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Hiking Mountain Bisoke to the Crater Lake

By May 3, 2016Uncategorized

mountain-hike-rwandaMount Bisoke also known as Mount Visoke and it is one of the volcanoes Chain Mountains in East Africa called the Virunga or Mufumbiro mountain ranges. These mountains are located along borders of Rwanda and DR. Congo as well as Uganda and they are a branch of the Albertine Rift Mountains.

On your Safari in Rwanda you will have an opportunity to hike this beautiful Mount Bisoke. This mountain range is made of 8 different volcano mountains though most of them are no longer active except two which are mount Nyamuraigira which is 3,063metres high and mount Nyiragongo which is 3463 meters high, both located in Congo. The Virunga Mountains are a great tourism destination because the surrounding forests are a home to the famous mountain gorillas but besides gorilla tracking as a tourism activity, there is also primates trekking as well as mountain hiking done in the area.

You can always hike any mountain depending on your fitness and the amount of time you have. For instance, hiking mount Bisoke which is one of the shortest lying at 3711 meters high can be fun and can be done in just a single day. It is one of the activities that you include in your Rwanda gorilla tracking itinerary.

Hiking begins with a briefing at the park headquarters at 7:00am and there, you will meet all the other hikers and as a group, you will also get rangers who will most likely be a native of the region to guide you on your journey to the top. This hike to the top takes about 6 hours and once there, you will see the crater, take a walk around and then take 2 hours to descend. For the experienced hiker, you can get to the top in just 3 hours or less and then descend in just an hour.

Your driver guide will transfer you from the headquarters after briefing to the foot of the mountain and there, you will find porters who you can always hire to help you carry your backpack if you need to. This is highly recommended more so for the inexperienced hikers and then you are ready to start hiking. The starting point has well paved routes which you follow since its goes through communities but you need to know that the road becomes a bit rough, muddy, bumpy, slippery and yet steep as you go higher therefore you need to be very careful. The porters can always give you a push or pull where you need it.

As you hike, you will realize that there are different animals that are live within the forest that surround mountain Bisoke for example the forest elephants, the buffaloes, there are lots of smaller animals and by chance you may see families of habituated mountain gorillas, you may also see golden monkeys which are not habituated therefore they will most likely shy away when they see a group of people. You will see lots of different tree species, listen to the bird songs.

The higher you go, the lower the temperature drops and so does the oxygen levels therefore you will start getting tired which means you may need to rest along the way. When you get to the summit, you will be amazed by the rare natural beauty of the area, the Crater Lake is surrounded by vegetation. The amount of time you spend at the summit will depend on the weather and temperatures for example if it is a warm sunny day, you may stay a bit longer enjoying the view and even have picnic but then on cold rainy days, it will be a bit uncomfortable that you may not even  spend more than 15minutes there. Sometimes, you will find clouds or mist dropped into this Crater Lake that seeing it clearly is not be possible.

You can start descending whenever you are ready. Descending is a lot easier but you still have to be very carefully especially on the rainy days.

Items to Carry With You on a Hiking Tour

You need to carry sweaters or any other warm clothes; woolen gloves too will be good because it will get really cold as you head towards the top and at the top might be really cold.

Hiking gears which include very comfortable hiking boots, strong support sticks and these will be given to you at the time of briefing. Trousers are recommended rather than shorts or skirts in the case of women.

You need to carry drinking water any other drink because you will definitely need a drink but should not be more than 1 litter so that you don’t have a lot of weight to carry up.

Follow the rules and be careful to avoid any kind of accidents during the hike because help might not arrive that soon.  To arrange this amazing hike to the top of Bisoke and se this Crater Lake, contact AA safaris and tours for assistance.

Safari Rwanda | AA Safari & Tours

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