• Money for your expenses (in the DRC, you can use US dollars everywhere, but make sure you have new bills without any cuts or tears. ATMs in Goma/Bukavu give US Dollars. In Goma/Bukavu, only new notes are accepted, above 2009 series), waterproof solid walking boots and long socks which are comfortable for a tropical mountain forest (remember that one of the most common situations is to find the red ants along the trail), outfit with adapted colours for wildlife observation (Khaki clothes are most preferred), raingear, a few long-sleeve shirts, slippers, sweater for cool evenings, sun protection, hat, sunglasses, sun cream, Insect repellent with DEET, video/photo camera, a 200 mm or longer lens is beneficial, reserve batteries, torch, insect repellants, binoculars, gloves to grip vegetation. It’s also best to have different layers of clothes since the temperatures tend to change.
• First Aid Kit includes rehydration sachets, anti-diarrhoea medicine, aspirin, cold medication, antiseptic cream, band-aids, motion sickness pills, lip balm, eye drops and personal medication.
• Visitors are asked to bring their own facemasks and hand sanitiser.

• When is the best time to visit?
  • For the visiting period, the gorilla trek is an ongoing activity. We have two main seasons: the 'dry season' and the 'rainy season'. The 'dry season' (18 to 27 C ) is from June to August. In this period, gorillas were hard to find because they moved a lot to look for food. So tourists in this period must expect to walk a lot before finding the gorillas. However, the pictures at this time are apparent. In the 'rainy season', from September to May, gorillas are stable because they find food quickly. Tourists need quality cameras to have nice pictures and must bring raincoats.

Rusizi 1 Border