When Her Life Rolls Out in Front of Her Eyes
When we organise trips for other tour companies, we never push to build relationships with the guests. It’s kinda unprofessional; their clients are their clients and their brand is their brand. But when one of last month’s travellers tagged an image on Facebook because she had enjoyed our home-made lunch so much, we reached out — and we all got a Rwanda+Uganda photostory to savour!
It quickly became clear that Helena from Slovenia had many more attractive shots to share, giving us an opportunity to take you on a grand journey. But she also proved to be a very interesting person: this former tourism professional who works on social integration of the elderly and the disabled is above all an animal lover. During her trip in Iran in 2023 a fellow traveller told her how magical meeting the mountain gorilla was. The description was so visceral that she even heard that the gorillas smelled like musk, and Helena had to come!
“It’s hard to find suitable words to properly express the feeling. I can just say that I probably shed tears for ten minutes straight — because I was so touched, thrilled and grateful to be there!” confirms Helena that gorilla tracking was truly something exceptional. She expects that when her life rolls out in front of her eyes before she dies, the gorillas and chimps will feature prominently.
She chose the tour we prepared with Ravbar Potovanja because it was a bit different and close to what she would have planned by herself. She appreciated that it was an active experience that brought her close to the local people (she adored camping at Mama Bena’s!) and didn’t feel too touristy.
Of the images we selected together, her favourite is the spontaneous moment with the dog at Roz Carr’s home, followed by the dinner at Mama Bena’s campfire because it felt like she was part of the community.
“I usually write something down immediately upon my return, to help me process what I have experienced, but the two weeks in Rwanda and Uganda were so intense, so full of everything, that it’s taking me ages this time!” says Helena. We are honoured she chose to share some thoughts and photos with all of us in the meantime!
