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“What’s a Gay?” and Other Ugandan Sexuality Questions
Weirdly enough, I didn’t sleep at all on the night of 31 May. I felt anxious, but I couldn’t put my finger on what exactly was happening, I guess. I felt all befuddled in the late morning, but a text from my friend Kelvin immediately woke me up. It said that 44 people got arrested…
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Specialty Coffee: A Win-Win Situation?
If you are reading this, chances are you’ve had your daily dose of coffee already. Coffee is one of the most popular agricultural commodities in the entire world, and its consumption only seems to be increasing — as incomes rise around the world, people are more interested in drinking the liquid gold. While production mainly…
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Showered Siblings
500mm, 1/400s, f/4, ISO800Well, this takes me back quite a few years! My first gorilla experience was actually in DR Congo, in Virunga National Park. I had just spent a few weeks in Uganda, where I met Miha and a few other members of the Gorilla Highlands team who are still part of the project…
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What Is Best Time to Visit Rwanda, Uganda and Eastern DRC? Experts Disagree!
“When is the best time to come?” is the question I have heard too many a time during my 20 years in the Gorilla Highlands. “Any time is the best time,” has been my standard reply, undoubtedly valid for the core of our region with rainforests and volcanoes inhabited by gorillas. But before posting this…
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Were Batwa Really Dangerous to Gorillas?
The sad story of the Batwa “Pygmies” of the Gorilla Highlands reached its dramatic peak when they were kicked out of national parks. This was in line with the traditional view of conservation — nature can only be protected in strict separation from indigenous peoples — but was that actually needed? Were they truly dangerous to gorillas?Dian Fossey, the…
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How Do Gorillas Get Habituated (Used to Humans)?
In the national parks of the Gorilla Highlands, many gorilla groups roam. But only some of them can actually receive one-hour visits from tourists. That is because they are habituated or, in other words, used to humans.This is done very selectively and carefully. For example, when in 2017 Rwanda doubled its gorilla tracking fees from…
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The Shock of Mount Kabuye
I looked at the mountain again and again during commutes from my Musanze home to Rwanda’s capital Kigali… It was marvellous. It was also as imposing as it gets, so it wasn’t difficult to identify it on the map: its name was Mount Kabuye. There were claims on the internet that it was the the…
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Underappreciated Ungulates
500mm, f/4, 1/400s, ISO400Antelopes are probably among the most underrated safari attractions. How often have you heard guests come back from a game drive saying that they “saw nothing except antelopes”? Well, I suppose that depends on how much time you spend in safari camps, but I can tell you it happens a lot, so…
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The Duuka
Growing up in the Gorilla Highlands, we watched the TV and saw pictures from the rest of the world. These images fired up our imaginations, and oh how we day-dreamed of America and England!In our minds these were the closest to heaven life on Earth could possibly get. We believed everything they had was inherently…
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Her Crafts Take Kids to School
Annah Kyomukama is one of our partners at Lake Bunyonyi and an example of a strong woman. A widow and a mother of 10, she has built a future for her children with the dexterity of her hardworking hands.How did you start making crafts? When I was 12 years old, I started to learn about…
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Top Rwandan Chef’s Top Kigali Restaurants
Hello friends! Sorry I have been quiet since our Cyuza Island Online Picnic, but times have been a bit challenging.With the hospitality industry at a standstill, most restaurants and hotels have been closed for a long time or were not operating at full capacity, and owners had to find some new solutions. A patron’s mentality…
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What Can a Lady Marketeer Do for Congolese Wildlife?
Hello everyone! I’m Gloria Mwenge Bitomwa and I am a tourism officer at Kahuzi-Biega National Park, home to the endangered eastern lowland gorillas also known as Grauer‘s gorillas. I lead a team of 50 people who help with the daily monitoring of our conservation area and the 14 gorilla families who reside here with us. My…
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Big 1
500mm, 1/500s, f/4, ISO500I’m not sure if you have come across the New Big 5 Project: basically, an initiative to come up with, obviously, a new big five. The old big five list — lions, elephants, buffaloes, rhinos and leopards — actually originated with hunting, as they were considered the most dangerous of Africa’s wild…
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Why Do Gorillas Fart So Much?
Contrary to old myths about bloodthirsty gorillas hunting humans, mountain gorillas are peaceful vegetarians. What Do Mountain Gorillas Eat? They are herbivores, eating up to 140 different types of fruit, herbs, stems and roots. Like other primates they sometimes munch on ants and termites and have been seen to enjoy a communal meal off a favourite…
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Many Happy Returns
I’m Jon Lee, a consistent California connection, who has been writing, editing stories, and narrating videos for the Gorilla Highlands initiative for over a decade.I lucked into the discovery of these magical mountains. I was safely ensconced in a post-retirement life of plenty in a beach town, nursing an ember of long-ago third world adventure. I’d…
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Nyiragongo Has Finally Erupted
📁 HikingToday’s spectacular volcanic eruption near Goma, DR Congo, profoundly changes one of our region’s biggest attractions, Mt Nyiragongo … Nyiragongo was famous for being a hiking destination with an overnight near the lava lake (our members can watch it in In-Sights: The Region), but it has been closed since the beginning of the Covid pandemic,…
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My Lakeshore Covid Life: A Farewell Story (For Now)
Hey you all, this is Brenda! As I am leaving Edirisa on Lake Bunyonyi — the place where Gorilla Highlands Experts originated from — after a couple of years of dedicated work, I want to tell you a little bit more about myself, reflect on my time here and leave you with a sincere see-you-later…
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Monkey Mischief
100mm, f/4.5, 1/400s, ISO250I don’t lose my temper very often, but this was an exception. Baboons are intelligent, unafraid and — if not shown plenty of respect — potentially aggressive. The small group on the road between Kabale and Kisoro are often fed from passing cars, and so are even less scared than most of…
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