Wilderness Magashi Newsletter – September 2024

September brought exciting new additions to the Magashi team. We were delighted to welcome Selma, previously Relief Manager for our Rwandan camps, now our General Manager. Our service team also welcomed the charming, elegant and skillful Emmy and Elyse, who bring balance to our team full of ladies. We also had the pleasure of hosting our new Operations Manager Heinrich Röntgen for two days, which he spent exploring the beauty of Akagera National Park.

This month brought thrilling wildlife encounters. Nature provides enough to satisfy every guest’s needs and one unforgettable experience occurred when guests witnessed a rare daytime leopard hunt. The leopard successfully brought down a large waterbuck, but due to the size of its prey, the cat was unable to drag the kill up into a tree, as leopards typically do. The sight of the leopard guarding and feeding on the ground was a remarkable and unusual event for our guests to witness.

Another fascinating moment was when our guides and their guests observed a pair of white rhinos mating. This special moment gives us hope for a future increase in the rhino population, which is vital for conservation efforts.

“The only way to save a rhinoceros is to save the environment in which it lives, because there’s a mutual dependency between it and millions of other species, of both animals and plants”. – David Attenborough

Our talented guides Venuste, Herman, Innocent, Leo, Alphonse and Assiat deserve much appreciation for their keen expertise, great eyesight and hard work in delivering these sightings for our guests.

Our dedication to providing exceptional service and a remarkable dining experience continued to shine throughout September. Many guests shared their praise for the outstanding service and the delicious meals. Since late August, under the expertise of our Wilderness Food Experience Manager, we have introduced exciting new dishes to the menu. These additions have been well received, with guests enjoying the fresh and innovative flavours that enhanced their overall experience.

“We are so proud to have achieved the milestone of 200 scholarships! Our aim is to remain on this number of 200, meaning that we will try to secure a new scholarship for a student starting in Senior 1 for each student who graduates this year. “We are very grateful for our donors’ support. Without their contribution we would not be able to make this impact! What started as a small programme with just eight CITW scholarships has grown substantially to 200 over the last six years. 

This is our commitment to the children and the families and community at large, as these families have limited means, which they can now use for other purposes while their child’s education is secured. The CITW scholarship programme supports our Wilderness Impact Educate pillar just as much as it supports the Empower pillar in the villages”, said Damascene.