Does anyone know who can secure my round trip Rwanda Air ticket, make a hotel reservation for me in Kigali for 2 nights, arrange ground travel for me for one day and obtain my Gorilla permits (I have made the reservation)? I have the Kenya protion of my trip planned and will be hosted in R. at the new Gov's camp but I need help with the rest.

How nice that you posted this.
It gives me another opportunity to tout RN Xplorer: www DOT gorillasafaris.netfirms.com/

While they have particular packages, they will, I am sure make small arrangements like that for you and arrange a driver.

This also give me great opportunity to say that exactly 1 year ago today, I was hiking through PNV to see the Sabinyo group and the largest Silverback in PNV.

waynehazle DOT com/eastafrica/rwanda/

I worked with Volcanoes Safaris, and they have an office in Entebbe and Kigali. They provided A+ service, and I would definitely contact them again.

ITT - International Tours and Travel in Kigali - Joyce there is an absolute angel - she even lent me some clothes when our luggage was lost .... beyond the call of duty. Her e-mail is [email protected] - tell her Imelda gave you her address.

Imelda

Michael,
Did you do one of Volcanoes' group trips and stay at their lodges? The reason I ask is because we are doing their 8-day gorilla trekking trip and staying at three of their properties. If you could point me to a trip report you wrote about your experience with Volcanoes, I would appreciate it. I am quite confident in them based on everything I've read, but it would be great to read your impressions as well.
Thanks.
Chris

Chris,

We met several travellers along the way who were with Volcanoes Safaris and were immensely pleased with their service. In fact, some plans were slightly messed up for one couple...a boat was late which wasn't the fault of Volcanoes...but they compensated by upgrading them (considerably) to a nicer hotel.

The only Volcanoes property they stayed at (the only one in Rwanda) was the Virunga Lodge and they said was spectacular.

Have a great time!

Thank you for that feedback, I really appreciate it. We paid the remaining balance on our trip yesterday because we are now leaving in two months!

The Volcanoe's Virunga lodge is very nice. It's run strictly on solar power so there is no electricity except in the lounge/dining areas. So make sure you have extra batteries or you can charge whatever you need in the lounge.

The views are stunning.

The only drawback to staying at Virunga Lodge, in my opinion, is the distance and road conditions to the Park.
It takes about 45 minutes to an hour to get there.

It does make for a long day when gorilla trekking.

Chris, I will bump my trip report to the top. I only stayed in their lodge at Bwindi (but my visit was in August 2003, and I understand its been substantially upgraded since then). I also stayed at Mweya in Queen Elizabeth NP and Gorillas Nest near PNV (I thought that Volcanoes Safaris lodge, while nicer, was a bit too distant from the park entrance).

I did a custom trip (just me and the driver/guide), and it was excellent. I would definitely use them again when I return.

I'll bump my trip report to the top, and let me know if you have any questions.

Divewop, thank you for your comments. We will almost certainly need to charge our digital camera batteries while at the Virunga Lodge, as we will be there for several days doing two treks in PNV -- is the electricity sufficient to allow us to do that? I suppose as a back-up, we could get a car charger and charge on the way to/from PNV on the long drive I've heard you and many other people mention in connection with that lodge. I know it will make the days long, and I would really like to see the Susa group on one of our treks anyway, so that will be an extra-long day if I get my wish!
Anyway, if you could let me know the electricity/recharging situation there, I'd appreciate it.
Michael, thanks for the response and for topping your report. I to understand that Volcanoes has upgraded all theuir properties in the last year or so. What's more important to me is not being pampered in luxury, but rather the professionalism and reliability of an operator. From what everyone is saying, I feel comfortable that we booked this portion of our trip through Volcanoes. Now I can just hope that our Ethiopian tour operator will be as good!
Thanks again to all.
Chris

Chris-
There is plenty of electricity in the lounge to sufficiently charge whatever you need.
The car charger may come in handy as you're going to have to leave the lodge at a fairly early hour to get to PNV by
7:30. And since the Susa group is one of the most popular and fills up fast, I'd get there no later than 7:30 to ensure a couple of spots.

Once the spots for Susa fill up, and after a brief introduction, you immediately depart for the climb. You still have quite a drive to the edge of the volcano where they are.

The Susa group is worth the trek, one of my fav's, but it is the toughest, and depending on how high the group is, you could trek up to 3-4 hours to see them. My last trek to Susa was about 3 and a half.
You could be getting back to the lodge around 4 or 5pm (maybe later) depending on the length of the trek.

I would be inclined to do an easier trek/group the first day to allow proper acclimatization and follow-up the next day with the Susa group.

As far as the Volcanoe's guides/drivers, ask for either Danny or Freddy. Both are great. If you're working with Jane here in the ATL, put in a request for either of them before you leave.

Let em know if you have any other questions. I'm jealous you're leaving soon and if you need a personal baggage carrier, I'm happy to assist.

Freddy was my driver/guide, too, and he was great.

Divewop, thank you for all of that information. I would be happy to have you along as a baggage carrier, but unfortunately cannot afford to take anyone else on this trip with us! It is expensive enough already!

I have read a lot about the length and difficulty of the Susa hike, so I have been training all year and I am totally ready for it, I think. My wife is not interested in exerting herself, so she and I are actually going to split up one day and trek to two different groups, so I can try to go to Susa and she can avoid the "marathon" effort that group requires.

In terms of acclimating, we planned the trip to give us a week in Ethiopia before we even get to Rwanda, all at some altitude (Addis Ababa is about 8,000 feet), so I am hoping we will be somewhat acclimated by the time we get there. But I still think we will try to do a closer group on the first day and then I will angle for Susa on day 2.

Then when we head north to trek from Nkuringo, my understanding is that the treks are even harder, although perhaps shorter. No choice in that one, though, since there is only one habituated group to visit from Nkuringo.

Based on your comments and Michael's, I will ask Volcanoes about those driver/guides. I actually arranged my trip through another travel agent who we used for our Botswana trip in 2003 (African Horizons), rather than Jane, although I have talked to Jane once I figured out she was here in Atlanta.

Thanks again for all the input!
Chris

Chris-
Are you also staying at Volcanoe's Bwindi Lodge in Uganda?

If so, their rooms don't have
electricity either. Same goes as does
at Virunga Lodge with charging of batteries in the lounge/dining area.

The lodge also has great views of the Bwindi Impenetrable forest.

I think I did bring along a car-charger as I always wanted to be prepared.

When do you leave?

Maybe when you guys return, we could
try to organize an ATL get-together (if there's enough Africa fodorites here).

On a side note, a couple of the scientists from the Fossey Fund in Africa are here in ATL for the next couple of weeks for their semi-annual board meetings.

I'm hoping to be able to catch up with them while they're here to get the latest news of the gorillas.

The answer about staying at the Bwindi Lodge is yes, we are staying there. We also have at least one night at the Volcanoes Lodge near Mount Gahinga (which is our jumping-off point for the Nkuringo group). Thanks for letting me know about electricity at the Bwindi Lodge.
We are leaving Atlanta on December 22, and will arrive in Kigali to begin the gorilla-trekking part of the trip on January 1. We'll be back home on January 10. I would be happy to participate in an Atlanta get-together then, or beforehand.
Please do let me know if you hear any interesting recent news from the DFGFI folks. My email address is chrisgts(at)gmail(dot)com, and I have an insatiable appetite for gorilla news!
Chris

Chris--

Since you really want to see the Susa group...may I make a recommendation...get there early and have your guide or yourself approach the head ranger. I would suggest you be there by 7am.

We really wanted to see the Susa group too---and the afternoon before our trek we went to the ORPTN office in Ruhengeri to ask about a couple of things. As chance would have it, we met the Head Ranger and had a nice conversation with him about the Susa group. He recommended that we get there by 7am in order to request a gorilla group. We got there and he took our request.

We were on our own, but I did see that the guides from Volcanoes, Primates, etc. all negotiated on their clients' behalf with the Head Ranger and everyone seemed happy.

Have a great time!

Lucia, that is exactly the kind of practical advice that will really be helpful to us for this trip. We will definitely do that, and when we get back I'll let everyone know how it works out.
Chris
P.S. I am a little surprised that the Susa group is so popular. I figured that many tourists would arrive at the park HQ and want a "close/easy" group.

I think that many tourists do want the closer groups. However, being that Susa is the largest--some people go with the intention of seeing that group (as you and I did). I wouldn't worry too much though, the head ranger was very accommodating.

Honestly I had a better time when I saw the Hirwa group (which was much closer and smaller) than when I saw the Susa group---much to my surprise.

Have your eyes peeled when you go see the Susa group---they have twins! The twins were named by Kagame and the first lady...very rare for gorillas to have twins that survive. You may also see Poppy, who has a new baby, and was one of the gorillas Fossey became close to.

A lot of people who trek to see the Susa group do it because it is a tough trek.
It especially appeals to the 20-something year-olds where they view it as a hiking challenge, and not just due to the size of the Susa group.

And the guides want to make sure the tourists are in decent enough shape to endure the trek.

I remember the last time (March) when I did the Susa group, there were a couple of "young" people going who only wore sandals/tevas to do the trek.

The guides and trackers warned them that they'd be tripping over vines, running into stinging nettles, etc.

Of course the folks didn't listen and halfway up the trek, they regretted not having the proper footwear and were also complaining how hard it was.

I guess you live and learn. C'est la vie.