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HOTEL TRAVELLERS REST
From far away the huge cones of the Virunga volcanoes dominate the landscape and beckon you as you approach. The surrounding landscape is of a astonishing beauty, one can not even imagine. There, in the extreme southwestern corner of Uganda, on the borders with the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, the Hotel Travellers Rest lies under the towering volcanoes. These mountains offer spectacular views on the Rift Valley and the emerald-green lake Mutanda in the distance.
In the sixties the famous American ‘gorilla-woman’ Dian Fossey visited Travellers Rest many, many times to do paperwork, to relax or to meet people. Fossey said about the hotel: ,,It was my second home."
Travellers Rest, just outside Kisoro, offers a cozy stay for tourists, who come to see the endangered mountain gorilla. The hotel, built in a somewhat colonial style, and entirely renovated in 1999, has a comfortable ambiance. The twelve rooms are reasonable priced. When you enter, the ibis welcomes you with its typical sound. The beautiful surrounding garden is the home of many birds. Sitting on the terrace you can smell the sweetish perfume of the honeysuckle. In the evenings, when it gets cooler, visitors can warm themselves at the fireplace, outside or in the lounge.
From the hotel there are a lot of activities for visitors to undertake. Travellers Rest provides bikes to discover the nearby surroundings, You may visit the lake Mutanda, you can walk to the local market in Kisoro on Mondays and Thursdays, or you can climb one of the volcanoes. And of course you can go and track the mountain gorilla. To see these animals, visit the Mgahinga National Park in Uganda or the Virunga Mountains in Rwanda.
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African people have long known that gorillas lived in the forests. To the rest of the world, however, gorillas have been mysterious and largely unknown for centuries. All that changed in the early fifties of the previous century. In 1955 the hotel was bought by Walter Baumgartel. From then on Travellers Rest became a meeting-place for people who were interested in the mountain gorilla. Dian Fossey says: ,,Walters hotel was an oasis to many scientists who came here before me."
Baumgartel realized that the survival of the mountain gorilla was closely related to the preservation of the tropical forest. Nowadays, park managers and local communities are aware that they can benefit more from preserving the parks than they would from clearing them as farmland.
In 1951, the American zoologist George Schaller was the first to study gorillas in the Virunga volcanoes. His pioneering work for the first time revealed the true nature of the gorilla to the world; a shy, gentle, peace-loving vegetarian. Schaller is the author of the book ‘The mountain gorilla: ecology and behavior’, published in 1963. In 1988 he wrote ‘The year of the gorilla’.
Dr. Dian Fossey and her assistants achieved some amazing results. Fossey lived among the gorillas from 1963 until her death in 1985. She followed Schaller’s methods of research. Her book ‘Gorillas in the mist’ was eventually turned into a movie. After she spent some time in Congo she moved to Rwanda, where she started the Karisoke Research Center. She lived there for almost 18 years among the gorillas. She was the first person ever to have voluntary contact with a gorilla, one of them even touching her hand.
She was killed in 1985 and was buried on the Rwanda side of the Virunga
Hi Lydia & Vicky,
Thanks again for being such good company during our holiday in Uganda. I think Vanessa and I were very lucky to have you around. Thank you for supporting us in Kisoro while Vanessa had to go have her wrist fixed. Many thanks for the 'African Night'. Pity though that Vicky did not dance (hahaha!), but we really loved your cooking.
Thanks for making us laugh and informing us about the program the next day.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
Vanessa, Jan and myself have had a nice stay in Rwanda as well. No more bumpy roads! The vsit to Nyungwe Forest was overwhelming. The forest just did not seem to be ending. And although we did not see that many monkeys and birds, the trees and the flowers were so impressing.
Like Nyungwe Forest, our visit to Akagera was beautiful as well. With many thanks to our driver Ben, who made it possible for us to visit the park for the entire day. Ben turned out to be highly skilled mechanic and driver, as he helped some foreigners to fix their fourwheel drive pickup truck several times during our visit to Akagera. Ben also gave us many oppurtunities to get a clear view of the zebra's and giraffes. Luckily we were able to walk around in Akagera National Parc. This have made the visit so much more adventerous.
Accept for the incident at the Rwanda/Uganda border, our stay in Rwanda has been splendid (the border was closed for two days!)
Thank you so very much ones again. Vanessa and I hope to be able to visit Uganda and Rwanda someday again.
Greetings,
Remco & Vanessa
Name:Remco van Reeuwijk
Email: remcovanr2@yahoo.com
Hello Lydia,
How are you? I hope you found everyone in your family just fine when you came back from the Safari.
We enjoyed Uganda very much. Now it's hard to go back to usual life - working and so on. But I was happy to see my parents again and even to see my cat (she was actually very happy about us beeing back at home).
We had a look at your hompage. I like it. The design and the colours are pleasant. You provide all necessary information.
Beside the tour examples, you could put the focus on customized tours - I'm sure that you are the perfect organizer for individual arrangements. And these are the kind of trips organizations here, like Sawadee, Djoser, Diamir... can't provide.
Say hello to Vicki,
hope to hear from you
Name :Sybille + Paul
Email: sybile.rein@-direktnet.de
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