Flights to Virunga national park
Flights to Virunga national park- If you think of flying to the largest national park and most visited national park in DR Congo, you may either book your flight with Jambo Jet from Nairobi or Ethiopian Airlines. Virunga national park is now accessed using flights in 2 hours from Nairobi in Kenya. Jambo jet now has flights to Goma international airport every week and this airport is a few kilometers from Virunga national park. Luxury travelers that want to access Virunga national park using chattered flights can now do so using any trusted local tour operators.
Virunga national park is the most visited national park in DR Congo famous for hosting mountain gorillas. Virunga national park is home to over 400 mountain gorillas, 20 primates, 126 mammals, and 706 bird species. Mountain gorilla trekking is the most done activity in Virunga national park but other activities such as hiking, chimpanzee trekking, and birding are done in the national park.
Booking flights to Virunga national park
Booking flights to Virunga national park has been made easy with Africa adventure vacations. When you have decided to use Africa adventure vacations limited as your tour operator, you will just send us an email containing the dates you want to fly to Virunga national park and they will use those dates to quickly communicate with those in charge of flights to see if they have a seat.
When the seats are available, we shall send you an email containing the banking details and when you send money, we shall book the flight for you. Jambo jet is a Kenya airline working under Kenya airways. The flights do start from Jomo Kenyatta international airport and end at Goma city where security drivers pick you up and transfer you to Virunga national park.
Ethiopian Airlines to Goma Airport
Activities to do on a flying safari to Virunga national park
Mountain gorillas trekking: DR Congo is one of the few places in the world to meet mountain gorillas in the world. There are several mountain gorillas in Virunga national park and 8 families have been habituated for gorilla tourism. Trekking mountain gorillas in Virunga national park would require anybody to have a trekking permit and this can be got from a trusted local tour operator.
Gorilla trekking is led by the armed ranger guides who take you to different parts of the park searching for these giant apes. The gorilla trekking activity takes 2-7 hours of meeting different park animals, birds, and vegetation covers. Once the mountain gorillas are located, the trekkers are able to be around them for 1 hour, learn about their habits, watch them do daily activities, and take photos.
Hiking Mountain Nyiragongo: Mountain Nyiragongo is the most hiked volcano in Virunga national park. It’s an active volcano with the last eruption having taken place in May 2021. Hiking takes 5-6 hours and it’s a 2-day activity and best done by those that are sure of their physical fitness. To hike Mountain Nyiragongo you need a $300 permit which can be got from Virunga national park offices or Virunga national park.
Hiking Nyiragongo is led by the armed ranger guides and these take you through the best hiking trails till you reach the summit. The journey is quite challenging and it has different stopovers where hikers relax for some minutes before proceeding to the summit. The trails become steeper when you are about to reach the summit and it’s always challenging but worth it. The summit of Virunga has a red-hot lava lake, and you will enjoy the surrounding places like Rwenzori mountains, Virunga ranges, lake Kivu, and Virunga national park.
Birding: Virunga national park is a perfect birding destination because it hosts over 706 bird species. Birding is done in different parts of the park with a help of armed ranger guides and to enjoy the active move with a camera, a pair of binoculars, birding books, and a voice recorder. During the birding activity in Virunga national park you expect to see a number of bird species among which include the endemic ones.
Birds in Virunga national park include olive sunbird, grey-backed camaroptera, malachite sunbird, mountain sooty boubou, Rwenzori turaco, black bishop, collared sunbird, lunder’s bushshrike, mackinnon’s shrike, bronze mannikin, doherty’s bushshrike, variable sunbird, sharpe’s starling, baglafecht weaver, grey-headed negrofinch, black-headed waxbill, African citril, and blue-headed coucal among others.
Chimpanzee trekking: Chimpanzees are among the habituated primates in Virunga national park living in the southern sector of the park. Not so many chimpanzees are within this park but the few that are there are habituated for trekking purposes. To trek these chimps, you need to be with a trekking permit from the park offices and the activity is done by those above the age of 15 years.
Chimpanzee trekking starts with a briefing and armed ranger guides lead the trekkers throughout the whole activity. In the search, there are some animals that are seen in the jungle like mammals, primates, and birds about as soon as the chimpanzees are located, trekkers are given 1 hour to be around them watch them do daily activities, take photos and learn about their habits.
When to fly to Virunga national park?
Luxury travelers can fly to Virunga national park at any time of the year but there are months that are better than the rest. The better months in the dry season because they favor the flight as well as park activities. During the dry months that happened in June to September and December to February, there is little or no rainfall and the weather is favoring flights, the vegetation in the park is thin with clear views pf animals, roads leading to the park are passable and trekking/hiking trails are not slippery.
Luxury travelers can still fly to Virunga national park in the rainy season of March to May and October to November and by doing so they will enjoy huge discounts on the flights, accommodation, and gorilla trekking permits. Travelers should note that in the rainy seasons, there is too much rainfall and this may affect or delay flights, roads leading to Virunga national park are impassable, trekking/hiking trails are slippery, and the vegetation is thick with unclear views of the park animals.
What is nearest airport to Virunga national park?
The nearest airport to Virunga National Park is Goma international airport in Goma Town. Goma airport operates flights like Ethiopian Airlines and other domestic flights from within Congo. We recommend travelers to book accommodation in Goma Town since flights are sometimes tend to delay.
Some travelers opt to fly into Rwanda through Kigali international airport and it takes approximately 3-hour drive from Kigali to the grand barrier border in Congo. Please note that Kigali International airport operates quite a number of International flights.
Where to stay during your domestic flight to Virunga national park
So many accommodation facilities are available for travelers on flying safaris to Virunga national park. Travelers don’t have to worry about where they will stay for a lot of ranges of different prices and services are available in Virunga national park. These are Lulimbi Tented Camp, Nyiragongo Volcano Summit Shelters, Bukima Tented Camp, Mikeno Lodge, Tchegera Island, and Kibumba Tented Camp.
