Spitting Hot Fire

The Virunga Volcanoes



Seven volcanoes create natural borders between northern Rwanda, Uganda, and the DRC. Five out of the seven are sliced down the middle and shared between two countries. The exceptions are Sabyinyo - which is half Rwandan, a quarter Congolese, and a quarter Ugandan - and Mikeno, which sits entirely inside the DRC. In Rwanda, the land around the base of the peaks is called the Volcanoes National Park. These tall, stony cones are responsible for the majority of tourism in Rwanda: in their forests dwell half of the world's mountain gorillas.