Tag: Echuya Forest Reserve /Uganda/
area: 34 km2/13 mi2
Located between Kabale and Kisoro, Echuya is a montane rainforest, the third remaining part of the extensive ancient woods that once covered most of the region. Its name derives from the big swamp at its centre. A remarkable birding destination, it is also home to blue monkeys, colobus monkeys and a group of baboons you might run into on the tarmac.
On a hill overlooking the forest and Lake Bunyonyi on the other side lives the Batwa “Pygmy” community of Rwamahano, one of several indigenous groups around the reserve. They prepare Batwa Today, an activity that starts with a nature walk and ends with a community visit that is unlike anything else offered in the Gorilla Highlands.
Our Stories:
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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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Tailored African Experiences: Six Greek Adventurers
Ready for a glimpse into the African journey of six Greek explorers? They came to our region to volunteer but thanks to early planning totally maxed their trip with a customised experience! Angelos, a nuclear physicist, reached out to us last year, already preparing for June 2024. He dreamt of an affordable tour for four,…
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First Time to Leave Rwanda, First Time to Canoe & Camp
The training period of the four candidates for our office staff ended with an adventure in Uganda, joining our guest Alex from Washington on three days of activities. Once we crossed the border, the first experience was a coffee tour, where we learned what it is like to work at a coffee farm. We all…
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Trouble for Batwa “Pygmy” Communities: Successes & Failures
Our Batwa friends from Rwamahano happily received six months of accumulated funds this week. They got UGX 2,130,000 (USD 570) that we had saved from several Batwa Today experiences we did with them. Small contributions end up becoming substantial when brought together! Each time we collaborate we put half of Batwa fees aside and deliver…
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Trouble for Batwa “Pygmy” Communities: Echuya Forest
This week we accompanied the last group of tourists into the wilderness of Echuya Forest and to the famed ritual tree of the Batwa “Pygmies”. From now on we are going to be charged USD 30 per person to enter this nature reserve, and we are simply not ready to pay this exorbitant fee. We…
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Will Cultural Experiences Feel Commercialised?
11mm, f/5.6, 1/500s, ISO400 Quite some years ago I guided a group of tourists to Rwanda and Uganda for a Swedish tour company. They had a couple of “cultural experiences” as part of the program. They weren’t my cup of tea, to say the least, and most of my guests felt the same way. A…
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Should I Be Cautious of Wildlife?
100mm, f/4, 1/250, ISO640 This is actually a well-worded question. Had it been whether you should be worried about wildlife, my answer would have been no. But cautious? Well, a bit of caution never hurt anyone. Animals come in all shapes and sizes, and people often worry about the wrong ones. Spider and snake bites…
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Not Many Nowheres
61mm, f/8.0, 1/320s, ISO100 With this image we are opening the theme of Staying Safe and Healthy, following Regional Attractions that ended last week. When people think of going deep into Africa, they sometimes have concerns about being “in the middle of nowhere” — but the truth is, there aren’t quite as many “nowheres” as…
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Our Gorilla Trek Well Beyond Gorillas
Strange enough, it all started in Prague. It was summer 2009, my wife Marta and I were in town for our vacations, and decided to pay a visit to the local zoo. That was the first time we had the chance to meet face to face with the gorillas, and we spent more than an hour…
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