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 disposal — one of our globetrotter’s shorter annual adventures!)
Where Congo and Uganda meet Rwanda, Bret and Tyler from America climbed Mt Sabyinyo, following their 3-day Volcano Quest hike. (They tracked gorillas too, of course.)
Near the border between Rwanda and Congo, we see Zohar from Israel feasting on Lake Kivu with our guide Enock, in preparation for their Congo Nile Trail hiking. (Zohar also did Sabyinyo, but used the rarely taken Rwandan trails.)
On the other side of Kivu, looking towards her home Rwanda, our staff member Allen is admiring the beauty of Bukavu. (She was accompanying our Scandinavians whose trip we covered previously.)
These 5 moments from 5 different borders are meant to give you a sense of the scope of our trips in July-September 2023. But look at our new business cards — it’s not the responsible travel business but our social development work (Gorilla Highlands Experts) that gets prominence, so let’s give it some attention as well …
In July Quinoa Production was declared the GHE Youth Spaces winner, ahead of Green Library and Plastic Recycling. We were officially registered in Rwanda the same month, after a year of bureaucratic struggles. In September the second general assembly took place in Kigali, clearing the way for a bank account.
In August we promoted part time office jobs and were rather impressed by the young people who attended the interview (the written part was the top challenge). We were expecting to take in 2 staff but ended up inviting 4 for further training: Grace, Yvelise, Maani and Cedric! They have been doing a morning and an afternoon shift throughout the second half of September, under Allen’s guidance.
Our trainees have been preparing to contribute their talents and energy to both the tour company and the NGO. How quickly they get permanent roles will depend on how fast we continue to grow!
photo from Sabyinyo by Tyler Keith, others by the author
