Category: History & Culture
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Our Stories:
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Cape Town: Third Time, Slovenian Charm
See the ship bathing in the sunset light over my left shoulder? Not far from it lies the Cape Town International Convention Centre, where your ML Rwebandira took to the panel on Monday, 13 April 2026. Oh yes, it worked! It felt pretty unbelievable: I knocked yet again on the door of South Africa, with only…
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24 Hours to 25 Years — Join Us Online
This frame from our Treasures exhibition looks back a quarter of a century, to the moment when Edirisa — the mother of the Gorilla Highlands idea — was unveiled to an equatorial community on 20 February 2001. * * * That’s why we travelled to Lake Bunyonyi this morning — Diana and Sasha from Rwanda, Elie from…
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Listening to the Batwa, Not the Noise Around Them
With the imposing Virunga volcanoes on the horizon, the tapestry of Echuya Central Forest Reserve becomes even more striking. Once upon a time, this was all one uninterrupted woodland expanse, but some 400 years ago Bantu farmers split what is now Mgahinga Gorilla National Park from Echuya. Our partners, the Batwa “Pygmies” of Rwamahano, invite…
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What Tom Meant to Us (And Why You Should Care)
It is notoriously difficult to find a decent nightwatchman in the Gorilla Highlands region. The local mentality is that “you can kill two birds with one stone, do two jobs at once — one during the night, one during the day,” Edirisa staff Moses Oshaba explains. That puts the employer in an unfortunate situation because…
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Jane Goodall, World’s Leading Expert on Chimpanzees (1934-2025)
One hero fewer on this endangered planet … RIP. Don’t miss the article linked by The New Yorker — in not too many words, it paints a cool picture of Jane. You may also like: How Do Gorillas Get Habituated (Used to Humans)?That Sweet Yellow PassionPedalling Uganda: From Lakes and Gorillas to Lions in Trees…
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Nyabingi? The One Whose Divination You Seek …
Dig beneath the spiritual surface anywhere in the Virungas and quite quickly you will come upon Nyabingi. From Rwanda to Uganda to the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, when you need the gods to smile upon you with wealth or a healthy pregnancy, Nyabingi is whose divination you seek.Nyabingi represents female energy and is concerned…
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Lake Bunyonyi’s Island of Death
Smack in the middle of Lake Bunyonyi floats a scruffy little island with a few dead trees and a whole lot of baggage. You wouldn’t give it a second look, unless locals tell you that the forlorn patch of land is called Akampene, or Punishment Island … Back in the day, if a girl was…
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Edirisa Treasures: Our Cute Little Museum by the Big Gorgeous Lake
For over 20 years we’ve poured our hearts into projects, adventures and memories at Lake Bunyonyi — and for almost as long we’ve dreamed of a little museum to hold it all. This week that dream finally came to life. Andrea, an old friend and a true expert in the field, arrived with another cherished…
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Welsh ‘Congo House’ Leads to Nelson Mandela
“How did this find you? It’s quite an interesting story!” says the director, Tudur Evans, who is actually one of ours. He came to Uganda many years ago as a young volunteer helping us with a documentary production about Batwa “Pygmies” — and now he is a pro advising us on the videos we make!…
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