In 2023, Rwanda welcomed 25,927 tourists who visited the gorillas, compared to 20,035 the previous year.

The Volcanoes National Park was established as a protected area in 1925 as the Albert National Park of Belgian Congo.

After Rwanda gained independence in 1962, the surface area of the park within Rwanda became the Volcanoes National Park, which originally covered over 320 square kilometers.

Currently, the park covers an area of 160 square kilometers, bordering Uganda to the north and the Democratic Republic of Congo in the northwest.

In 2023, the Volcanoes National Park received 46,187 visitors, engaging in various activities including gorilla trekking, which costs $1,500 for foreigners, $500 for Africans and EAC nationals, while Rwandans benefit from a discounted fee of $200 if booked at least 72 hours in advance.

Visiting monkeys costs $100 for foreigners and Rwf4, 000 for Rwandans. Visiting Dian Fossey’s grave costs $75 for foreigners and Rwf4,000 for Rwandans. Visiting the Buhanga area of the park costs $40 for foreigners and Rwf3,000 for Rwandans.

Exploring caves costs $50 for foreigners and Rwf4,000 for Rwandans. Trekking in the forest and climbing any of the five volcanoes, including Muhabura, at an altitude of 4,127 meters, visible from across the country, costs $55 for foreigners and Rwf3,500 for locals.

There’s also Mount Gahinga at 3,473 meters, Sabyinyo at 3,669 meters, known for its jagged peaks, and Bisoke, attracting tourists with its crater lake at 3,711 meters, costing $75 for foreigners and Rwf4,000 for locals. Mount Karisimbi, the highest in the country at 4,507 meters, costs $400 for foreigners and Rwf30,000 for locals to climb.

These large apes inhabit the high mountain forests of the Virunga range, which spans Rwanda, to Bwindi in Uganda, and Sarambwe in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Their scientific name is Gorilla beringei beringei, named after German soldier Robert Von Beringe, who first reported them in 1902.

These animals have moved from being critically endangered to now being classified as endangered, as reported by the World Wildlife Fund.

After extraordinary conservation efforts, medical care, and protection from poachers, led by the Rwandan government through the Rwanda Development Board, the most recent census indicates that there are now 1,063 gorillas worldwide. In the Virunga mountain range, which includes Rwanda, there are 604 gorillas.

Gorillas evoke strong emotions in those who visit them, with some considering it a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The one-hour encounter with these creatures is often described as unmatched by any other experience.

Gorilla tourism attracts people because visitors leave amazed by their human-like nature, their way of life in the forest, and their social structures that resemble those of humans.

One of the most astonishing aspects of mountain gorillas is their size and strength, with mature females weighing between 150 and 200 kilograms, and males between 200 and 250 kilograms. They can live between 35 and 45 years if they mature without encountering major issues.

Their babies are born after a nine-month gestation period weighing between three and five kilograms, and are weaned at around three and a half years.

In its lifetime, an adult female gorilla can give birth to between four and six offspring, although a notable exception is Kampanga from Sabyinyo family, who gave birth to eight.

Currently, the oldest gorilla is a female named Kibyeyi a member of the Hirwa family, who is 49 years old. The youngest is a one-month-old baby of the Sabyinyo family.

Their daily life closely resembles that of humans, mainly focused on survival, including feeding on vegetation and bamboo shoots. An adult gorilla can eat up to 15% of its body weight in vegetation per day, meaning a 200-kilogram gorilla consumes 30 kilograms of vegetation daily.

After feeding, they rest for over an hour, and at night, they make nests where they sleep. They live in families led by a dominant male, usually identified by a silverback, who is responsible for the family’s protection and territory, although they live in relative freedom, with families establishing their boundaries within the park.

Currently, 14 families are visited by up to eight tourists each per day, limiting the number of daily visitors to 112. However, these are not the only gorilla families, as new families form as the gorilla population grows. These families are closely monitored by experts until they are ready to be visited by tourists.

Initially, the Susa, Sabyinyo, and Group 13 families, now known as Agashya, were the first to be visited after American researcher Dian Fossey began studying gorilla behavior and conservation and habituating them to tourists in 1979.

The Susa family later splits into three new families: Karisimbi, Igisha, and Isimbi. This expansion occurs as the gorilla population increases.

This knowledge and data have been gathered by experts who monitor the gorillas at Volcanoes National Park, in collaboration with conservation partners such as The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, Gorilla Doctors, and the International Gorilla Conservation Program.

To protect the park’s wildlife, 149 daily staff members monitor the animals in the high-altitude forest, while 27 others assist tourists visiting the park.

Mountain gorillas have moved from being critically endangered to now being classified as endangered.