Tag: Staying Safe and Healthy
A series of articles advising you on how to stay safe and healthy in the Gorilla Highlands region of Rwanda, Uganda and DR Congo.
Our Stories:
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Ancient MasterCard
70 mm, f5.0, 1/160s, ISO800 When I first started travelling, traveller’s cheques were still a thing (though I don’t think I ever made much use of them). So was bringing cash — usually USD back in those days — to be turned into local currency at dodgy foreign exchange counters, or expensive hotels. I remember…
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Just One Boda Boda Horror Story
It would be rather irresponsible to run a Staying Safe and Healthy series and not address the issue of passenger motorcycles. They are available all over the Gorilla Highlands region, parked right at the cross section of affordability, practicality, traffic accidents and crime. The temptation to jump on one is huge both in traffic-jammed cities…
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Why Is Rwanda Safer Than Its Neighbours?
Rwanda is universally seen as the most secure country of the Gorilla Highlands region, and that is not a coincidence. My people have learned a painful lesson during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, and after that shared traumatic experience the country has changed significantly. Rwandans are constantly reminded of the importance of working together,…
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The Many Surprises of Lwiro in Eastern DR Congo
Ladies and gentlemen, Greetings from Lwiro, a village on the edge of Kahuzi-Biega National Park that routinely surprises visitors to eastern Congo. I have been employed here for 30 years, at the enormous colonial-era Centre for Research in Natural Science (or CRSN, a French acronym for Centre de Recherches en Sciences Naturelles) next to the…
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Holiday Mode Problem
33mm, f5.0, 1/400s, ISO125 I once showed up for a Gorilla Highlands Press Trip a bit bruised and bloodied, having been knocked down by drunk football fans in a half-hearted robbery attempt in Kampala the evening before. Seemingly completely random and opportunistic, this remains the only such experience I have had in over ten years…
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Gut Feeling — Your Biggest Travel Safety Enemy?
What if “gut feeling” is merely personal experience accumulated over the years? Yes, people like to talk about instincts as something almost supernatural — or too natural for human brains to adequately process — but these “patterns of behaviour” are not necessarily innate. Take the example of smiling. As we grow up we may learn…
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How Safe is Rwanda, Uganda, DR Congo? (Wide-Eyed Review of Top Search Results)
We are getting straight to the nitty-gritty of our theme Staying Safe and Healthy, tackling the question of the actual safety of a region that includes Uganda, Rwanda and DR Congo …
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Breathe Our Rainforests In Like a Child
Not many will argue with the fact that spending time outdoors is good for your mental health and wellbeing. There are those who are acutely aware that it clears the mind by having a calming effect, allowing them to relax and reset. But there are also some who maintain that it has a beneficial physical…
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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…