Tag: Bukavu /DR Congo/
altitude: 1,498 m/ 4,915 ft
estimated population: 1,100,000
Bukavu, a city on five finger-like peninsulas, is the intellectual and cultural capital of Eastern Congo. It was founded in 1901 by the Belgian authorities and its temperate climate attracted a large European population. Architecture buffs can now admire over 100 buildings of the Art Deco style while today a different building style prevails — colourful, multi-storey and with elaborate soaring rooflines.
Just like Goma, Bukavu has a sister city (Rusizi) on the other side of the Rwandan border and a national park (Kahuzi-Biega) nearby. The Lwiro primate sanctuary and scientific research centre is another highlight in the Bukavu neighbourhood.
Our Stories:
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Your Trailblazer Takes You to Congo (And Kampala!)
Quarterly newsletter for Gorilla Highlands lovers I only like Kampala on Sundays. This awesomely crazy city is much more relaxed, quieter and enjoyable on weekends. So being stuck alone in Uganda’s capital during the holiday season does come with a benefit: it feels like some kind of Sunday again and again and again! But why?…
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How to Shop Smart in Bukavu (Rebels Love to Dress Well Too)
Eight months after M23 rebels took Bukavu, the city is as warm and dynamic as always. The national parks and banks are closed, the border with Rwanda is more user-friendly than ever, there’s a weekly community cleanup activity — but outside of that our Congo remains Congo! We can’t take you to Kahuzi-Biega to admire…
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ChatGPT Gets Africa (Somehow)
As Tour Business Coaching Program participants, we were encouraged to subscribe to ChatGPT 4. Visual art generation is one of its advances, and it has proved hilarious to explore what it knows about Africa. When asked to draw a map of the Gorilla Highlands region, it emphasised Lake Bunyonyi, and that was intriguing. Requested to…
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Alex’s Full African Menu (He Loved Every Serving!)
Our October was distinguished by a visit from Washington — no, it wasn’t Biden just yet, but Alex Wilson ticked many boxes too. From the moment he read about us in the Washington Post, Alex was a fan who wanted to become part of our tribe. With his background in high school teaching, he was…
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Border to Border — From Our High Season Months
On Uganda’s border with South Sudan, Kidepo Valley NP is a phenomenal destination that is not a common part of our itineraries. (It’s kinda far …) But when Ramon from Slovenia requested Kidepo, we were happy to oblige, and also added Semliki on Uganda’s boundary with DR Congo. (He had over 3 weeks at his…
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Eastern DR Congo: Beautifully Chaotic & Captivating
We finally took our first guests to Congo — we found two brave Scandinavians who decided to include it in their tour! Six years after we started to work towards integrating the eastern DRC into the Gorilla Highlands region and had our first Congolese participant at the Bootcamp, this very man, Espoir, led us through…
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Why Is Congo’s Bukavu Safe to Visit & What Does It Offer?
The Democratic Republic of Congo has been in the news for very unfortunate reasons. The Movement of 23 March (M23) rebels have been occupying the territories on the outskirts of the city of Goma, waging an economic war because of the valuable resources found there. But on the other side of Lake Kivu, some 100…
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How Working in Kahuzi-Biega National Park Works
In yesterday’s photography moment Marcus called my place of work, Kahuzi-Beiga National Park, the most “off-the-beaten-track” place to do gorilla tracking … He is not wrong, and I can think of two reasons for that: It is my job to put the park onto the map, so I’m glad to be your Gorilla Highlands Expert…
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Two Brothers, One Gorgeous Congolese City
Bukavu is a city of fabled beauty, spread around finger-like peninsulas on the southern shores of Lake Kivu. Luckily for all of us, two brothers duly record the special moments in time of this marvel of eastern DR Congo … Bukavu Explorer is what Francis Mweze, 28, calls the innovative project that his younger sibling…