hole of 30cm, which is covered up well afterwards to prevent the mountain gorillas from digging them up.
• Sick trekkers are prohibited from tracking mountain gorillas, and they should volunteer for trekking. This is to protect the mountain gorillas.
• Never try to feed the mountain gorillas
• Eating, drinking and smoking when with the mountain gorillas is strictly prohibited.
• Flash photography is strictly prohibited.

4. Encounter Africa Safaris has a professional team

Encounter Africa Safaris has a professional team that has years of experience in organising and planning a Rwanda gorilla safari. Registered under the Association of Uganda Tour Operators, the professional team that is made up of safari managers, tour consultants and driver guides makes gorilla trekking safaris easy by ensuring that the clients get the safari worth all the money that is paid for the safari. Our professional team will get in touch with you as soon as they get a message from the client, work closely hand in hand with them to make sure that the gorilla safari is well planned.

Our driver guides who drive you to and from the trekking destination will make sure that you get the best out of your safari experience by providing knowledge, answering questions, and safety throughout their safari.

After you get in touch with Encounter Africa Safaris, a tour consultant will immediately get in touch with you to help with all the queries you might have about gorilla tracking in Rwanda. All our teams are professional and this will be seen and experienced from your interaction with them.

5. Encounter Africa Safaris prioritises comfort and safety

Encounter Africa Safaris, when planning a Rwanda gorilla trek, prioritises safety and comfort for their clients, and this is done through the extensive research that is carried out with the different service providers, like accommodation facilities, transport, among others, to ensure that all that is planned is safe for tourists during the trek and after.

They provide experienced local guides who ensure that the tourists are comfortable when driving to and from Volcanoes National Park, accommodation is well-researched before it is recommended, and they advise their clients on ways to keep personal security throughout the safari.

6. Encounter Africa Safaris practices sustainable tourism practices

When planning Rwanda gorilla safaris, Encounter Africa Safaris always prioritises sustainable tourism, which helps in the conservation of the mountain gorillas and helps the surrounding villages. By planning and participating in the gorilla trekking exercise in Volcanoes National Park, you will be able to support the community development through improvement in education, construction of schools, hospitals and roads among others. Get in touch with Encounter Africa Safaris to help them continue practising sustainable tourism practices.

7. Affordable Rwanda gorilla safaris

Rwanda might be a luxury safari destination, but Encounter Africa Safaris has experience in organising budget-friendly gorilla trek safaris to Rwanda. We discuss with our clients about the different ways you can minimise the costs of a safari and get to meet the mountain gorillas in their natural habitat one-on-one, even when you are on a budget. The factors that you need to put into consideration when planning a budget-friendly gorilla safari include the length of a safari, the season of travel, group size, number of activities to carry out and other personal purchases.

Encounter will accommodate all your safari needs when planning a Rwanda gorilla safari and let us help you. Contact us at Encounter Africa Safaris to help you plan an adventurous Rwanda gorilla safari.