Category: Advice for Travellers
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The Battle of the Great Apes: Gorillas versus Chimpanzees
When I learned I was going to do an internship in Uganda for six months, I immediately started researching the country and its highlights. Naturally, one of the first things that came up was gorilla tracking. I remember opening the page, scrolling through it and getting excited, until I saw the price tag and realised…
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Travel Advisory for the Democratic Republic of Congo: Insider Info & Superb Images
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is a challenging place in many ways. It is best known internationally for poverty, civil war and Ebola. At the same time, it is also a land of opportunity. The population is rapidly growing (it has passed 80 million), GDP is on the march, there is an increasing…
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How to Make Your Own Ugandan Rolex
A student at a Ugandan university was feeling kinda sick. He went to see a doctor who looked at him and asked: “How many rolexes per day”? “For breakfast, lunch and dinner,” said the student and the doctor had his diagnosis ready. Rolex derives its name from “rolled eggs”. Endemic to Uganda, it is a…
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To Fly or Not to Fly? Let’s Talk Responsible Tourism!
Ecotourism & Sustainable Tourism In recent years there has been — rightly so — a lot of attention devoted to ecotourism or sustainable tourism. While ecotourism clearly focuses on being ecological, or not harming the environment, the term sustainable tourism is a bit more encompassing. Sustainable seems to be the buzzword of the last decade;…
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What I Learned from Hikers on the Gorilla Highlands Trails
One must say that the world is changing! As a guide leading trekkers across our region for over 10 years, I have learned a lot and forgotten nothing culturally, economically and politically. Culturally, who can deny that girls in the Gorilla Highlands region are a source of wealth in the family? If you want to marry someone’s…
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Your Uganda Adventure: Covid and Post-Covid Travel Advice
Dear all, my name is Owen Bright, I am from Kyabahinga on Lake Bunyonyi and I have been a Gorilla Highlands guide for a decade. I learned everything on the job, gradually and steadily from the moment I joined Edirisa as a cleaner on 1 May 2010. Covid has disturbed our business badly but I…
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Nyiragongo Volcano Hike: 9 Things to Know
UPDATE, MAY 2021: Nyiragongo has erupted. In December 2019 a Gorilla Highlands team member made it to the the world’s largest bubbling lava atop Mount Nyiragongo (3,470m/11,380ft) in Virunga National Park. She chose the Democratic Republic of Congo because of the adventure and because she felt that the country needed support, based on its turbulent…
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7 Practical Things about Rwanda’s Gorilla Naming Ceremony
Kwita Izina, the gorilla naming ceremony organised by Rwanda every year since 2005, has been attracting growing interest from abroad. What is it and how does the biggest conservation event of the Gorilla Highlands region actually look like? 1. You are not going to see any real gorillas at Kwita Izina It’s better we deal…
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Are You a True Daredevil? Better Hurry to Lake Bunyonyi!
Update, November 2018: Three brave Belgians tested this road recently, and it remains a total mess… The murram road connecting Kachwekano and Heisesero (Muko) is the most scenic of all Lake Bunyonyi roads. Moreover, this 20 km route can save a driver 30 minutes compared to the tarmac option through Kabale Town. It is especially…
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