Category: Advice for Travellers
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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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How to Support Kigali’s “Historically Marginalised People”
At first sight, the nursery beds and tiny cactuses in painted pots by the roadside look unremarkable. As in any other East African city, the residents of Kigali can conveniently buy decorative plants and earthenware straight from their cars. But the gentlemen who run the neatly arranged gardens that extend towards a swamp rich in…
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Virunga National Park is Closed. Time to Slow Down.
UPDATE, 24/1/2019: Virunga National Park will reopen on 15 February 2019. Yesterday’s announcement that Virunga National Park would stay closed for the rest of 2018 surprised no one. In a hot Congolese election year security was expected to become problematic, and the park leadership has always put client safety first. (The letter from the Chief Warden…
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Congo: How Deep Do We Go?
The headquarters of Kahuzi-Biega National Park overlooks a valley sprinkled with white buildings, as if in miniature, separated from the shining surface of Lake Kivu by gently rolling cultivated hills. Behind the thick walls of a visitor centre that could make Rwanda or Uganda envious, a coffee shop occupies one corner and a giant flat…
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Advice on Buying your Own Camping Gear
Last week we talked about the beauty and challenges of camping in the Gorilla Highlands and promised we would move a level higher today: into buying your own camping gear. We are still helping an East African beginner enjoy the thrill of sleeping in nature, but now we will be guiding your tent shopping in…
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A is for Adventure, B is for Beginners, C is for…
Are you new to camping, hiking, canoeing and all these adventure things? You’ve come to the right place! This year on the Gorilla Highlands blog there will be quite some emphasis on domestic tourism, on Rwandans and Ugandans getting comfortable in our astonishing wilderness. And, to be properly inclusive, we do know there are many…
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