We could not believe how amazing this trip was. It was a long drive from Kigali to Volcanoes National Park starting at 4:00am, but the early morning light with the mist covering the mountains was so beautiful. Our driver was very nice and quite knowledgeable about the country and it's history during our long drive. But the first thing he asked us was why didn't we stay closer to the park. Our travel agent made it quite clear that we had to stay in Kigali and I could not convince them they were wrong, so we had to waste 5 hours driving back and forth. Don't let your travel agent do the same to you!
We had to be there at 7:00am to meet up with our guides and get assigned to our group. We were assigned to the oldest group but that means we got assigned to the closest troop of gorillas. It was still an hour walk from the end of the road to the beginning of the jungle, but our gorillas were only about 100 yards into the jungle. We followed them for another hour through a bamboo grove, then another hour back to the road.
We got scary close to a troop of about 15 gorillas with a single silver back, Malambo, that was 18 years old. It was very clear that they were not even a little nervous around us. Even mothers carrying babies would walk about a foot from you with out looking in your direction.
We were incredibly lucky throughout our trip. The mountain is about 15,000 feet and when clouds hit it, they tend to drop a lot of rain. But we never had any rain. When it rains, the gorillas hide in the bushes to get out of the rain and are really hard to find and see. The bamboo grove we found them in was very open and made it easy to get some great pictures. The rain can also make the walk up through the farm fields a muddy, slippery mess, but we missed out on that too.
Even without any rain, some of the walk was not easy, especially for my wife who has a bad hip. However, at the end of the road, there is a rather large number of people available to hire as porters to help you during the trip. They are only $10 each and well worth it. Even with a couple of porters and guides to help her, my wife slipped crossing a small stream on the way down and twisted her knee. She made it down alright but was too sore to go see the golden monkeys the next day, so it cost us $500 each for the permits and then there was the driver and the guide too.
Even with all of that, it was the most surreal experience of my life and I cannot recommend it highly enough! Come prepared for a rainy muddy mess but pray for sunshine. Don't be a hero, hire a porter or two. By the time you reach the jungle, you are at about 7,000 feet so altitude might be a problem, especially if you have to hike even farther up to reach your troop, which every other group had to do. Bring some cash to tip the guides that lead you and the trackers that follow the gorillas around the clock, and of course your porters. I guarantee that you will never forget this experience!