News

Gorilla safaris for the summer months of 2012 have been almost completely sold out for many months now, but Volcanoes Safaris have some gorilla safari dates still available for those who missed out!

The Volcanoes Safaris Partnership Trust, in association with Malaika Honey, has launched a beekeeping initiative near Kyambura Gorge on the southern boundary of Queen Elizabeth National Park.  The initiative is part of a series of projects that facilitate sustainable development in the local community while preserving the fragile habitat of Kyambura Gorge and the surrounding park. Fifteen people were invited to attend the training, which equips local farmers with the necessary skills to become commercial beekeepers through practical on-site training.

One lucky couple will win a trip to our beautiful and unique Kyambura Gorge Lodge in Uganda worth over £3000 ($5000). Entering this competition and being in with a shot to win this breathtaking prize couldn’t be easier – simply share the competition on your Twitter profile and you could be jetting off to Uganda for a luxury safari in the heart of Africa.

Congratualtions to Travelscope for winning a total of seven Telly Awards, including one for their episode with the gorillas, filmed at our Virunga Lodge! The Telly Awards are a US awards scheme that honours the very best television programs and commercials as well as the finest video and film productions and work created for the web. This year, Travelscope won no less than seven Telly Awards (bringing their career total to 14 and one Emmy in 2011), one of which was for their episode ‘Rwanda – Among the Gorillas’, shot in and around our stunning Virunga Lodge.

Scientists in Cambridge, UK, have decoded the DNA of the gorilla, finding that they are 98% similar to humans at a genetic level, which makes them more similar to us than previously thought. Researchers have already succeeded in decoding the genomes of both chimpanzees and orangutans and now it’s the turn of the gorilla, specifically a western lowland gorilla (gorilla gorilla gorilla) called Kamilah in San Diego, California. The research was published in the journal Nature and reveals a number of surprising initial conclusions that set the scene for a very exciting period of research into the genetic composition of not only the gorilla but of human beings as well.

Following a number of previous visits to Bwindi Lodge, the Rushegura gorilla group has once again decided to make a surprise appearance, delighting the lucky guests in the process! A couple on safari managed to catch them on camera while they were having lunch at the lodge. They had spent the day tracking the gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest only to discover that the gorillas had tracked them back to the lodge!

Volcanoes Safaris is delighted that Kyambura Gorge Lodge featured in Conde Nast Traveller's online news. The article featured our 6 day Wildlife and Chimps in Uganda where clients track chimps in both Kyambura Gorge and Kibale Forest staying at Volcanoes Kyambura Gorge Lodge and Ndali Lodge. 

Volcanoes Safaris is delighted to feature in the Financial Times’s luxury lifestyle magazine, How to spend it. Sophy Roberts featured Kyambura Gorge Lodge in her Travelista column on 4th February. Sophy is a British-born journalist, specialising in luxury travel.