Best time to visit Virunga National Park is all year around visited by the travelers who are interested in visiting the park because of many outstanding factors. Besides that, the park ranks with various remarkable activities like Gorilla trekking, Hiking Nyiragongo Volcano the most fabulous crater lake in Africa and birding among others.
Generally, Virunga National Park is one of the largest and oldest national parks, that lies in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo in the Albertine rift valley and covers an area of about 7,800 square kilometers. More so, the park is part of Virunga Conservation Area and is a UNESCO world heritage site that comprises of a diverse ecosystem and offers protection of wildlife like endangered mountain gorillas. However, Virunga is a home to large number of wildlife species such as chimpanzees, golden monkeys, elephants, buffaloes and various beautiful bird species among others.
Weather and Climate; Democratic of Republic of Congo experiences both hot and warm climatic conditions and to the eastern part of Congo consists of dense forest that enables the place experience frequent rains all year around. But the best time to visit Virunga National Park is during drier months of July to September and December to February.
Low season; Democratic Republic of Congo tend to experience the low season in the month of November which is the far wettest month of the year. Visiting the Virunga National Park during this wet season of the year, you need to carry right gear that will keep you warm till your last visit.
If you choose to travel during the months of October or November or March to May, you can enjoy lodges within the park at low costs.
Getting to Virunga National Park
There are numerous ways of getting to Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo. However, the park can be accessed by both air or road transport.
By road transport to Virunga National Park; You can access Virunga National Park via Rwanda which takes about 4 hours driving from Kigali to the city of Gisenyi.
Using Air Transport; You can reach Virunga national park by use of a direct flights from Ethiopia to Goma International Airport. From there, to access Virunga National Park is about 32 kilometers west of Goma and Visitors mainly through hiring a car.
Water transport; A traveler can also visit Virunga while using water transport because the distance is short and you can use either speed boats that lasts around 2 to 3 hours. If you use slow boats takes around 3 to 4 hours to drive on the waters of Lake Kivu.
Where to stay in Virunga National Park
Never get worried on visit to Virunga National Park where to stay because the park boosts with variety of classic accommodation facilities with suitable amenities for your comfortable stay ranging between luxury, Mid-range and budget lodges. Those lodge includes ‘Kibumba tented camp, Bukima tented camp, Mikeno lodge and Tchegera Island camp among others.
Kibumba Tented Camp; This safari accommodation is located within the park and consists of 18 comfortable tents and a good spot for those that are to go for gorilla trekking and hiking Mount Nyiragongo.
Bukima Tented Camp; The camp is located at the boundary of the park and was established to serve visitors on their long stay in Virunga National Park. However, it features with luxurious facilities. Its location gives spectacular view of Mount Mikeno’s peak as well as the red glow given off by the lave lake at Mount Nyiragongo.
Mikeno Lodge; This is one of the most beautiful accommodation facilities that features about 12 rooms with unique settings and near the spot to start hike to Mount Nyiragongo. The lodge has got an excellent restaurant offering both indoor and outdoor dining, with complimentary breakfast and delicious meals