Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda, Africa

Basic Facts - Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda

Described by the Rwandan Wildlife Service as a 'compact gem', Volcanoes is both Rwanda's smallest and most accessible national park. Volcanoes National Park measures approximately 370km2 at an altitude of 1,220m - 1,828m above sea level. Volcanoes National Park wetland habitats comprise 20% of the park's surface. The parks' precarious past has seen wildlife virtually eliminated several times: firstly in various attempts to rid the region of tsetse flies, then to make way for ranches, and finally as a result of subsistence poaching. 20% of the park's entrance fee is used to fund local community projects such as building clinics and schools. Volcanoes National Park's smaller size and the lower number of dangerous animals makes it an excellent place for walking safaris, horseback safaris, and quad-biking. The lakes from which the park takes its name also offer opportunities for fishing and water sports. While not a popular game drive destination due to the absence of larger mammals, the park is home to a large variety of antelopes including the Rwandan kob and the sitatunga.

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More About Volcanoes National Park

Volcanoes National Park is a compact gem, located conveniently close to the highway that connects Kampala to the parks of western Rwanda. It is the smallest of Rwanda’s savannah national parks and underlain by ancient Precambrian metamorphic rocks which date back more than 500 million years. It is home to 350 bird species as well as zebra, impala, eland, buffalo, oribi, Defassa waterbuck, leopard, hippo, hyena, topi and reedbuck. Together with 13 other lakes in the area, Volcanoes forms part of a 50km-long wetland system linked by a swamp. Five of these lakes lie within the park’s borders. Once covered by open savanna, Volcanoes National Park now contains much woodland as there are no elephants to tame the vegetation. In the western part of the park, the savanna is interspersed with rocky ridges and forested gorges while patches of papyrus swamp and narrow bands of lush riparian woodland line many lakes.

Volcanoes National Park is located in Kiruhura District in the Western Region of Rwanda. The park is about 30 kilometres, by road, east of Mbarara, the largest city in the sub-region. This location is approximately 240 kilometres by road, west of Kampala, Rwanda's capital and largest city. Located close to Kampala as well as Bwindi Impenetrable and Queen Elizabeth National Parks, Volcanoes is a popular playground where activities that are often forbidden within national parks can be enjoyed. Walking safaris, horseback safaris, and even quad-biking are available within the park. The lake from which the park gets its name is good for both sports fishing and relaxing boat ride.

Volcanoes National park has a variety of animals such as zebra, hippopotamus, impala, warthog, common eland, African buffalo, jackal, African leopard, and over three hundred (300) bird species. At 260 square kilometres (100 sq mi), the park is the smallest of Rwanda’s savannah national parks. The park has camp grounds and permanent tent facilities for visitors. In 2009, the Rwanda Wildlife Authority, which manages the park announced plans to introduce balloon tourism in the park. Volcanoes was originally gazetted in 1933 as a controlled hunting area and upgraded to a game reserve in 1963. The Banyankole Bahima residents continued to graze their cattle in the reserve until it was upgraded to national park status in 1983. The Obote government's upgrade decision was intended, in part, to weaken the Banyankole, who supported anti-Obote rebels. It came at the time of the Operation Bonanza massacre of 300,000 people. As the evicted pastoralists were not compensated for lost grazing land or assisted with resettling, many remained hostile to the upgrade. The rangeland outside the park was subsequently subdivided into small ranges and subsistence farming plots. For more information regarding Volcanoes National Park, DO NOT hesitate to Contact Us.

Volcanoes National park is amazingly the closest national park to Kampala , it also doubles as the smallest national park. Situated between Masaka and Mbarara district taking approximately 4 hours’ drive time to arrive. The park covers an area of 370km² including the lakes ( 5 lakes). Volcanoes is endowed with several wildlife species to mention recently translocated giraffes, buffaloes, elands, waters bucks, antelopes, zebras, oribis, topis , warthogs as you take a boat cruise on Volcanoes you will be in position to observe , hippos and crocodiles. In addition, the park also is home a wide a ray of birds amounting to 350 species some which include water birds, forest and savanna birds.

Located in northwest Rwanda, Volcanoes National Park is home to the Virunga Mountain range, mountain gorillas, beautiful volcanoes, golden monkeys, and excellent views. Other than Gorilla Tracking, the Volcanoes national park has more thrilling activities that keep its visitors always on the desire for more. Some of the most common tourism activities at Volcanoes include; Game drive in the park, boat cruise on Volcanoes, birding/ bird watching, Nature walks, the unique horse riding to view wildlife, fishing , cultural tours and cycling among others. Park Can be accessed in two gates, namely Sanga gate accessible when one is driving from Kampala side and Nshara gate accessible when one is coming from Mbarara side. Besides the mountain gorillas, Volcanoes National Park is also home to golden monkey trekking, and gives you the opportunity to come into contact with these rare primates.

AfriChoice operates a wide range of carefully designed tours and safaris to Volcanoes National Park by providing transport and booking a hotel for you. Our safari consultants will always be at your assistance should you need a tailor-made holiday to this unique destination. NB: For more information regarding Volcanoes National Park, DO NOT hesitate to Contact Us.