The beautiful and tranquil Tchegera Island is Virunga’s newest offering (Photo by Brent Stirton/Reportage for National Geographic Magazine.)
By Julie Williams
(S’il vous plaît, cliquez ici pour la version Français)
Once again, a resilient Virunga National Park has bounced back from adversity. Thanks to its dedicated rangers, the park was able to endure the M23 conflict and rebound to enjoy 2015 as its busiest tourism year yet. We greatly appreciate all the people that took a balanced view of the often frightening N. Kivu travel warnings and chose to visit Virunga. Your visits were key in helping Virunga recover. Eastern Congo can be a difficult region in which to work, but my staff and I are up to the challenge and are convinced the park has enormous potential to grow and become the leading tourism destination in Africa.
Here are some highlights from 2015:
Virunga’s new Tchegera Island Camp opened on August 21st. The island, located off the northern shore of Lake Kivu, offers fantastic views of four volcanoes in the Virunga chain. Visitors have been enjoying kayak outings and good old R&R. Paddle boards will soon be part of the Tchegera offering, too. For those keen on “birding”, you’ll be interested to know that Tchegera is rich in birdlife. Guests have already identified Green Sandpipers, Yellow Throated Greenbul, Willow Warblers, and others.
Enjoying a quiet evening in the jungle setting of Bukima Tented Camp (Photo courtesy of Rose Palmer)
Interest in Bukima Camp, located in the Mikeno mountain gorilla sector, has picked up a great deal since it was completely upgraded. Bukima is truly a success story — so much so that it has become the Director’s personal favorite. The atmosphere is rustic, yet the camp is quite plush. Manager Jean Pierre and his assistant manager Alice are doing a fantastic job taking care of the guests. Although they’re not supposed to come near the camp, there has been a considerable increase in gorilla sightings. Guests have been treated to face-offs between silverbacks, mating gorillas, and even babies riding on the backs of their mothers.
At Mikeno Lodge we have Canadian chef Louis Rhéaume conducting a 5-week training seminar for the kitchen staff. He has been helping us take our food and service to the next level. Patient, the lodge manager, and his team spend much of their day under Louis’ tutelage. We’re also in the process of developing a guide book for forest walks around the lodge. The forest there is teaming with the different mammal, bird, and plant species. With regards to bird sightings, Double-Toothed Barbet, Snowy Capped Robin Chat, Rwenzori Double-Collared Sunbird, Lemon Dove, Montane White Eye have all been sighted in the area. Chimpanzees have been calling on a daily basis, too, and have been frequently nesting outside Bungalow #6.
The corrosive environment on Nyiragongo’s summit has necessitated the replacement of the old summit shelters (pictured). They served climbers well, but it’s time for them to be retired.
On Nyiragongo volcano, the wild flowers on the way up are blooming. New summit shelters, which are far superior to the existing ones, will be installed in January. Besides Nyiragongo’s spectacular display of roiling and boiling lava, we’ve even seen a bird called the Rwenzori Turaco!
Speaking of the Rwenzoris, we’ve received fantastic feedback from guests about the hut system and the whole mountain experience in general. A number of people have managed to summit Margherita Peak. For those of you unfamiliar with the Rwenzori mountains, aside from high summits and glaciers, the massif is also famed for its wild looking vegetation and distinct zones of flora. The Rwenzoris are amazingly untouched and pristine — and we’re doing our best to keep the area that way.
One of Virunga’s elephant herds in the Ishasha valley. If you zoom in you will see two with GPS tracking collars, which aid in their protection.
News about our Ishasha Valley offering is also something I’d like to share. We will be opening a new camp there in June 2016 — one based on conservation tourism. Guests will go on outings with rangers and do things like track and observe the park’s collared elephants. We are also working on habituating the chimpanzees that live near Ishasha and this is something guests may get to help with, too. Although the camp is perched above the Ishasha river, it’s a true savannah setting and offers a more traditional safari experience of elephants, hippos, buffaloes, antelopes and giant forest hogs.
Lastly, the New York Times just featured Virunga National Park in “52 Places to Go in 2016” and it’s well worth the read. You can find it here.
I hope you’ll come visit us soon!
