Category: History & Culture
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Dawn of Gorilla Tracking as a Tourism Activity
While there were sporadic non-scientific expeditions to mountain gorillas before, real tourism began with the arrival of Walter Baumgartel. Baumgartel was a German who had lived in South Africa, helped the British with reconnaissance photography during World War II, and eventually found an enticing ad in London: they were looking for somebody interested in a…
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Why Did Rwanda’s Fiercest Woman Die Teaching Black Magic in Kampala?
Muserekande, born c. 1870, was one of the wives of King Rwabugiri of Rwanda. On his death in 1895 there was a succession dispute led by the Beega clan who championed Musinga, a son aged 15. Muserekande escaped, changed her name to Muhumuza (“She who gives rest from tyranny”) and attempted to make her son,…
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King Kong vs. Gentle Gorilla
As the Godzilla vs. Kong movie opens globally tomorrow, let us investigate why people got gorillas so wrong initially, and how they started to realise the mistake. History of Gorilla Fantasies While Batwa “Pygmies” had coexisted with mountain gorillas in the rainforests of central Africa since time immemorial, the rest of the world took quite a bit longer.…
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Edirisa Evenings
19mm, f/6.3, 1/5s, ISO400 I like simplicity in photographs, but sometimes simplicity can be found even in busy backgrounds. Here, the contrasting colors of the fire from the rest of the image immediately brings the viewer’s attention to it and the people sitting around it. This is perhaps my favourite image from Edirisa on Lake…
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Weekly Companion — Edirisa Anniversary Edition
I stood in front of the crowd in the packed auditorium in lady clothes, but what I was presenting I was damn serious about … It was 20 February 2001, 19 days after I came up with the window concept, about a week since I shared it with my classmates at the Institute of Ethics…
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Rwebandira’s 27 Hours of Your Sweet Memories
The end of this video gives me goosebumps. The words are spoken by Festo Karwemera, the Bakiga cultural warrior who passed away last year… Karwemera nicknamed me Rwebandira two decades ago, after knowing me for only a short time. Yet he couldn’t have been more prescient… He translated the name for me as a “trailblazer”…
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Tribute to Omugurusi Karwemera, the Icon of Western Uganda
UPDATE, DECEMBER 2024: Karwemera’s Bakiga museum in Kabale town is no more. We hope to bring it back one day. Festo Karwemera was a teacher right to the end of his remarkable life… People would come to his home on the outskirts of Kabale in Uganda’s Gorilla Highlands region to learn about culture, history, life.…
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Meet Best Chefs of Rwanda, Uganda and DR Congo
There’s magic in the air … and intoxicating smells … as sudden clouds of smoke appear and then disperse above workstations. Perhaps even some droplets of sweat trickle down under their hats… Four gentlemen and one lady are fighting for the right to be called the region’s best. It’s the afternoon shift of the 2019…
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How to Get Top Chefs Onto a Remote Lake
It’s a funny life, ain’t it? Here I am, organising a cooking competition — but being too busy to taste many of the savoury treats. And here I am, still, having my dearest friends assembled for Lake Burera Active Cruise, a special adventure on a lake I love — but staying behind at the hotel…
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