Gorilla safari activities

Rwanda is an extraordinary country, pulling itself out of countrywide grief following the genocide of over a million people in 1994, to a place where they treasure tourism. Although, generally, Rwandans do not like to talk about the tragedies, visiting memorial sites around the country, as well as the Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre, is a reality check for tourists.

Paul Callcutt at our leading supplier of gorilla trekking holidays, Natural World Safaris, gives good advice on other gorilla safari activities: “Responsible tourism holds the key to improving the situation for the Batwa people of Uganda and responsible local lodges like Mount Gahinga Lodge (the only one we use in the area) has a trust designed to aid the Batwa people. It has already been used to purchase land for pastoral purposes, allowing the Batwa a dignified lifestyle that, while still somewhat alien to their traditional lifestyle, is a huge step forward from when they were initially displaced by the Ugandan government and left to fend for themselves in an alien world with little or no support. In Bwindi Impenetrable National Park the people running Bwindi Community Hospital are encouraging the local people to be involved in a healthcare scheme of sorts, the cost of which is nominal in our world but people can sign up to a health insurance programme for just a few dollars each year. This is quite a groundbreaking idea and getting sceptical locals on board with the idea is half the challenge, a large part of the funding for this comes from visits from people who have a free afternoon following a morning’s gorilla trekking. I think this is an excellent way to spend an afternoon and a way in which guests can learn about the area on a deeper level.”