Mountain gorilla trekking in Democratic Republic of Congo
Gorilla trekking is the main tourism activity in the Democratic republic of Cong. This done in the virunga National park the oldest and first protected area to be established in African.

The park has averse ecosystem of both East and central regions of Africa of the Block Mountains, East African Great Rift Valley, Mountain Rwenzori, Semuliki, and Queen Elizabeth plus Bwindi and volcanoes national park with the Virunga ranges that form the national park.

Virunga massif that extends into Rwanda and Uganda are the only habitats for Mountain gorillas in the world. Mountain gorilla trekking safaris to Virunga are the most popular of tourism activities in DR Congo and the park is the famous destination of the country.

There are 6 families of gorilla in the virunga National park which are open for tourism activities. Kabirizi group is the most visited group / family of the forest, its dominant polygamist silverback with the largest of the gorilla family that has close to three dozen members.

Virunga National Park is home to endangered mountain gorilla species, the world’s largest Crater Lake on one of the most active lava lakes in the world. The park has a selective place for keeping orphanage gorillas or harmed ones.
Mountain Gorilla Trek permit costs 400 USD as the activity fee and is the cheapest among the 3 countries that have gorillas. The permit cost is standard to all nationalities. Only citizens are charged a minimal amount to visit these gentle giants.

Senkwekwe Gorilla Orphanage Visit is free for travelers spending nights at Mikeno Lodge so if you are interested in this orphanage, ensure to book yourself a night at this lodge which is luxury or upmarket and only one in Virunga.

Travelers interested in gorilla habituation experience spend four hours with mountain gorillas, learning their behaviors and running after them, while travelers interested in gorilla trekking experience send an hour with mountain gorillas taking the photos, capturing videos and enjoying the human-like characters of mountain gorillas.

Gorilla habituation allows only four people per gorilla family while gorilla trekking allow 8 people per gorilla family. Travelers are reminded that only 8 gorilla permits are available every day while the availability of gorilla trekking permits vary in each country depending on the number of habituated gorilla families.