KWITA IZINA THE ‘BIGGEST AND BEST EVER’
Rwanda’s annual gorilla naming festival is now only just over two weeks away and 22 new born gorillas will be formally named in Ruhengeri on the 18th of June.
As has become almost customary now Rwanda is organizing a week of events, covering the country with a cycling tour, holding seminars and workshops on conservation in Kigali and engaging with local communities through support programmes – percolating tourism benefits to those in most need – before then embarking on the key gathering of conservationists, tourists and officials at the Volcanoes National Park for the main ceremony.
Tourism in the country has in recent years established itself as a key foreign exchange earner and seen this year already a very considerably increase over the early months in 2010, when Rwanda did reach record arrivals and revenues from visitors. Gorilla tracking is the highest profile activity the country has to offer but product diversification has over past years contributed greatly to spreading tourism benefits across the entire country, especially with the acceptance of Nyungwe National Park and its already famous tree canopy walk which has attracted thousands of visitors since its inauguration.
Watch this space for live reports from Rwanda and regular updates throughout the ‘Kwita Izina’ week.
