Virunga Lodge

Virunga Lodge sits on a high ridge in Volcanoes National Park in northern Rwanda, with the Virunga volcano chain to the north and lakes Bulera and Ruhondo below. Most guests are here for mountain gorilla tracking: groups are capped at eight visitors per gorilla family per day, and a trek takes between three and eight hours depending on where the gorillas have moved. The lodge is the natural base — built by hand in 2004 from local stone, with Rwandan fabrics and locally made furniture — and it holds ten bandas: six doubles, two twins, and three larger deluxe bandas. The two named deluxe bandas, Ibirunga and Ibiyaga, were added in 2014 and each has a separate sitting room. Every banda has a fireplace, a private terrace, and an en-suite bathroom with shower.

Beyond gorilla tracking, the lodge organises golden monkey tracking, guided village walks down to Lake Bulera, volcano climbs on Gahinga, Sabyinyo, or Muhavura, and birding across Rwanda's national count of over seven hundred species.

The Dian Fossey Map Room at the lodge documents the conservation history of the Virunga volcanoes and is available for private events. The lodge also runs two community projects in Sunzu village: a water tank programme begun in 2016 and a sheep distribution scheme launched in 2014 serving roughly one hundred and forty local families.

The nearest town is Musanze, and volcano treks depart from the park headquarters each morning.