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SABA Episode #12 — Gorilla Tracking in a Local Helicopter & Other Questions
It wasn’t our original plan to have the 12th episode of SEE AFRICA BREATHE AFRICA limited to Mgahinga Gorilla National Park. But then we ran into obstacles getting gorilla tracking clients and park officials from Rwanda and Congo to join Tuesday’s Zoom call, and adjusted a bit …To listen to the 26 information-packed minutes of…
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SABA Episode #11 — Eco, Sustainable or Responsible Tourism? It’s Clear (at Least to Harold Goodwin)!
It was a no-brainer whom to invite as our guest for the 11th episode of SEE AFRICA BREATHE AFRICA focused on responsible tourism (we cut it down to 17 minutes only, to be as user-friendly as possible). Who would be your top mark if you were to discuss the Catholic Church? Pope Francis of course!…
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SABA Episode #10 — How to Be Good Partners to Batwa ‘Pygmies’?
For the tenth episode of SEE AFRICA BREATHE AFRICA (we are now in the double digits!) I was sent on a mission to visit the Batwa “Pygmy” people of Echuya Forest on the Uganda-Rwanda border. Miha was attempting to kill two birds with one stone — introducing me to the realities of the Batwa and…
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SABA Episode #9 — Why Choose Africa for Your Travels & Why Not?
Our first podcast episode of 2022 is headlined by a globetrotter, a Playboy editor, a journalist, a producer, an attorney, and an author of a bestseller — and these are all one person! Albert Podell’s life appeals to the imagination. At the age of six, his aim was to collect stamps from all the nations…
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Is This Where You Come In? (Gorilla Highlands 2018-2021 and Beyond)
This is the fourteenth and final instalment of a series that marks 20 years of Edirisa and 10 years of the Gorilla Highlands Initiative. Click here for Part I. A man at peace because his mission had been accomplished, I stretched my legs and listened to the faint voices in the night. A new year…
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How a Cryptic Group Got Us a Crypto Present
The surprising story below ends our daily blogging in 2021 — and the first 10 years of the Gorilla Highlands Initiative. See you in 2022, and in the meantime better not miss the SEE AFRICA BREATHE AFRICA podcast! At a glance, the email was kinda scary.If you didn’t read carefully enough, it looked like one…
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How Does a Ugandan Village Work?
The LC Pyramid of UgandaFor a remote village on the edge of Uganda it is as important as it is for any town to have security, stability and unity. Property disputes and most crimes are often best dealt with locally. When someone breaks the law, there must be solutions that do not involve the police…
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Three Bunyonyi Love Stories (Gorilla Highlands 2016-2017)
This is the thirteenth instalment of a weekly series that marks 20 years of Edirisa and 10 years of the Gorilla Highlands Initiative. Click here for Part I. By 2016 the Gorilla Highlands idea had matured enough to call for a professional team in Kigali, and I was part of that group. I wasn’t just…
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SABA Episode #8 — How to Change Africa’s Image Worldwide?
On this eighth and final episode of the 2021 SEE AFRICA BREATHE AFRICA podcasts, the discussion revolves around something I have a particular interest in: How to change Africa’s image worldwide?Though I am African through and through, born and raised in Uganda, I don’t believe I had ever had to address the issue of my…
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Are Rwanda and Uganda Suitable for Travelling with Kids?
Travelling with children anywhere requires a little bit more planning and preparation. A safari with kids is no different, but it is certainly very possible. A trip to the Gorilla Highlands region need not be ruled out or put on hold until kids are older …A visit to Akagera National Park, like many typical safari…
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Congo Nile Trail — Hooray, Out of the Way!
📁 HikingFor me, 2021 has been a period of getting things out of the way. Primarily among them: the terabytes of video footage that had been waiting on dozens of disks.The original idea was to convert most of this material into video In-Sights, but those productions weren’t met with sufficient enthusiasm to warrant the excessive toil.…
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Will Cultural Experiences Feel Commercialised?
11mm, f/5.6, 1/500s, ISO400Quite some years ago I guided a group of tourists to Rwanda and Uganda for a Swedish tour company. They had a couple of “cultural experiences” as part of the program. They weren’t my cup of tea, to say the least, and most of my guests felt the same way. A few…
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Which Nations are Most Common Among Visitors to Uganda and Rwanda?
Top 10 Countries Among Our Tourists in Uganda and RwandaTo answer the title question we of course tried to obtain national statistics — but ultimately failed to get something comprehensive and fresh enough. As a proxy we dove into the stats of our own trips and accommodation in Uganda and Rwanda in the pre-Covid period.…
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Idealistic Without Being Naïve (Gorilla Highlands 2012-2015)
This is the twelfth instalment of a weekly series that marks 20 years of Edirisa and 10 years of the Gorilla Highlands Initiative. Click here for Part I.
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SABA Episode #7 — Congo Nile Trail & Staring at the Muzungu
That photo above, that’s something I can totally get behind! Miha took a picture of Cesar Niyonkuru before they embarked on a lovely chat about the Congo Nile Trail, a hiking or cycling adventure on the eastern side of Lake Kivu that is the topic of the seventh episode of SEE AFRICA BREATHE AFRICA.The walking…
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This Magnetic Doctor Isn’t Your Typical Healer
Whenever you are visiting Gisenyi or embarking on the Thriving Countryside trek, stop by at Mr Neza’s. This is a man who wanted to heal, so he opened a clinic after a 30-year secondary school career in all the three countries of our region.“I got tired of teaching languages but not of playing a significant…
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How to Become a Millionaire Without Losing Too Much Money in the Process?
Which currencies can I use in Rwanda, Uganda and DR Congo?In the Gorilla Highlands region, each country has its own banknotes and coins. The Ugandan Shilling (USh/UGX) is the authorised tender utilised in Uganda, Rwandans pay with the Rwandan Franc (Frw/RWF) and the Congolese Franc (FC) is the official currency of the Democratic Republic of…
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SABA Episode #6 — Gifts for Kids, Begging & Smart Giving
The sixth episode of our SEE AFRICA BREATHE AFRICA podcast explores one of the trickiest questions we get from travellers: What should I bring for children I will meet?I already contributed some ideas to Miha’s article about the issue (swaying him away from his more ambiguous first draft) but since I couldn’t make it for…
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