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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Slapped by a Gorilla: 30 Ultimate Hiking Images
We are back into lockdowns and travel restrictions throughout the Gorilla Highlands region, so we remember last month especially fondly. May 2021 was the go-time for nine eager Dutch boys to fy into Uganda, tired of the one-year wait for their Ultimate Hike — a combination of Volcano Quest and Parks Reunited — to finally…
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Monkey Mischief
100mm, f/4.5, 1/400s, ISO250 I don’t lose my temper very often, but this was an exception. Baboons are intelligent, unafraid and — if not shown plenty of respect — potentially aggressive. The small group on the road between Kabale and Kisoro are often fed from passing cars, and so are even less scared than most…
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Walk-In Theatre
24mm, 30s, f/4, ISO2500 Back in early 2016 we spent a night camping with our Batwa friends at the outskirts of Echuya forest. The highlight was undoubtedly the cinema experience we put on during the evening, sharing a video made by the Gorilla Highlands team about the region and what it had to offer, including…
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The Secrets of Our Most Popular Ugandan Hiking Route
People people, it’s Owen again! I’m here to give you a personal take on our most popular trekking direction that goes through my home area. Five different walks and treks utilise it, can you imagine: the half-a-day Culture on the Crest, 1-day Islands of Miracles, 4-day Three Upland Lakes, and the much longer Ultimate Hike…
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Fearless Batwa “Pygmies” Begin to Learn English
Norah (see the video above) was one of the 10 Batwa “Pygmies” of Rwamahano who got a Batwa Community English Class certificate at Edirisa today. In other words, they completed an introduction to the English language to help them with their guiding and with the Gorilla Highlands Batwa Jamboree that they are co-organising (April 2019…
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After the Bootcamp: How to Make This Really Big?
This is the grand vision of the Gorilla Highlands Initiative growing into the Gorilla Highlands Society (GHS).
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Progress in Pride and Self-Consciousness
What a coincidence! On the ridge separating the bamboo of Echuya Forest Reserve from hazy views of Lake Bunyonyi, five tents were pitched that early February morning. A laptop lit up one of them. And then the email came; from Riesstraße 25 in München, from Studiosus Reisen. Exactly five years after initiating Batwa Today, Studiosus…
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Revolutionary Ideas by Batwa “Pygmies”
Every New Year’s Day, a few hours after Edirisa’s traditional dugout canoe celebrations, we sit down with representatives from two Batwa communities. With some heads possibly still heavy, it may seem less than perfect time for an annual meeting, but it is close to an ideal moment. Batwa join the new year’s party not as…
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People of the Gorilla Highlands Are Characters
Before my arrival to volunteer in Rwanda and Uganda there seemed to be one phrase that I was told that hung over me: The people of the Gorilla Highlands are characters. I didn’t know quite what this meant at the time, but now this one statement has defined my experience. And so, the only way I can…
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