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One of Africa’s most active volcanoes, the Nyiragongo volcano situated in Virunga National Park some 25 kilometers north of the city of Goma, is now open to tourism.

This is the quasi-permanent lava lake in the crater of the Nyiragongo.

The volcano had been closed to tourism for security reasons, but has just re-opened following a notable improvement in security after months of Ranger operations in the foothills of the volcano.

This is the view you get from the summit, looking down into the crater.

The cost of hiking up is $200 for a foreigner and $25 for a national. Permits can be obtained from the Congolese Wildlife Authority (ICCN) office in Goma. Please email Vianney at tourism at gorilla dot cd for more information.

If you want to see some footage of the volcano erupting, and how it looks on most days from Bukima in the Gorilla Sector, click here.

In coming months we will also be providing facilities at the summit - shelter and toilets. At the moment this is lacking but it is something we wish to work on as soon as possible.

If you want to see more photos of the volcano there are many on our Flickr account!

Tourism in the Gorilla Sector of Virunga National Park officially started in May this year. This was a major breakthrough and a moment of great anticipation after over a year of fighting between the army and rebel factions had prevented myself and my Ranger colleagues from patrolling the sector and monitoring the gorillas.

Since May we have had over 500 visitors, of various nationalities including English, American, Australian, French and Belgian. It is so wonderful to be able to show off our gorillas again! Here are the actual numbers of tourists:

May – 5
June – 13
July – 144
August – 284
September – 60
October to date – 11

Each person pays $400, of which 30% goes entirely to the communities surrounding Virunga National Park, 20% is for conservation activities in Virunga National Park, and the remaining 50% goes to ICCN in Kinshasa to support the additional national parks and reserves in DR Congo that suffer from underfunding and a lack of resources. Included in the $400 fee is an ICCN security escort to Bukima (from Kibati) and to Jomba (from Bunangana).

So how many tourists can visit each family?
If a gorilla family has 10 individuals or more, we allow 6 tourists to visit.
If a gorilla family has less than 10 individuals we allow 4 tourists to visit the group.
And as you know – ALL VISITORS – meaning tourists, guides and rangers – wear a mask to protect the gorillas from our diseases and germs.

So at the moment we can welcome 30 tourists PER DAY.
The Mapuwa, Kabirizi and Humba families can have 6 visitors each day, for a duration of one hour, and the Lulengo, Rugendo and Munyaga families can have 4 visitors each day, for a duration of one hour.

And how do people pay for the visit?
It is very straight forward and transparent.
A deposit is made at the ICCN bank account in Goma, then you just come to our office to see Vianney who is in charge of Reservations and he will give you the permit. His number is +243 99 569 3627 or +243 99 171 5401.

If you have any questions at all please just leave a comment here – and as Head of Tourism I would welcome ideas on how to boost our visitor numbers. Tourism generates vital revenue for conservation in my country.

Yes, there is another newborn in the Kabirizi family. We never tire of hearing this wonderful news, especially when we think of the war that was enraging Virunga, the Rangers and the gorillas only a year ago.

Karibu gave birth late last month – this is baby number 3 for her. The newborn will join his or her siblings, Kitagenda and Serundori. She has only been an adult since 2002 – so we hope she has more babies in her yet!

Split after 9 difficult months of cohabitation
Mapuwa family was led by 2 Silverbacks, Mapuwa and Nvuyekure since December 29 2008.

Mapuwa

Nvuyekure

Then there were 4 adult females: Jicho, Kagofero, Kanepo and Bitangi.

There were 2 sub-adults: Mambo and Bikenge, 2 juveniles: Gourba and Sebagabo and finally 4 babies: Subutimbiri, Dunia, Wathaut and Buzara.

Interacting every day each Silverback trying to gain total control of the group.  Last week, there was a fight- also known as an interaction between Mapuwa and Nvuyekure and the group was split into two. Seven family members are with Nvuyekure: 3 adult females and four other individuals and other seven with Mapuwa: 1 adult female and six other individuals.
it will be interesting to see how this two families dynamic plays out in coming days and weeks

Amani the orphan gorilla is doing well and has become good friends with her new companions Kighoma and Mapendo. Here is the latest video from Andre who filmed them playing and climbing:

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We have updated our Youtube Channel to the new beta format and took the opportunity to redesign it. It is now a lot easier to look through all our videos old and new.

Just scroll through the library on the right of the page. You can also of course leave comments, subscribe to our channel, or even send us a video response of your own.

Please tell me what you think of the new look and interface:

www.youtube.com/gorillacd/

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The Congolese independence day is on 30th of June, and this year the government had chosen Goma to celebrate it. The town was abuzz with construction and improvements such as street lighting in preparation for the arrival of the Congolese president Joseph Kabila and other heads of government.

For the national celebrations we brought 123 Rangers from throughout the park to Goma to take part in the military parade. Here is the video of the Rangers in action, where amongst others you can spot Rangers Atamato, Ellie, Kasereka, Yaya, Touriste, and Bosco:

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Today our facebook cause reached 75,000 members with over $10,000 donated, giving us the rank of “Parade.” This makes us the 50th top cause in the Animals category.

We are trying to move up that ranking, so if you are not already a member of our cause, please click here, sign up, and invite all your facebook friends.

You will be able to discuss the events in Virunga with your facebook friends and set up a donations box on your own profile page.

This photo of a mountain gorilla in Virunga in 1989 was shared by a facebook
member Giorgio Lugli.

I am pleased to announce that on Saturday at 5 AM Samantha gave birth to a healthy baby boy at St Thomas Hospital in London. The as yet un-named baby weighed in at 9.2 pounds and father William is over the moon.

The Rangers here at Bukima sent this video message to the new parents:

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Our long-time collaborator Gearing Up 4 Gorillas (G4G) has just launched a new website at www.g4g.co.uk.

As the website says, G4G “focuses 100% on the conservation of the mountain gorilla in Virunga National Park, eastern DR Congo, through providing funds and equipment to the rangers whose job it is to protect them.”

Regular readers of our blog will know Linda Nunn who has spearheaded G4G’s efforts to support us, such as brokering the construction of the new school at Rumangabo as well as donating trucks and equipment for our Rangers.

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