Wilderness Safaris will host the first of its 12 ‘Travel with Purpose’ itineraries from May 6-12. The ‘Great Apes and Rainforests’ itinerary is a six-night excursion that will take a maximum of six guests to the coalface of conservation and community engagements in both Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

The itinerary offers special access to destinations such as Kahuzi-Biega National Park, Lake Kivu, Nyamunini Island, Gishwati Forest and Volcanoes National Park, as well as a variety of rich and in-depth experiences. Guests will be accompanied by a selection of leading conservation and community experts and will be given exclusive insight into both great ape conservation and reforestation projects in Albertine Rift – one of the world’s richest biodiverse hotspots; critically endangered mountain and Grauer’s gorillas; and eastern chimpanzees.

All proceeds will go to the Karisoke Conservation Bursary Fund – overseen by the Wilderness Wildlife Trust – which is reserved for Rwandan students working with the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International through the Karisoke Research Centre. The bursaries are at a Master’s or Doctoral level and are intended to deliver an injection of Rwandan researchers, conservationists and programme managers.

Chief Marketing Officer of Wilderness Safaris, Chris Roche, says: “Aside from the obvious commercial and awareness benefits of visiting some of these largely unknown destinations – Kahuzi-Biega, for example, receives fewer than 100 tourists a year, Gishwati fewer than 20 – and paying for access and services rendered, the funds generated for conservation bursaries will make a dramatic impact on future conservation efforts in Rwanda. We believe ecotourism can and must do better and as one of the hosts of this journey, I am looking forward to sharing this experience with like-minded people who also believe in the power of ecotourism to transform lives.”

For more information on this and the other journeys, click here.