Tour Guide, Kigali, Rwanda
| 5 mins read
Mountain Bisoke is a dormant Volcano rising at 3,711 meters above sea level. This mountain is one of a series of volcanoes that make up the Virunga Mountain range, which sprawls along the borders of Rwanda, Uganda & the Democratic Republic of Congo. It straddles the border of Rwanda & the Democratic Republic of Congo, but the biggest part, including the peak & two stunning crater lakes, lies on Rwanda’s side inside the Volcanoes National Park.
“Bisoke” is a Swahili term that translates to “soaked with water”, and was coined by the natives in reference to the two beautiful crater lakes that ‘soak’ the volcano. One crater lake sits inside the volcano peak, and is 100 meter deep & about 400 meters in diameter. The second crater lake was formed at the sides, almost midway to the top and overlooks the adjacent lush slopes of the Sabinyo Volcano Mountain.
The entire volcano is green with lush vegetation zones ranging from Hagenia forests, through sub-alpine to alpine. It harbors an array of beautiful wildlife including flora & fauna many of which are unique to the Virunga ranges & Albertine region. Mountain Gorillas, Golden Monkeys, Forest Elephants, Buffaloes, plus a lots of birds inhibit the forest and surrounding vegetation area here.
The Hike to the Crater Lake at the Summit of Bisoke Volcano
Hiking the full height of Bisoke till the Crater Lake at the top is a wonderful adventure that even non-experienced hikers can do in just one day. The entire hike to-and-fro is roughly about 6 hours, with 4 hours to get to the top and 2 hours to make it back down. Experienced hikers are capable of making it till the top within 3 hours or even less, and roughly 1 & ½ or less, back.
Like all activities to Volcanoes National Park, the hiking day starts at the park headquarters of Kinigi at 7:00 am, where one meets with the other hikers and the assigned park ranger. The ranger(s) briefs the hikers about the park, the 5 Virunga volcanoes shared on the Rwanda side and also offer an insight on what to expect during the hike. All the rangers employed by the park are professional, very knowledgeable & boast a wealth of experience attained from years of leading adventures into the park. Many of the rangers are natives who hail from Kinigi area and have been working with the park from when they were little children. All the rangers can communicate efficiently in 4 major languages, that is, English, French, Swahili & Kinyarwanda (the native language).
After the tour briefing, which ends by 8 am, head for Bisoke Volcano which is a 40 minutes drive from the headquarters. The first 10 to 15 minutes will be on a smooth paved road, but the rest is through the infamous “African Massage” - a slow bumpy ride on volcanic rocks. Get to the car parked outside the park, and find porters to hire. It is highly recommended, if anything, a MUST, to hire a porter to carry your bag of items. Your bag, however light may seem, gets unbearably heavy as you ascend the mountain. The porters are also helpful in providing a push or pull through the challenging spots, such as muddy, steep & slippery paths.
The ranger distributes the nicely crafted hiking sticks and you are ready to go! The car parking grounds are where the hiking trail begins, at 2700 meters above sea level. The first 10 minutes goes through communities & farmlands at the edge of the park, before crossing the stone wall into Volcanoes National Park. The stone wall fences off the park, to keep buffaloes and forest elephants from crossing into the farmlands, and also control intruders from trespassing into the park.
Mountain Bisoke is home to some habituated Gorilla families and you stand a good chance of encountering these at the start of your ascent up the mountain. By a good chance, you may encounter some gorillas. You will be allowed just a minute to view them from the hiking trail and will be limited from taking any pictures as this is a privilege granted to only those who pay $1500 to track them; it thus wouldn’t be fair to them. Another possible exciting wildlife encounter is the Golden Monkeys. There is no habituated Golden Monkey troop in Mountain Bisoke though, hence all the golden monkeys here are wild and often are sighted shying away into the forest. Along the trail, you may come by the dung of Forest Elephants & Buffaloes, but these are very elusive and chances of sighting them are so minimal.
Get to the summit and be rewarded with magnificent rare natural beauty – Crater Lake, mountain vegetation & dropping clouds, cloudy peaks of Mountains Karisimbi and Mikeno in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is so beautiful to see and experience! How long you will stay at the summit depends on the weather and temperatures. On lucky sunny days, the average temperature will be about 10 degrees, which can give you at least 30 mins to even do picnic lunches. On rainy days, there is also a bad chance of finding the clouds (mist) to have dropped into the Crater Lake such that you may not actually see it clearly. This is a must do activity inside the Volcanoes National Park.
Preparations for Hike and Items to carry
1) A sweater
2) Woolen gloves
3) Head gear
4) Light hiking shoes
5) Drinking water at least one liter