Are you planning for the best mount hiking experience in Africa? Here is the most amazing experience that everyone wouldn’t miss before you die. My wife and I we planned to visit Africa and definitely internet is the number one source of information and when we started to check for the mount to hike we found many in different countries. At first my wife wanted to do Kilimanjaro and wildlife, but my interest was to do mount and gorilla too. In our researches we found the Rwenzori Mountain National Park and Bwindi Forest National Park for the gorilla safari in Uganda.
Due to we had a limited time from our work we remained thinking what to do 2 weeks and we kept on checking and later we a nice guide “visit Nyiragongo” and this was explaining more about the Mount Nyiragongo Volcano in Democratic Republic of Congo. Both we were ignorant about this mount but further reading we came to know that this is an active volcano mountain and found in the Virunga National Park and this is the oldest park in Africa and as we kept reading we found that again from this park you find the mountain gorillas. My wife went on and send in an email to this guide and as soon as she had just sent the email “Moses” an African Travel Expert replied instant promising to send the best itinerary combining the mountain gorilla trekking and Mount Nyiragongo Hike.
Along side Moses advised us that this mount is so amazing from his true experience after visiting this mount and we kept on waiting for the package and the quote price. He later in his email said that in the 2 weeks we have we can after visit Kenya and experience the high concentration of wildlife in the green savannah and he proposed a 5 Day Amboseli – Maasai Mara Safari, but our much interest was about this active volcano and we first gave the Kenya side a deaf ear and every time Moses respond he never forgot to talk about the best deal we could get on Kenya safari package.
In the information he gave was so elaborative explaining what we may need to experience this Congo safari. Can you imagine gorilla permit in Congo cost $ 400 USD and low season Mid-March to Mid May – Mid October to Mid- December every year a permit cost $ 200 USD per person, Nyiragongo permits $ 300 USD, DRC Congo tourist visa $ 100 USD which he promised to process for us and the travels from Goma to Bukima and all other areas of interest are provided and in this park there are several lodges that you can stay depending on your budget priority and for luxury tourists Moses advise to stay at Mikeno Lodge, Mid-range travelers stay at Bukima Tented Camp and then for the budget travelers which was our case we took an overnight at Kibuma Tented Camp and i can say this so much interesting camp with the nice services and you can too visit to the nearby local communities and experience the local cultural aspects of Democratic Republic of Congo.
After experiencing the gorillas Moses made it wonderful for us leaving the Kibumba Tented Camp that took us few minutes to reach the Kibati Patrol Point where the hike begins from at around 10 am. His arrangement he organized for us the Mikeno Package and in this package includes all requirements that you need for bedding (sleeping bag, rain gear, jacket) then eats of the day like snacks and dinner are provided by the professional chef from Mikeno Lodge. This Package cost $ 80 USD per person, but if you do not want to incur this you can as well take your own snacks of the day and something enough for you to eat at the summit after the 9 hours hike. Well in our group we had some members that came with own foods and with the porters they managed to prepare for them the food but to this still you bring your items that you will have to use like beddings and warm gears.
Then with accommodation you will allocated a shelter at the top and this is inclusive on the permit fee ($300) that you paid. Then early in the morning take your own breakfast and by 6 am start to descend down and by 10 – 11 am you will be at the starting point and the Virunga jeep will be ready waiting for you and Harakandi our driver was so helpful and in with in 45 minutes he dropped us at the Goma border and Emma was ready waiting for us and he later drove us back to Kigali but with our en-route lunch at the Hotel Muhabura and then to our hotel Haven in Kigali where we spend 2 days relaxing and one day we were with Emma in Kigali visiting almost all of the genocides in the area.
After coming back Democratic Republic of Congo and very excited with the memories of the boiling of the mount Nyiragongo we picked interest to also experience the African wildlife and remember Moses had proposed the 5 Day Amboseli – Maasai Mara Safari Kenya we wrote to Moses and as usual and i think he loves his job he answered us with the detailed package again with the very affordable quote and staying in spacious lodges like the Mara Sopa Lodge in Maasai Mara National Park and the Kibo Slopes Lodge in the Amboseli National Park. Later we had to contact our our Airline “Kenya Airways” rescheduling our return flight and make break to Kenya for our safari and later in the early morning Emma dropped us to the Kigali International Airport and by 07 am we arrived at the Jomo Kinyatta International Airport and upon arrival our safari guide Geoffrey was ready at the arrival terminal waiting for us.
Straight from the the Airport transferred to Amboseli National Park an this took us like 6 hours drive with some stopover for lunch and visit to some of the cultural places as well as bush toilets and landscapes viewing. Thereafter in the evening we arrived into the park and checked in at the Kibo Slopes Lodge for our dinner and overnight stay. Then on the following day early in the morning took breakfast and went for the early morning game drive looking for the African wildlife species like lions, leopards, bush bucks among others. After this experience we drove back to Nairobi city and overnight spent at the Anga Afrika Camp that is suited in an Eco – friendly environment built with the spacious safari tents that blend with nature.
Then, later on the 3rd day we drove to the Maasai Mara National Park and when you arrive at this Maasai Mara you can see as many wildlife as you can. As soon as we arrived in this park we found very many wildebeest animals, zebras, lions, leopards and much more. Then on the next day on our full day game drive we managed to spot very many wildlife as well as birds. From this Park there is also the cultural villages that you can visit in evening and experience the Maasai Mara cultural performances and still in Maasai Mara there is the Balloon Safaris and you can experience this at your extra fee. Later after this experience on our last day we drove back to Nairobi and as our flight was late in the night we had our last dinner at Carnivore Restaurant and after dropped to the airport for our return flight back in the States.
