Virunga lodge

Virunga lodge : Looking for a luxurious and yet affordable accommodation while in the Volcanoes national park? Look no further than booking yourself a stay in the Virunga lodge. The Virunga lodge is one of the exclusive and unique luxury lodges that guests looking at trekking the mountain gorillas of the Volcanoes national park and spending a night in the area could book themselves into to enjoy the most of the park.

The Virunga lodge is about an hour to 40 minutes’ drive from the Volcanoes national park headquarters in Kinigi town. The Virunga lodge has been open for visitors from all over the world and Rwanda inclusive for over 15 years as they celebrated the 15^th anniversary in 2019. The Virunga lodge boosts of breathtaking views as it overlooks the Virunga mountain ranges that is the mount Sabinyo, Mount Karisimbi, Mount Gahinga, Mount Bisoke and the Mount Muhabura which can all be hiked from the Rwandan side.

The Virunga lodge is sitted on an area of 2,175 meters at the top of a hill giving the in house guests a full time view of the Virunga volcanoes at a distance in the northwest as a beautiful backdrop. The guests will also get to have an overlooking view of the Rwanda twin lakes, the Lake Burera and Lake Ruhondo in the Musanze valley in the east.

This property was built by a one Praveen Moman in 2004 and has been in existence since then hosting the guests looking for a warm and luxurious stay. The Rwandan property has an African but chique design and timeless artifacts that have been handmade spread out throughout the lodge. The style has been designed to match the luxury travelers every year with staff that is trained and very welcoming for this kind of traveller.

The Virunga lodge has ten luxury Banda rooms made of stone walls and wooden floor and furnished with classy wooden furniture. Each of these ten rooms has a large balcony which doubles as a viewing point or sitting area to enjoy the view of the lodge, catch the sunset and the mountains. Each of these cottages is spread out on the hill which gives all the guests privacy on their stay. The rooms are also having a private fire place that keeps guests warm on their stay in this cold part of the country. A topping to these luxurious bandas is the shower rooms with a double vanity that have solar heated water and low flushing toilets which makes the rooms ecofriendly.

The ten bandas at the Virunga lodge have two classes and that is the standard bandas and the deluxe bandas and these differ in size, amenities and also pricing. The Virunga lodge has 8 standard bandas and 2 deluxe bandas that are named Ibirunga and Ibiyaga. The deluxe bandas have a private sitting area and the interior is more detailed and refined making them different from the other rooms.

The deluxe bandas also have large hot tubs that come in handy on the cold days at the lodge and the terrace sitting area is much larger than that of the other bandas. The terraces of the deluxe rooms have the greater view of the Virunga volcanoes and the twin lakes; Burera and Ruhondo.

Every guest at the hotel will be assigned a personal butler throughout their stay and the fee paid for the room will be inclusive of spa and sauna treatment. The lodge has a luxurious spa called Ikirunga where guests get to relax or spend some time after cooling off from the physically demanding treks of the Volcanoes national park.

Virunga Lodge is quite adventurous and sociable to be, as everyone eats at one large table in the evening. The lodge has highly qualified staffs that even go out of their way to make the guest’s stay enjoyment.

Other than providing enjoyable facilities, the lodge also provides local ‘Indore’ dance troupes that perform to entertain their guests after viewing the mountain gorillas and massages are also available.

Virunga Lodge is currently the area’s top lodges and certainly has one of the most spectacular locations of any camp in Africa on a ridge overlooking both Lakes.

While at the Virunga lodge, you will get a chance to visit some community projects in the area to see or even support their cause or just for a chance to interact with the local people for your Rwanda safari experience. Get to enjoy complimentary bottle of wine, whisky or cocktail made by the skilled barristers at the lodge. WiFi access will be free and accessible to all guests in the main lodge building which also has a Dian Fossey Map room.

The Dian Fossey Map room in the Virunga lodge is a room that was built in honor of the Dian Fossey, the primate primatologist who dedicated her life to the conservation of the mountain gorillas. This room was open to guests in March 2017 with a permanent exhibition showing the conservationists and the explorers of the Virunga Volcanoes from the 1850 to the 1985 curated by a historical writer called Giulia Ajmone Marsan.

The Virunga lodge also has a group of Intore dancers that entertain guests upon arrival and in the evenings during their stay. A Virunga Lodge Standard banda goes for about 1,200 USD per person per night on full board basis. Get in touch with us and let us plan with you a stay at the Virunga lodge.