Primate tour in Rwanda and Uganda
How this holiday makes a difference
Environment
All the lodges and resorts that we use on this tour are careful with their waste management and when possible we help the accommodation owners make sustainable decisions about the on going running and eco-management. For example, most of the lodges we use have solar powered lighting and practice water conservation.
At the end of each trip we offset our carbon footprint (based on the number of tours we have completed and the number of passengers we have taken with us), with the Carbon Trust.
Wildlife
Firstly we adhere to and uphold the strict rules imposed when visiting mountain gorillas; making guests aware that any small virus they may have can have huge repercussions on the mountain gorilla population; and if we notice that a guest has a bad virus or is obviously ill with a contagious illness we make the decision there and then on what the best course of action is for the welfare of the gorillas. We only run small group tours here (group sizes are no larger than 8 people) which helps to reduce the impact that people have the behaviour of the gorillas and the environment as we trek through it.
We also donate an amount of money each year (depending on the number of tours and guests completed each year) to the International Gorilla Conservation Programme and the Ape Action Africa organisation. These organisations help to protect, understand and conserve gorillas and other primates throughout Africa.
Community
The local community benefits from out tours as we employ local guides and trackers to help find the primates in both Uganda and Rwanda. This ensures that the money we pay these guides, is invested directly back into the local economy. Thus generating a great financial option against illegal poaching and logging which used to be seen as a quick way to earn large amounts of money. Over the last 10-20 years of high profile eco tourism here we have seen a huge reduction in poaching and deforestation and an increase in the popularity that the primates here have in the local populations.
The other major effect this tour has on the local community is by the purchase of two mountain gorilla permits US$500 each, this money not only goes into protecting the wildlife of the park by paying for rangers and perimeter patrols but some of this money is given directly back to the local villages which helps education and health care in these remote African villages.
We use an African owned and African run company in Uganda to help us complete the tours, this ensures that the vast majority of the fee for this tour finds its way back to Africa and helps to protect and conserve the ecosystems here.
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