Jaunted - rw

Summer Vacation with an Edge: Meeting Your Ape Relatives in Rwanda

egw — 2008-06-30T15:00:08-05:00

Walk in Dian Fossey's footsteps and see your genetic descendants up close: Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda is one of only five international parks where you can see mountain gorillas up close. If you manage to snag one of the coveted park passes--40 are given out each day--you could be within Frisbee-throwing distance of the mighty quadrupeds.

Tourism in Rwanda is on the upswing despite several years of civil war and internecine conflict with surrounding countries. We might have been skeptical when Travel + Leisure turned the spotlight on the country in 2005, but these enormous and fascinating creatures deserve a closer look.

Related Stories:
· Rwanda Tourism's Gorilla Trekking Guide [Official Site]
· See Gorillas up Close in Rwanda [AP, via Yahoo]
· Rwanda, the T+L Way [Jaunted]
· Rwanda Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: extremeboh]

Protect Africa From Paris!

egw — 2007-10-17T08:45:01-05:00

George Clooney went to the Sudan. Angelina Jolie went to Cambodia. Now Paris Hilton is set to become the umpteenth celebrity to make a humanitarian trip--and, predictably, hers will be filmed. Paris is traveling to clinics and schools in Rwanda with Playing for Good, an organization that holds fundraising summits to benefit children's charities.

Don't get us wrong, it's great when people who are famous (for whatever reason) use that to draw attention to conflicts that might otherwise go under the radar. Still, this smells like "unhelpful publicity stunt" to us. Simple Life: Central Africa? We're not sold on it.

Related Stories:
· Paris Hilton coverage [Jaunted]
· Celeb Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: The Superficial]

Rwanda, the T+L Way

johnrambow — 2005-12-21T11:46:06-05:00

Travel + Leisure jets off to . . . Rwanda?!? True, it's been over a decade since members of the majority Hutu tribe killed an estimated 800,000 Tutsis, and the country has made great strides towards forgiveness or at least some sort of resignation with its past. As the slighty dotty T+L lead-in says, "if the Hutus and Tutsis can coexist, then why not luxury hotels and memorial centers, still-intact genocide sites and wildlife-rich national parks?" But after that cringe-worthy kickoff, the article soon becomes reasonable and non-silly.
Related Stories:
·   Rwanda (After) [Travel + Leisure, via FishbowlNY]
·   The Mountain Gorillas of Rwanda [Togo Adventures]
·   Rwanda [Lonely Planet]