Eco-Tourism Company and safari operator Wilderness Safaris is celebrating it’s 35th year by introducing 12 ‘Travel with Purpose’ itineraries. The first will take place beginning May 6th-12th. The exclusive six-night Great Apes and Rainforests itinerary is now on my bucket list! The incredibly lucky guests will see the real work being done in conservation in both Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo. (DRC).

Guests will be accompanied by leading conservation and community experts while having the opportunity to see three great ape species-Critically Endangered mountain and Grauer’s gorillas, and eastern chimpanzees. This will allow guests to truly get a glimpse into great ape conservation and current reforestation projects. Education is just as important as the actual work on the ground!

A maximum of SIX guests will participate in this special itinerary and will experience incredible places such as Kahuzi Biega National Park, Lake Kivu, Nyamunini Island, Gishwasti Forest, and Volcanoes National Park.

“For the last 35 years – even when we started out in Botswana in 1983 with just one old Land Rover – there has always been one overriding purpose to our ecotourism activities: to conserve and restore Africa’s wilderness and wildlife. This is why, when contemplating how to celebrate our 35th birthday, we considered the places we’d choose to be, when we’d choose to be there and with whom we would travel; crafting 12 purposeful journeys that will not only offer an extraordinary ecotourism exploration, but will give back to conservation and community empowerment at the same time”, said Wilderness Safaris Chief Marketing Officer, Chris Roche.

“Aside from the obvious commercial and awareness benefits of visiting some of these largely unknown destinations (Kahuzi-Biega for example receives less than 100 tourists a year, Gishwati less than 20) and paying for access and services rendered, the funds generated for conservation bursaries will make a dramatic impact on future conservation efforts in Rwanda. We believe ecotourism can and must do better and as one of the hosts of this journey, I am looking forward to sharing this experience with like-minded people who also believe in the power of ecotourism to transform lives”, Roche concluded.

The most incredible part? Well, other than seeing some of the most amazing places in the world? None of the participating organizations -Wilderness Safaris, Thousand Hills Africa, Forest of Hope Association, and Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International (DFGFI) will receive any payment for this journey! All proceeds will benefit the Karisoke Conservation Bursary Fund and will be reserved for Rwanda students working with DFGFI through the Karisoke Research Center.

Click here to read more about the Great Apes and Rainforest itinerary and its expert hosts.

About Wilderness Safaris: www.wilderness-safaris.com 

• Wilderness Safaris is Africa’s leading authentic and sustainable ecotourism operator, specialising in memorable wildlife experiences in some of the most remote and pristine areas in Africa. In this way it offers its guests private access to almost three million hectares of Africa’s finest wildlife reserves, while remaining fiercely committed to protecting our planet’s precious natural and cultural resources.
• Wilderness Safaris operates camps and safaris in some of Africa’s best wildlife and wilderness reserves across eight countries: Botswana, Kenya, Namibia, Rwanda, Seychelles, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
• Wilderness Safaris is deeply committed to its 4Cs sustainability ethos of Commerce, Community, Culture and Conservation. It firmly believes that its single most important achievement to date is to have built a sustainable business model that does not compromise environmental principles and which provides jobs, training, skills, careers, adjusted horizons, hope and a realistic alternative to less sustainable development.
• Recognising that conservation is as much about people as about the environment, the company has pursued important goals through its Children in the Wilderness programme, as well as through the Wilderness Wildlife Trust, which have helped change the face of nature-based tourism in Africa.
• Wilderness Safaris is part of Wilderness Holdings, a group of responsible ecotourism companies that together endeavour to use responsible tourism to build sustainable conservation economies in Africa.