A FACE-TO-FACE ENCOUNTER WITH A MOUNTAIN GORILLA in the Virunga
massif—a range of mountains straddling Rwanda, Uganda, and the Democratic
Republic of Congo—is on many travelers’ short list. Even without knowing that
there are just 1,000 left in the world, this would be a rare and precious experience
that leaves you a little bit changed. While the apes’ improving conservation story
has led to a boom in lodges, there’s also tragedy lurking in the shadows: Few visitors
return home aware of the human story connected to these remarkable creatures.
When the national parks were gazetted for the benefit of wildlife, the indige-
nous forest dwellers, the Batwa, were cast out. In Uganda this happened in the
early ’90s. Seven years ago I encountered the Batwa for the first time, on a patch
of ground just outside Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, in southwestern Uganda.
It was overwhelmingly sad: filthy makeshift settlements, sick kids, humiliat-
ed men unable to understand their lives now that they had lost their hunter-
Lodges That Lift Up
A fresh conservation model
is spreading across the globe
A villa at Uganda’s
Mount Gahinga Lodge
The mountain gorilla population
in Virunga National Park is up
56 CONDÉ NAST TRAVELER APRIL 2020
PHOTOGRAPHS: MICHAEL TUREK; KONRAD W
OTHE/GETTY IMAGES
why we travel^ ➤^ spotlight
