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Pioneers of gorilla and chimpanzee ecotourism in Uganda and Rwanda since 1997

Volcanoes Safaris has been at the forefront of reviving gorilla and chimpanzee ecotourism in Uganda and Rwanda for twenty five years.

The Volcanoes team are excited to share the rich culture, history, and hospitality traditions of the Great Lakes Region of Africa. We look forward to welcoming you to our lodges.

3 Mount Gahinga Lodge gorilla

The Volcanoes Safaris Journey

Volcanoes Safaris was founded in 1997 in Uganda by Praveen Moman.
Today, we are recognized as the leader in gorilla and chimpanzee ecotourism in the region.

volcanoes safaris praveen momon churanji lal phakey krm safari family house

1927 – 1997

In 1927 Praveen’s great-uncle, Churanji Lal Phakey, from the Punjab, India, pitched a tent in the bush, among lions and leopards, some twenty miles east of the Source of the great River Nile in Uganda and became His Majesty King George V’s Postmaster at Iganga. He was the first family member to live in Uganda.

In 1997, Praveen too pitched a tent in Mgahinga National Park in southern Uganda, where he had first walked aged 12 in 1966 with his father Kuldip Rai Moman. This was the beginning of Mount Gahinga Lodge and Volcanoes Safaris.

Watch the teaser to our 25 Year Anniversary Film

1999

A simple camp at Bwindi Gorilla National Park was opened in 1999.

A simple camp at Bwindi Gorilla National Park opened in 1999 by Volcanoes Safaris, surrounded by lush forest and mountains.
volcanoes safaris mount gahinga lodge 2000

2000

In 2000 we started taking guests from Mount Gahinga to track gorillas in Parc National des Volcans in Rwanda and opened an office in Kigali.

2003 – 2004

Volcanoes Safaris helped kick-start gorilla tourism in Rwanda after the genocide through the Volcanoes BLCF Partnership Project in 2003.

In 2004 Virunga Lodge was built in Rwanda, the first lodge to be built by an international lodge company in Rwanda after the war.

volcanoes safaris rwanda virunga lodge panorama
volcanoes safaris trencherd bwindi bar

2005 – 2009

In 2005 Volcanoes Safaris became a signatory of the UN Kinshasa Declaration on Saving the Great Apes.

In 2009, the Volcanoes Safaris Partnership Trust (VSPT), a non-profit organisation that creates long-term, self-sustaining projects that enrich the livelihoods of local communities and promote the conservation of the great apes was established.

2011

In 2011 Kyambura Gorge Lodge was opened in Uganda, as part of the Kyambura Gorge Ecotourism Partnership Project to protect the threatened chimpanzees living in the gorge.

volcanoes safaris kyambura banda
volcanoes safaris dian fossey map room 2017

2017

In 2017 The Dian Fossey Map Room at Virunga Lodge was opened, containing a permanent exhibition, curated by Giulia Ajmone Marsan, charting the ‘Conservationists and Explorers of the Virunga Volcanoes’.

Download ‘Explorers and Conservationists of the Virunga Volcanoes’ Photoessay

2018

In 2018 Volcanoes Safaris Partnership Trust created The Gahinga Batwa Village, a major community project near Mount Gahinga Lodge, to provide a permanent home to over 120 of the Batwa community, who had been evicted when Mgahinga National Park  was gazetted in 1991. The project was financially supported by Volcanoes Safaris, the Adventure Conservation Travel Fund and private donations.

In 2018 Praveen Moman gave a TedX talk, entitled “Save Gorillas: Focus on Communities”, and argued that we need to change the paradigm of gorilla tourism and conservation and make them central to the economic mainstream so communities have a stake in the survival of the gorillas and habitat.

Watch Praveen Moman's TedX talk

volcanoes safaris mount gahinga batwa village community housing project
Kyambura Gorge Ecotourism Project

2019

The Kyambura Gorge Ecotourism Project, launched in 2019, is a series of connected community and conservation activities around the Kyambura Gorge area which seek to safeguard the chimpanzees, reduce human-willife conflcit, and increase income for local people by improving their skills.

2020

In 2020 Volcanoes Safaris and DEG (a financial institution incorporated in Germany) partnered to provide Covid-19 healthcare and training to support job security, conservation and communities in Rwanda and Uganda.

volcanoes safaris timeline 2020 deg
Jane Goodall

2021

In 2021 VSPT announced a long term partnership with the Jane Goodall Institute Uganda for supporting the threatened chimpanzee population at Kyambura Gorge. In collaboration with the Uganda Wildlife Authority the partnership significantly reinforces community-led conservation and ecotourism development centred around the Kyambura Gorge landscape in the Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda.

Volcanoes Safaris Celebrates 25 Years

Volcanoes Safaris partners with Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund as members of the Founders Circle for the new Ellen DeGeneres Campus in Rwanda.

Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund Campus for its programs to ensure wild gorillas are protected for the next 50 years and beyond. Volcanoes Safaris is signing a partnership worth $100,000 over five years, in cash and kind, making Volcanoes Safaris part of a small group of platinum donors which will support the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund.

volcanoes safaris partners with dian fossey gorilla fund as 62bb475318a24 1024x640 1
volcanoes safaris albertine rift ecosystems great apes

2022

In November 2022 Volcanoes Safaris hosted a retreat at Mount Gahinga Lodge with twenty-five conservationists with the theme ‘The Albertine Rift Ecosystems and Great Apes: Conservation Challenges 2022 to 2050’. Following the retreat the ‘Albertine Apes Alliance' was created to support collective action and advocacy to support responsible ecotourism, improving community livelihoods, protecting habitats, health and disease issues. You can read more about the aims of the group here.

2023

In January 2023 Praveen Moman hosted a panel discussion ‘The Future of Gorillas and Chimpanzees in the Albertine Rift’ at the Royal Overseas League in London, in partnership with Jane Goodall Institute, Gorilla Doctors, Conservation Through Public Health, Ape Alliance and The Gorilla Organisation.

volcanoes safaris royal over seas league london event
Kibale Lodge Ariel Edited

2024

Volcanoes Safaris announces the opening of Kibale Lodge in Uganda on 1 July 2024. Bookings are now open!

Read the full press release here.

volcanoes safaris about our vision

Vision

During the last twenty five years we have had a clear vision. We have sought to develop lodges that are sensitive to local culture and aesthetics, connect to the local community and conservation projects and seek to use resources responsibly.

We have sought to retain the core Afro-chic design ethos that was derived from Praveen’s life’s experiences – the simplicity of life in the bush, the values espoused by Mahatma Gandhi, the appreciation of African culture and aesthetics. Our primary style derives inspiration from many sources; from the homes of local African villagers, the landscape, the handmade approach, and the improvised design by eye rather than the obviously contrived (called kienyeji in Swahili). In post-colonial Africa it is important to be respectful to the culture and people. The essence of the feeling of luxury is that you should not notice it, nor should it be contrived.

We minimise the environmental impact of the lodges by using solar power when possible, harvesting our own rain water and recycling water and waste water when possible. The lodges avoid using any unnecessary single use plastics.

We believe that the conservation of species such as the mountain gorilla has to be part of the economic mainstream to succeed; sensitive and controlled tourism has an essential role to play in conservation; and most of all, if an endangered species is to survive, the focus of conservation and tourism must be on communities getting tangible long-term benefits.

volcanoes safaris about staff empowerment

Staff Empowerment

The Volcanoes family, from guides and waitresses to lodge managers and office staff in Kampala and Kigali are committed to ensuring that guests have a distinctive, unique and memorable lodge experience while on a gorilla or chimpanzee safari.

We employ over one hundred and fifty staff from the Great Lakes region – Rwanda, Uganda, DRC and Burundi – many of whose families have lived through conflict, mostly based at our lodges and our ecotourism projects.

Empowering local staff at all levels of management is a key aspect of Volcanoes’ philosophy and is exceptional among leading lodge companies. Staff benefit from Volcanoes’ extensive training programs and manage guest experience from beginning to end and are complimented for the exceptional level of service. They take a particular pride in sharing the cultures of the Great Lakes region.

The overwhelming majority of our management staff are from the region and over 50% are women; 85% of the staff at lodges come from the neighbouring communities.

Meet the team

Volcanoes Safaris Photoessays

Volcanoes Safaris has published a series of photoessays which document the history, vision and achievements of its conservation and community work.

The Journey of the First 25 Years 1997-2022

The Journey of the First 25 Years 1997-2022

The journey of Volcanoes Safaris over the last twenty-five years has been full of challenges and setbacks, self-doubt and angst, elation and achievement. It’s been a privilege to have been on such a unique and fulfilling journey. The time has flown by. It is a miracle that we have survived. It feels like magic realism in action!

In December 2021, the supporters and mentors of the company were ushered into the august rooms of the Linnean Society in Burlington House in Piccadilly. Until then I had never thought of Volcanoes Safaris as a company, but as a way of life, akin to Hinduism, the religion into which I was born, or better still what we call a ‘time pass’ in Punjabi.

So, how did this long and complex journey of becoming pioneers of gorilla and chimpanzee ecotourism and building lodges on the borders of Uganda, Rwanda and DRC, begin? This is my attempt at navigating my past, in an effort to answer this question!

Peter Oloya – A Journey from Adversity to Artistry

Peter Oloya – A Journey from Adversity to Artistry

Peter Oloya's journey from war-torn beginnings to artistic triumph is nothing short of extraordinary. Abducted by the Lord’s Resistance Army and forced into becoming a ‘boy solider’, Oloya defied all odds to emerge a survivor and master of creativity. Oloya’s latest body of work intricately weaves modern African culture into themes of modernity, culture, beauty and climate.

Awards and Recognition

Volcanoes Safaris is recognised as the leader in great ape tourism.

We are proud of the recognition of our work as pioneers of gorilla and chimpanzee eco-tourism, as well as for our lodges, conservation and community work.

Travel + Leisure
World's Best Awards
2024
Travel + Leisure World’s Best Awards 2024

In 2024  Mount Gahinga Lodge  and Kyambura Gorge Lodge in Uganda were listed in Travel + Leisure readers’ 20 Favorite Safari Lodges and Safari Outfitters in Africa of 2024

Condé Nast Traveler
Readers' Choice Awards
2023
Condé Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice Awards 2023
Travel + Leisure
World's Best Awards
2023 - 2024
Travel + Leisure World’s Best Awards 2023 – 2024

In 2023  Virunga Lodge in Rwanda and Mount Gahinga Lodge in Uganda were listed in Travel + Leisure readers’ favorite safari lodges in Africa 2023. and in 2024, Mount Gahinga and Kyambura Gorge Lodge in Uganda were voted fourth and sixth in Travel & Leisure’s top 10  favourite Safari Lodges in Africa.

Newsweek
Future of Travel Awards
2021
Newsweek Future of Travel Awards 2021

In 2021 Praveen Moman was named winner of the Newsweek Future of Travel Awards and has been described as a ‘visionary conservationist’ by the Financial Times and as ‘one of top twenty-five conservation-philanthropists’ in Africa by Departures Magazine.

Afar Magazine
Travel Vanguard
2022
Afar Magazine Travel Vanguard 2022

In 2022 Afar Magazine named Volcanoes Safaris as a Vanguard Honouree and one of the “top visionary companies that are changing the way we travel”.

Travel + Leisure
World's Best Awards
2022
Travel + Leisure World’s Best Awards 2022

In 2022 Virunga Lodge, Kyambura Gorge Lodge and Mount Gahinga were recognised by Conde Nast Traveller Readers’ Choice Awards as among the Best Resorts in Africa and Bwindi Lodge was among the Top 10 Best Safaris Lodges in Africa in Travel and Leisure awards.

Volcanoes Safaris Partners

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Receive news and insights from our lodges and conservation & community projects.

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Write to us on [email protected] or send us a message via the form on our contact page.

Rwanda: +250 (0) 252 502 452
Uganda: +256 (0) 414 346 464

You can also chat to one of our sales consultants via our live chat or by starting up a conversation on any of our social pages.
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© Volcanoes Safaris 1997 – 2024. All Rights Reserved

Volcanoes UK Limited, Registered Office: 402 Linen Hall, 162-168 Regent Street, London, W1B 5TE
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Contact Us

Write to us on [email protected] or send us a message via the form on our contact page.

Rwanda: +250 (0) 252 502 452
Uganda: +256 (0) 414 346 464

You can also chat to one of our sales consultants via our live chat or by starting up a conversation on any of our social pages.
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Booking Enquiry

To make a booking, please complete this form or click here to chat to one of our sales consultants via our live chat. Alternatively, send us an email on [email protected].
To protect gorillas from disease, no children under 15 years are allowed to go gorilla tracking. For guests booking a stay at Virunga Lodge, please note that the minimum age limit for children at Virunga Lodge is 12 years.

Safari Activities

Chimpanzee Tracking

Tracking chimpanzees in their natural habitat, as they swing from the branches in the canopy high above the forest floor is nothing short of exhilarating. The chimps effortlessly cross and scamper through the trees above the gorge, and visitors on the other hand must cross the river using natural bridges in order to keep up with the chimps. So although the walk usually lasts only 2–3 hours, descending the steep gorge and crossing the log bridges over the river requires some agility and fitness.

Chimpanzee tracking is also available in nearby Kalinzu, a forest reserve 30 minutes drive from Kyambura Gorge Lodge where there is a community of about 40 habituated chimpanzees.