Mount Bisoke

Mount Bisoke: One of the eight volcanoes of the Virunga Mountain range of the Albertine Rift, which is located in the Western portion of the East African rift, is Mount Bisoke. It forms the border between the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda. It also forms the border between two national parks that border each other: the Virunga national park in the DRC and the Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda.

Nonetheless, Rwanda is home to the majority of the Bisoke volcano, including its top. The locals called the mountain “Bisoke,” which means drenched in water, because of these two crater lakes.

A stunning 400-meter-diameter crater lake and another 11-kilometer-diameter crater lake located on Mount Bisoke’s peak are features of the mountain. Bisoke Mountain is 3,711 meters high and was built following its most recent eruption in 1957. Instead of accumulating snow, fog covers the summit.

The east African rift, which is gradually slicing across the African tectonic plate, is the source of Bisoke’s volcano, as is the case with all the summits in the Virunga Mountain range.

In addition to tourists who come to the parks in search of gorillas or other wildlife, mountain climbers also frequent the peak. From the Rwandan side, it may be climbed in a single day. The Rwanda Development Board (RDB) organizes two-day trips to both it and neighboring Mt. Karisimbi, usually departing from the adjacent city of Musanze.

There are two main hiking trails leading to the crater lakes on the volcano, both of which are walkable despite the steepness of the ascent. The most well-liked trail is the one that leads to Crater Lake at the peak; depending on climbers’ pace, it takes six hours to complete, with two hours spent descending from the summit and four hours spent ascending. The second trail is substantially shorter, taking only three hours to hike—two hours to reach the Crater Lake and one hour to return—and leads to the second Crater Lake of Ngezi. These are one-day hikes that are easier enough for a beginner to complete, but they still require extra strength and good health. Along with pursuing golden monkeys across a variety of mountainous landscapes, the trip provides the chance to see mountain gorillas.

The cost of the climb is $75 USD per person, which includes a park guide provided by the volcanoes national park headquarters in Kinigi. Porters may be hired from the headquarters for $20 USD, and climbers can purchase wooden sticks from the local art stores. At the park headquarters in Kinigi, where visitors purchase climbing permits, the hike begins at seven in the morning.

The Dian Fossey Tomb Site, located on Mount Bisoke, is the resting place of a well-known American primatologist and wildlife researcher who devoted her life to protecting mountain gorillas from poachers. She was also known by the nickname “Nyiramacibiri.”

The vegetation on Mount Bisoke is diverse, ranging from bamboo woods to hygienic hypericum woodlands and Senecio-lobelia bushes near the summit.

Despite the insecurity that occurred in both countries in recent years, such as the Rwandan Liberation War (1990–1994), the Genocide against the Tutsi (1994), the First (1996–1997) and Second (1998–2003) Congo wars, military action and refugee relocation during those times destroyed the ecology by deforestation and poaching of endangered species, upon the Volcanoes National Park of Rwanda and the Virunga National Park of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as the surrounding areas. Despite these events, both parks are secure this year, and the tourism sector is recovering.