Volcanoes Safaris: Highlights of 2019

23 January 2020

Volcanoes Safaris: Highlights of 2019

Volcanoes Safaris: Highlights of 2019

Happy New Year  from the Volcanoes Safaris team! Volcanoes Safaris have had a fantastic year and so many exciting developments have taken place.

Strategic program to re-imagine Volcanoes lodges

The strategic program to re-imagine all aspects of Volcanoes’ lodges is continuing.

Virunga Lodge

To celebrate the 15th anniversary of Virunga Lodge, plans for re-imagining the property were unveiled in November.

Mount Gahinga Lodge

At Mount Gahinga Lodge the public areas have been completely redone. Two new deluxe bandas have been built. The gardens have been remodelled with a series of new cascading terraces reminiscent of the gardens of paradise.

The Gahinga Batwa Village was built in May 2018 to provide a home for the displaced Batwa community. A tank to collect water for the village was also provided thanks to the generous donations of our guests. A program to support schooling for Batwa children is to be launched shortly.

Bwindi Lodge

At Bwindi Lodge, the public rooms are being remodelled and a new dinning room will be launched in early 2020! A new deluxe banda has been launched and a second one is under construction. Redesigned standard rooms will be introduced in early 2020.

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Bwindi Bar, the hospitality training café run by the VSPT, has launched a new Rolex stand, with chefs preparing the delicious traditional Ugandan wrap to order for guests. A new signature cocktail the Gorillini (a fresh mango Bellini) was also introduced, a must-try for all successful gorilla trackers in Buhoma!

Kyambura Gorge Lodge

Kyambura Gorge Lodge has been fully refurbished and upgraded.

The Kyambura Gorge Eco-tourism project together with a new video entitled Protecting The Lost Gorge of Kyambura highlighting a series of community and conservation activities developed since 2009 to safeguard the Kyambura Gorge ecosystem has been launched.

New food menus

New food menus inspired by Rwandese and Ugandan cuisine, developed by Guy Krenzer and Stephane Chicheri from Le Nôtre cooking school in Paris, have been introduced. Gahinga's Chef Charles Kyomuhendo won the fifth edition of the Gorilla Highlands Silverchef Competition.

Mountain Gorilla population on the rise

When Volcanoes Safaris set up in 1997, there were approximately 700 mountain gorillas living in the forests of Bwindi and the Virungas. With the recent census results for Bwindi released in December 2019 it is a pleasure to see the total population of mountain gorillas in Uganda, Rwanda and the DRC now stands at 1,063, 50% more than when Volcanoes Safaris started its pioneering work on great ape ecotourism.

We are looking forward to an exciting 2020 with further dramatic improvements at our lodges!