Wilderness Sabyinyo Newsletter – August 2024

Peak season continues at Sabyinyo, and our guests enjoyed a magical month, from beautiful mornings that allowed them to experience wonderful treks. Thanks to the rain that has encouraged the growth of bamboo shoots along the park border, it has been easier to trek to the mountain gorillas and golden monkeys, whose favourite food is the bamboo. They have also been very active left everyone who visited, giving them memories that will last a lifetime.

The weather also allowed our guests to enjoy evening strolls across the grounds, where they were able to spot a couple of golden monkeys that have moved onto property – certainly a wonderful evening treat! And it wasn’t only the monkeys, as a few of our guests saw black-headed herons near our main area, which is quite unusual for these stately wild birds.

August is the month that we as Wilderness celebrate our culture on Heritage Day with our staff and guests, by setting up activities that are traditional, and August 30th will forever remain iconic and memorable for our guests and staff who had the pleasure of attending a Sabyinyo sundowner, also known traditionally known as Igitaramo.

The staff spent the whole month preparing for the big day, and putting together different ideas on what to do; the kitchen perfected their best local dishes that are enjoyed nationally, and the bar team worked on drinks that pushed guest happiness to a new level… but the stars of the show were the beautiful dancers who performed traditional Rwandan dance elegantly while wearing new Imishanana (traditional Rwandan attire), showcasing our beautiful heritage, and giving everyone a night to remember.

Our staff were kept busy throughout the month, while simultaneously gearing up for the coming rainy season. We have started working on what to plant next during the rainy season, in both our vegetable and flower gardens, also getting excited to continue with our reforestation plans as our tree nursery is growing so well.

This wasn’t the only joy for the Sabyinyo team, as we were happy this month to see two of our colleagues grow in the Wilderness family. Solange, who had been with us throughout the whole peak season, moved to the new Wilderness Bisate Reserve mid-month, while Selma, who at the time was at Sabyinyo as Wilderness Rwanda’s Relief Manager, moved permanently to Magashi. We celebrated their wonderful achievements and wish them luck in their future endeavours at their new camps.

In this, the last month of the school holidays, 80 children from eight primary schools in the Kinigi and Nyange attended two four-day Conservation Camps. The camps were organised by Children in the Wilderness (CITW) Rwanda in partnership with several conservation organizations. The children enjoyed many fun and educational activities, learning about gorilla behaviour, ecology, Rwanda’s national parks, biodiversity, and the importance of conservation.

They attended workshops at the Ellen DeGeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, and also visited Wilderness Bisate to learn about reforestation. They were all given a sapling from Bisate’s tree nursery to plant at home.

Perhaps the greatest highlight of the camps was marching in a conservation parade, as well as attending a closing ceremony attended by local leaders, RDB representatives, and media. The campers committed to continuing their conservation efforts. The initiative, which started in 2019, has hosted 280 students over seven camps.