Hirwa mountain gorilla family Group

Hirwa mountain gorilla family was formed in 2006 with some gorilla members from the Sabyinyo gorilla family and others from the Agashya gorilla family also known as group 13. If you seem to always be a lucky person then this is the gorilla family to trek while in Rwanda.

Hirwa gorilla family can be trekked from volcanoes national park which is in the northwestern part of Rwanda. The word Hirwa was derived from a local Kinyarwanda word to mean “lucky one” because the gorilla group was formed out of luck. Hirwa gorilla family was indeed lucky as it received a set of twins in 2011.

Hirwa mountain gorilla family says around areas of mount Gahinga and mount Sabyinyo slopes. You should bear in mind that the numbers in gorilla families keep on changing due to many reasons such as separation, death, new births, and so many other reasons. Hirwa mountain gorilla family as of now has 16 members with 1 silverback.

Sabyinyo gorilla family

Sabyinyo gorilla family is the family where some members of the Hirwa gorilla family came from, the group lives on the mountain slopes of Mount Sabyinyo and Mount Gahinga dominated by a popular silverback Guhonda that is the biggest and the heaviest silverback in volcanoes national park weighing about 220kgs. Sabyinyo gorilla family is one of the easiest gorilla groups to trek and derives its name from mountain Sabyinyo.

Agashya gorilla family

Agashya gorilla family also known as group 13 was named so because of the initial number it had at the time of habituation. This gorilla family is now named after the ruling silverback called Agashya meaning “news” Agashya took over from Nyakarimaho dominated the group at the time of habituation.

Agashya managed to expand the group to 27 individuals, he is a very ambitious silverback who likes fighting other group members just to steal away some females, he is also fund of leading the gorillas to higher elevations in case he senses danger. Some members of the Hirwa gorilla family were from the Agashya gorilla family.

Gorilla permits

Gorilla permits are cards issued out by the government body in charge of tourism to allow one to trek mountain gorillas in their natural habitat. Permits in volcanoes national park Rwanda cost $1500. People with communicable diseases such as flu, cough, and diarrhea will not be allowed to trek mountain gorillas because they can pass on the disease to mountain gorillas and they can die in big numbers because of the low immune system.

A gorilla permit is offered by Rwanda Development Board to allow the visitor or the one who has booked it to go to volcanoes national park, trek, and see gorillas only for one hour. This one hour is spent on a habituated gorilla family in volcanoes National Park. Because of this, you will need a gorilla trekking permit booked in advance to do gorilla trekking. You can book with Africa adventure Vacations to help you book the gorilla permit to volcanoes National Park or get it directly from Rwanda Development Board. At Africa adventure vacations we organize all the tour safaris and packages to Rwanda you just need to contact us on your intended dates of travel and then we check for the availability as we notify you once we have confirmed the availability and once you’re okay with provided dates then we go ahead and we book the permit tentatively as we wait for you to make payments and once payments are done then where applicable send you scanned copies of your receipts.

Best time to visit Hirwa mountain gorilla family / group in volcanoes national park

Although volcanoes national park can be visited any time of the year, there are types of weathers that you would want to miss to see endangered mountain gorillas. Most travelers prefer drier months of the year because the trails are not sleeper and are easily accessed.

Dry season

The dry season goes from June to mid-September and again from December to February and this is the best time to visit volcanoes national park for those who want to trek gorillas and also do canopy walks because the trails are dry, not slippery and are easily accessible. But since volcanoes national park has a tropical rain forest you are advised to carry a jacket just in case it rains.

Hiking Virunga National Park is much easier during dry season and game viewing is clear as most of the animals are near water sources drinking water because it’s a dry season meaning you have chances of seeing these animals converged in one place.

Wet season

The wet season in volcanoes national park runs from March to May and again from October to November and these are the rainy months in Rwanda. But these does not mean it will rain every day on your safari and if it does rain in Rwanda it rains a few hours and it shines the rest of the day not like unlike counties in west Africa. However those interested in birding this is their best time to visit Virunga National Park because in this season plants are flowering attracting birds.