Mount Bisoke is among the peaks of the Virunga mountain ranges found along the border of Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda. Mount Bisoke (Visoke) is a dormant volcano with a crater lake on its top, located besides the Parc National de Vulcans in Ruhengeri, Northern Province of Rwanda. To hike mount Bisoke requires one to move along steep slopes that are densely closed with the equatorial rain forest and some alpine meadows. In this place, you can visit the Karisoke research center that was founded by the late Dian Fossey with in the valley, plus an encounter to trek the endangered Mountain gorillas in Volcanoes National Park, a visit to the magical Musanze caves, as well as trekking golden monkeys.
Mount Bisoke is not snow capped but it is 3711 meters high, however it is often covered by fog with a conic shape you can expect from a perfect volcano mountain with a crater filled with water forming a lake on its top.
The hike on this mountain takes up to 4 hours to conquer the peak and 2 hours to slope down, however the experienced hikers take only 3hours to reach the top and 1 hour to slope down and this means hiking to the top of this mountain bisoke and back is a one day activity. You meet at the starting point at 07:00hrs for briefing and begin the hiking activity at 0800hrs where you can take a porter along if you like one and the hiking gears are provided at the park.
A hike on mount Bisoke is not that tough but may be very hectic for the inexperienced hikers since the mountain is on a high elevation that necessitates climbers to have a lot of energy to climb and to walk through the whole excursion. Climbing to the top of this mountain can be a whole day adventure depending on your speed and the stops you make to the top but at the end of the day you will realize that the hike is worth the efforts.
As you are hiking, you will go through different categories of vegetation such as the bamboo forests then you hike higher and pass through the hagenia-hypericum forest and at the top, you will find the senecio-lobelia bush, at this point you will be very near the peak.
The mountain Bisoke (Visoke) has two major hiking trails of which all lead to one of the crater lakes. The first which is the most popular trail is the one that leads you to the Crater Lake at the summit. And the second trail leads you to a crater called Lake Ngezi, which is shorter than the first trail.
Hiking mount Bisoke is among the exciting hiking adventures one can engage in on their next safari to Rwanda because it is not so tough though it requires some average level of fitness and good health. At the top of mountain Bisoke it really rewards with an incredible scenery over the vegetation and stunning views of Virunga massif.
