KWITA IZINA / GORILLA NAMING CEREMONY IN RWANDA
The Kwita Izina or the gorilla naming ceremony in Rwanda is one of the most rewarding tourism activities that tourists interested in the gorillas can take part in for an amazing gorilla trekking experience in Rwanda. The activity is carried out yearly and it is done to celebrate new gorilla infants that have been born. The activity depicts the culture of Rwandans naming their children in the presence of their families and friends which is the same to the gorillas the tourists are the friends and nature lovers that are interested in gorilla conservation for sustainable tourism in Rwanda.
The activity was started in 2005 officially and this was a way of thanking the communities around volcanoes national park, conservationist, research partners and veterinary officers for dedicating themselves to protect and increasing the numbers of the mountain gorillas in the country and this has seen the success of over 328 mountain gorillas in the park that have been named in over 16 years. The gorilla naming ceremony in Rwanda is carried out every year which gives you the chance to take part in the activity in case you missed the last one that was held on the 24th of September where 19 baby gorillas were named and 1 gorilla family was established.
Gorillas in Rwanda became some of the most recognized tourist attractions by the efforts of the late Dian Fossey an American primatologist that dedicated her life to research the gorillas for their sustainability due to the factors that their numbers were decreasing in the wild. Dian Fossey loved the gorillas so much that she isolated herself from the local community and established her cabin the woods along the Virunga mountains where the gorillas settled. With the establishment of the karisoke research station where she carried out her gorilla research programmes, she was able to find out a number of problems faced by the gorillas.
she was also able to recognise the fact the poachers were among the main reasons why the gorilla populations have decreased and with this she carried out a number of measures to avoid the gruesome act against the gorillas which included burning the poacher’s equipment. Burning their houses and many other measures. It should also be noted that Dian Fossey introduced gorilla trekking which made gorilla trekking in Africa quite possible because a number of her research is still use to train gorillas to get accustomed to human presence, tourists can take part in gorilla habituation in Uganda, Bwindi impenetrable national park to understand how the gorillas get accustomed to human presence.
The Kwita Izina is carried out in volcanoes national park where Gorilla trekking in Rwanda which is another activity that will make your gorilla trekking experience in Rwanda quite memorable and this will give you the chance to hike the Virunga mountains in Rwanda like mount sabyinyo, mount gahinga, mount muhabura, mount bisoke and mount karisimbi in order to access the habituated gorilla families in Rwanda for an amazing experience. The activity will give you the chance to spend one hour observing their behaviour in the wild for instance how they co-exist with one another, you will find out the gorilla strength vs chimpanzees, how they communicate by grunting slapping the ground, mountain gorilla reproduction and many other rewarding features of the primates in the wild.
Other activities that you can take part in during your Rwanda safari tours include chimpanzee trekking in Nyungwe national park to understand more about the primates in the wild, you can track the big five animals in Akagera national park, participate in the Rwanda genocide tour and visit the different genocide memorial sites like the Kigali genocide memorial museum to understand the events that led to the death of a number of Rwandans, visit the musanze caves that have a number of interesting historical relevance in Rwanda, participate in the canopy walk in Rwanda to watch a number of wildlife like the different primates for instance the vervet monkey, Mona monkey, silver monkey and many other rewarding attractions that will make your Rwanda tours quite memorable.
‘’Be part of the famous celebrities like Natalie Portman, Naomi Campbell, arsenal stars like Pierre Aubameyang, Hector Bellerin and Bernd leno among others by booking your safari with us today to name a gorilla in Rwanda.’’
