Kashata

Today's recipe is sweet rather than savory. Kashata are popular during the holidays throughout East Africa. Make some as a sweet treat to end a meal this weekend.

2/3 c sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 c grated coconut or 1/2 lb unsalted peanuts, finely chopped

1. In a heavy skillet, heat the sugar until it melts (10-15 min), stirring constantly. The sugar will become dark brown and syrupy as it melts.
2. Add the cinnamon and the coconut or peanuts.
3. Cook for 2 minutes, or until the sugar turns light brown.
4. Remove from heat and let cool.
5. When mix is cool enough to handle, form 1-inch balls and place on wax paper until set.

Makes about 20 balls.

Recipe adapted from 'Cooking the East African Way' by Bertha Vinig Montgomery and Constance Nabwire

Summer 2011 Gorilla Trekking

Time is running out to secure your gorilla trekking permits for dates in summer 2011. Explore our Rwanda and Uganda Gorillas trip, take a group trip, or we can customize your gorilla adventure. Remaining permit availability and dates are as follows:

Rwanda

June 2011
1st = 40
2nd = 30
3rd = 30
4th = 25
5th = 40
6th = 6
9th = 2
10th = 8
11th = 3
12th = 3

July 2011
23rd = 1
24th = 1

August 2011
4th = 3

There are no permits left for September.

Uganda is slightly less limited, however many dates are already sold out - especially in July and August. September still has good availability. Permit availability changes daily, so book your trip quickly to secure your spot for this magical wilderness experience!

We are also pleased to announce that there is now a new gorilla group open for trekking in the Kisoro/Clouds Lodge area. The group is called 'Mishaya' and it currently has 9 members. In July 2010, the second ranking Silverback called 'Mishaya' broke away from the main Nshongi group, taking 8 other individuals with him.

Photos courtesy Gretchen Healey

Gorilla trekking

Have you been gorilla trekking yet? As they say, no time better than the present. However the present is selling out fast! Our latest report from Rwanda has July and August nearly sold out for gorilla permits, and June is on track to sell out as well. If you want to share in this special natural wonder this year, the time to book is now.

We have both private and group departures for Rwanda gorilla trekking. If you have more time, check out our Rwanda and Uganda Gorillas 2011 trip. If you want to really experience all that Rwanda has to offer (including chimpanzee trekking!), our Unforgettable Rwanda will fit the bill.

We also have myriad of trips to Uganda, including our Ultimate Uganda Safari, which gives you a gorilla trekking experience as well as highlights such as Murchison Falls National Park, where The African Queen was filmed. There are thirteen primate species in Uganda and you'll have the chance to see plenty of them on this trip!

Don't forget you can check out You Tube for some of our gorilla footage. You can also read some first hand trip reports here and here.

Photos courtesy Gretchen Healey

Kigali to Buhoma - Gretchen's trip report #2

Rwanda was the second stop on my most recent African journey. A quick flight of just over an hour from Nairobi, Kigali is the vibrant capital city spread out over several hills and located in the center of the country. Its population is nearing a million residents, yet is one of the cleanest African capital cities I have visited, and has a very welcoming feel to it. Kigalis central location also means you can get to most other areas in Rwanda within a day with its notably good roads.

I stayed in the recently renovated Kigali Serena. They are putting the finishing touches on the renovation, however the bulk of the work is complete. The new rooms are smartly furnished with little luxuries like large, sunken baths, flat screen tv's and some are extra large with sitting areas and balconies. There is a great workout facility and a very nice outdoor pool. There are two dining options; a more formal buffet restaurant as well as a more casual open air restaurant next to the pool. The food was excellent at both. There was live entertainment poolside one evening during my visit, which provided a nice atmosphere.

From Kigali, I travelled overland to Buhoma in the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in Uganda. The roads are good throughout Rwanda and the border crossing into Uganda is very easy. From the main road turnoff towards Buhoma the roads deteriorate, however. This journey isn't required to be done via vehicle; we can also arrange flights to an airstrip only an hour's drive from Buhoma. That said, the drive is very beautiful and interesting; there are people out and about everywhere (including on market day in the photo here) and on the more rural roads nearly everyone greeted the vehicle with a smile, a wave or a shout.

Along the roadside, you will see people and intensive subsistence agriculture. Crops such as banana, sorghum, millet and beans dominate the hillsides, and people are working in the fields or transporting goods along the roads. Driving will take you from these agricultural areas one moment and into the 25,000-year-old rainforest the next where you might see animals such as the black-and-white Colobus monkey or forest elephant. You'll pass through villages and see more common creatures such as cows, dogs and chickens. Eventually, you will reach Buhoma and the Bwindi park headquarters.

During my time in Buhoma, I stayed at Gorilla Forest Camp. This camp is situated within the park boundary and will get you to the headquarters with little fuss on the morning of your trekking. The camp has only 8 tents, each with lots of elbow room. The tents have comfortable beds, verandahs, and full en-suite bathrooms with both shower and huge soaking tubs which are kitted out with candleabra if you are
inclined to have a hot bath after a hard day of trekking. The common area is close by and consists of a lively bar/lounge area as well as a dining area. The camp is known to sometimes have the occasional forest visitor, so you might get a lucky sighting staying here.

I double checked my bag for my trekking accessories; I brought long pants, a long sleeved shirt, a hat, gaiters and sturdy gloves for the trek, and I was glad for each of them, though I didn't discover all of the reasons for each of them until the next day.

Next installment: Gorilla trekking to find the 'H' group and a local community visit

Photos courtesy Serena Hotels and Gretchen Healey

Uganda and Rwanda Updates

Lots of great updates coming straight to us from our partners in Rwanda and Uganda. Read on for the latest information on this exciting region where chimp trekking, game viewing and gorilla trekking are safari highlights!

Nyungwe Forest Lodge has just opened in Rwanda's Nyungwe Forest. The lodge was built to blend in with the surrounding environment and is situated in a tea plantation on the edge of the forest. All of the luxurious rooms are forest facing and offer a king bed or twins beautifully crafted furnishings and balconies on some rooms. The lodge has an outdoor heated pool and jacuzzi and fitness center.

Additionally, a new canopy walk has been built in Nyungwe and will be open to the public soon. Stay tuned for updates!

The Kyaninga Lodge recently opened near Fort Portal, about a 1 hour drive from Kibale Forest and chimpanzee trekking opportunities. The Lodge is situated on a picturesque plot of land with a large crater lake and surrounded by a natural forest that is home to four troops of Black and White colobus monkey. The lodge offers 8 cozy log cabins with large verandahs.

KLM airlines is introducing a new flight from Amsterdam to Kigali (with a stopover in Entebbe). The service will begin October 31, 2010 and the flight will operate Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays departing Amsterdam Schiphol at 10:15 and

arriving Kigali the same day at 21:25. The return flight from Kigali departs on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays at 22:30 arriving Amsterdam at 08:15.

For more information on safaris in Rwanda and Uganda, please contact us for more information.

Photos courtesy Nyungwe Forest Lodge.

Rwanda's Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge

We'd like to share the latest update straight from Rwanda's Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge near Volcanoes National Park. Book a gorilla tracking adventure in Rwanda and stay at the Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge.

The weather pattern in the Virunga Range was very mild for most of the month, with morning temperatures around 48F-50F at 6 a.m. and day temperatures reaching up to 75F in the early afternoon. Many mornings were beautifully clear, offering wonderful views from the lodge towards the Eastern Virunga volcanoes of Visoke, Mikeno and Karisimbi. Usually, clouds would build up rapidly in the afternoons, releasing their first drops well after guests were back from gorilla trekking. The first of the rains arrived on the 2nd of September with a short sharp afternoon shower and the rains then continued until the middle of the month, when the area received on average just under 1 inch of rain per day. From the middle of the month onwards the rain tapered off.

In Volcanoes National Park, the return of the rain brought new growth to the bamboo forests triggering the bamboo to sprout new shoots and leaves. All this growth meant that many of the gorilla families became less mobile, than during the previous three months of the dry season, when they had to wander further afield in search of food. The families tend to stay lower on the mountain closer to the bamboo shoots, making trekking distances shorter in general.

The Susa Group, one of the largest of the gorilla groups in the park, remained split this month and it is though that this will probably lead to the creation of a new, totally independent gorilla family group in Mt Karisimbi area. The dominant males of the two groups (still considered as sub-groups within the Susa Group), seem to be avoiding each other more and more.

The most significant and very sad event in the park's gorilla population was the death of Titus, leader of the group of the same name. This legendary silverback, aged 35 (he was born on 24 August 1974), was found dead in his nest on the morning of 14 September by trackers of Karisoke Research Station. Titus had been followed and studied since his birth. The newborn baby was first discovered by Kelly Stewart, an American student working with Dian Fossey at Karisoke at the time. It seems that the death of the old dominant silverback was hastened by the return of his son, 'Rano', another adult silverback male, who returned to the group after having lived as a lone silverback for a long period. Persistent challenging from Rano apparently exhausted the old leader, who fought for his status position until his end. Titus, may be the most famous gorilla in the Volcanoes National Park, was buried in the gorilla cemetery on the site of the former Karisoke Reaearch Camp during a special ceremony on 16 September;

Back in the lodge Bernard, the manager, has been hard at work creating beautiful new organic vegetable and flower gardens. Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge's property extends over 17 acres and the lodge is still in the process of landscaping the gardens, to give a true "forest feeling" by planting more native trees, shrubs and plant species. In one corner of the property, the lodge has created an organic vegetable garden with carrots, cabbage, cauliflower, onions, potatoes and other vegetables. The produce appears almost daily on the guests' plates. Bernard plans to extend the vegetable garden, so as to be as self-sufficient as possible in the future. In another corner of the property Bernard has planted an organic flower garden to ensure a regular supply of fresh flowers to be used at the lodge. Flowers are cut daily by the staff and made into attractive arrangements that decorate the cottages and the tables in the dining area. Favorites are the elegant The lodge has also invited the neighboring community to put bee hives along the edges of the garden to pollinate the vegetable and flower gardens and in turn provide delicious organic honey.


Photos courtesy Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge, Governors Camps.

Virunga Lodge in Rwanda

News from Rwanda! In this, the UN Year of the Gorilla, the Virunga Lodge in Rwanda celebrates with an extensive refurbishment. Virunga Lodge has long been described as one of the finest lodges in Africa, with a stunning setting on top of a hill surrounded by the Virunga volcanoes and the volcanic Lakes Ruhondo and Bulera. Read more about our Rwanda 4-Day Group Gorilla Tracking Safari featuring Virunga Lodge.

The refurbished Virunga Lodge will remain in the organic bush-chic style of Volcanoes Safaris' lodges, but the bandas are being upgraded to provide greater elegance and comfort for guests. Phase 1 of the refurbishment is complete - decorative external stonework has been added to reflect the local style and new larger terraces added so that guests can enjoy the spectacular views from their room.

In phase 2, taking place in the second half of 2009, the bedrooms are being redecorated and luxury eco-friendly bathrooms with full facilities (flush toilets, they were formerly composting ash drop-toilets) being added. The lodge's commitment to being ecologically sensitive remains strong and they will continue to use water collected through their own rainwater collection facilities for guest and staff use and they are adding more storage tanks for this purpose. Grey water - water from showers and basins - will be recycled for use in the garden. Power will continue to be provided by solar panels, but the capacity of these will be increased significantly to enhance lighting in the rooms. The lodge remains open during the refurbishment as one banda is being worked on at a time and disruption to guests is being kept to a minimum.

The beautiful gardens are also redesigned to bring out the magic of the unique vegetation of this area - especially the beautiful wild flowers that grow in the area. Guests will be welcomed at a new reception area and terrace overlooking Lake Bulera. At the main lodge building, a new terrace overlooking the volcanoes is being built from which to enjoy the stunning scenery with a sundowner.

In phase 3 in 2010 two honeymoon bandas will be added to the lodges' existing 8 bandas. These will be more spacious and include two terrace areas and a fireplace.

Through the Volcanoes Safaris Trust , Virunga Lodge and the guests will continue to support the local Mwiko School. A large water tank has recently been built there so that they can store enough water for all the pupils.


Photos courtesy Volcanoes Safaris.

Gorillas and more from Rwanda

Gorilla trekking was the highlight of my visit to Rwanda. I joined three other visitors in trekking for Group 13, a family of 26 led by the stately Silverback Agashya.

Gorilla trekking begins with an early morning check-in at Volcanoes National Park headquarters in Kinigi. Visitors are divided into groups based on which gorilla group they have been assigned to. Those of us trekking for Group 13 then drove about 30 minutes up the hill, then walked another 30 minutes through family gardens planted with beans, potatoes and maize. When we reached the 4-foot stone wall that marks the parks border we were told the gorillas were very close. In fact, we could even see a juvenile peeking out from the upper branches of a small tree. At first we were told the gorillas would be coming out to snatch a few snacks from the locals' gardens but they did not appear so we hopped the wall and walked a mere 30 yards to where a female and youngster sat eating leaves. It was so easy that it was actually disappointing! I had been looking forward to at least a brisk hike in the forest. (Apologies to all who suffered on our marathon gorilla trekking in 2006.)

Disappointment was soon forgotten as we found new members of the group including fat bellied females, rambunctious adolescents, tiny babies and finally the Silverback. He gave us a look, took account of his group, then lay down for a rest, moving only when wrestling youngsters bumped into him. More group members moved in providing new chances for photos and before long it was time to go.

After lunch at the newly opened Gorilla Mountain View Lodge, I visited the nearby cultural village to see some dancing and crafts, we visited the well perched Virunga Lodge before staying the night at the spectacular and expensive Sabinyo Silverback's Lodge.

Today after breakfast we made the 2.5-hour drive back to Kigali where I visited the Genocide Museum. It's difficult to convey the emotional impact of a visit to this excellent museum. It does a fantastic job of explaining the root causes and development of what ultimately became one of Africa’s greatest tragedies. I consider it a must-see on any visit to Rwanda.

I arrived two hours before my flight to Nairobi--good thing as it took off 30 minutes early! Now I'm once again cooling my heals in Nairobi Airport on my way to Tanzania. Arusha here I come.

Ten Observations from Rwanda

1. This country is really hilly.
2. It can be sunny and cloudy at the same time. In a related note, I can feel happy and sad at the same time here.
3. Tea plantations are beautiful but I like Rwandan coffee better.
4. Most Rwandans are really skinny. Could be all the walking up steep hills.
5. Half the mountain gorilla population resides in Rwanda. 70 percent of them are habituated to humans for tourism or research.
6. Primus and Mutzig are the two Rwandan beers. Both are good.
7. Mountain gorillas love to eat bamboo shoots.
8. Mountain gorillas fart a lot.
9. I'm not sure if there is any correlation between numbers 7 and 8.
10. 800,000 people lost their lives in the 94 genocide and the country is working hard to deal with the past and move forward.

Top 10 tips for travel in Rwanda

1. Order your coffee, beer, lunch, dinner, etc. well before you actually want it. We're on Africa time here.

2. Brush up on your high school French. Many people speak English here but a little French goes a long way.

3. Learn a few words of Kinyarwanda. For example, bite (bih-teh) means hello.

4. Hit the Stairmaster before you come. I'm not exaggerating too much when I say I haven't seen a flat spot in the entire country. My guide Alex claims there is open savannah in the East.

5. Bring some sturdy hiking boots. Trekking chimps and gorillas and general hiking can be very slick and slippery.

6. Keep cameras, passports and other valuables in a zip lock bag to avoid damage from moisture.

7. Bring your raincoat. Even in the dry season, showers can make things uncomfortable if you don't have one.

8. Bring your cell phone: Cell coverage is really excellent here if you have the right bandwidth (Check with your service provider). If you have a crackberry like me, then bring it and you'll be able to email and surf the net (for a price). And that's good because very few hotels have internet. (See pic - at this nice hotel I was excited to see the internet room but inside there were no computers!)

9. Don't bring your cell phone. Yes, I did write #8 but I also remember traveling in Africa before there was much cell service and being out of touch made the adventure even greater.

10. Gorilla trek as many times as possible-every $500 permit is worth every penny.

Chimp trekking a success!

In addition to being the cleanest African country I've seen, Rwanda must also get the award for the most nimble farmers. These people can grow crops on the steepest terrain I've ever seen. Bananas, cassava, beans, peas, maize and more are planted, tended and harvested seemingly at a 70 degree angle with little if any terracing.

They call Rwanda the land of a thousand hills but really it's more like 100,000. It’s difficult to describe their beauty and seemingly even harder to capture it on film. Suffice to say that if you tried to design a more perfect mosaic of green hues, you could not.

My trip has been greatly enhanced by my guide, Alex. Born in a Tutsi refugee camp in Uganda in 1960, he was one of the first to return to Kigali after the genocide ended in 1994. He's been a postal worker, hotel work, and pineapple exporter, and is now an enthusiastic and entertaining ambassador for the new Rwanda.

Today’s chimp trekking was very nice. It was steep and slippery and I did get an unplanned foot wash when I fell into a stream, but overall it was beautiful and fun to see and hear the chimps. It was also very relaxing-like meditation-to be in the forest.

This afternoon we had a bumpy ride north along the shores of Lake Kivu…which is really stunning. In one town it was market day and we saw large canoe style boats ferrying Congolese back to their country after unofficial trade visits. Now I'm enjoying a Primus beer as a lightning show is beginning across the lake in Congo.