Today your driver-guide will pick you up from your hotel or airport and transfer to Musanze, near Volcanoes national park for your Mt Bisoke hiking tour. You will check in to your hotel in preparation for tomorrow’s activity.
on the 2nd day, Your driver-guide will transfer you for briefing at the park headquarter which starts at 7.00 am. The trek starts early morning from the RDB offices in Kinigi. Your driver-guide drops you at the office where you receive a briefing and join other hikers to the Mt Bisoke. There are different groups of people at the headquarters going for different activities in Volcanoes national park which include, gorilla trekking, golden monkey trekking and hiking different volcanoes. Your hiking guide will brief you on expectations while you hike Mt Bisoke and what you should be aware of. After the briefing, your driver-guide will transfer you to the starting point which is about 30 minutes away because of the nature of the road.
Hiking Bisoke Volcano
Mt Bisoke is 3711 m above sea level and is shared between DR Congo and Rwanda. The hiking tour is from Rwanda’s Volcanoes’ national park. On arrival at the starting point, you will immediately start the trek up to the park boundary where it is separated from the community. There will be porters at this point and you are advised to take one. The hike gets really steep at some point and we advise that you consider taking a porter along to help carry your day pack and help support you when you are going down the slippery road. At this point, you will part of the larger group with some going for gorilla trekking. The group will separate somewhere before the trailhead for Bisoke. Your guide will lead the way and together with the porters, you start the trek.
On the park boundary, you will meet armed soldiers who will escort you on your hike to the mountain. The reason for armed guides is because the mountain is home to Elephants and Buffaloes which can be dangerous in case you meet them on your way up. At first, the ascent is not that steep but the vegetation is thought. You will most likely walk faster but if you are not a seasoned hiker please pace yourself and not allow anyone to pressure into walking faster. The aim is that you make it to the top of the volcano which has the beautiful Bisoke crater lake.
Depending on your experience the hike to the beautiful crater lake takes anything from 2 hours to 4 hours. Remember to pace yourself and let the beautiful crater lake be what will motivate you when the hike starts getting steep. On arrival at the top, you will have a full view of the crater lake and also the border with DR Congo. Take photos and eat your snack before starting the descent down which is much faster but can be slippery. The porter will come in hardy as they help and support you.