Virunga Lodge

Location

Virunga Lodge is sat high on a ridge, offering views of the Virunga Volcanoes to the west and the lakes of Bulera and Ruhondo to the east. About an hour’s drive to the park headquarters, it’s a good base to be for gorilla trekking as well as exploring the surrounding landscape and local communities.

Layout

The lodge has ten stand-alone bandas that are spread out across the ridge. The main lodge, which homes a lounge area, a dining room and the Dian Fossey map room, is particularly inviting, especially in the evening after an exciting day in the national park. As of July 2017, the lodge will provide butler service for each room.

Rooms

Virunga homes ten individual ‘bandas’ which stylishly reflect the local building style of Rwanda (stone-built with tile roofing). The en-suite bandas, which are each named after the lakes in the surrounding area, each have a roaring fireplace and a private terrace – a platform for panoramic views across the mountains and twin lakes.

Activities

  Trekking to see the mountain gorillas and golden monkeys is usually the activity that attracts people to the Volcanoes National Park initially. Other activities at the lodge include climbing Karisimbi and Visoke volcanoes, visiting the nearby twin lakes and doing some communal activities such as watching traditional dance performers, visiting a local primary school and visiting the Roz Carr’s orphanage which takes care of lost or orphaned by the Rwandan genocide).