- Destinations
- Rwanda
- Volcanoes National Park
When to Go
Best Time For Gorilla Trekking
The question of when to go to the Volcanoes National Park is usually synonymous with the best time for gorilla trekking and in terms of comfort and reward that is during either of the year’s two dry seasons.
Although the Volcanoes National Park may receive rain at any time of year, the periods from mid-December to early February and from early June to late September offer the driest and easiest conditions for gorilla trekking as well as the lowest malaria risk.
Another factor to consider while deciding when to go gorilla trekking in Volcanoes National Park, is which other African destinations you have in mind. The December to February gorilla trekking season is an excellent time for the wildebeest migration in the Serengeti and a summer holiday in Cape Town while the June to September trekking season coincides with the wildebeest migration again; this time the herds are crossing crocodile-filled rivers between the Serengeti and Masai Mara. You’ll also enjoy the best safari conditions in our Southern African destinations such as the Kruger Park, Botswana, Victoria Falls and Namibia: dry, mild temperatures and excellent game viewing.
The two dry seasons are balanced by two rainy ones: the ‘long’, heavy rains of March, April and May and the ‘short’ rains of October and November. Gorilla trekking in the Volcanoes National Park is much more difficult at these times as the rains can be heavy, the rainforest very wet and muddy and the gorillas harder to find. We do not recommend travelling to the Volcanoes National Park in April or November – the year’s two wettest months.
And although it can be extremely wet, it’s never especially hot in the forest. An equatorial setting gives the Volcanoes National Park a predictably warm and humid climate but temperatures are generally lower than visitors expect. Monthly averages sit in the mid to late 20s Celsius (late 70s to early 80s Fahrenheit) and vary little throughout the year, and because the park sits at a minimum of 2500 metres (8000 feet) above sea level, the weather can be surprisingly cold – especially at night.
