Gorilla Trekking

Agandi (hello everyone)

For me it's an aroma to die for, but it always amazes me why vanilla is so pricy? Spent a night at Ndali Lodge which is perched atop a spectacular crater-lake in the Ndali-Kasenda Crater region in Uganda and its here that I found out just why. It's a painstaking method to achieve the ideal vanilla bean and "extract" which take years of dedication and delicate care to achieve.

Ndali Lodge is renowned world-wide for its organically grown vanilla beans. Behind its success is Lulu Price, who today has a network of over 1,000 Fairtrade farmers accredited by the organization. Because of this accreditation, she is able to pay farmers more than twice the current amount for vanilla beans which enriches the lives of many farmers and their families in the area.



Just returned from another fantastic trip to Uganda!
My gorilla weakness got the better of me and I found myself trekking the newly habituated Bitukura group. Located in the Ruhija part of the Bwindi, it's a challenge of a group to visit, but its four magnificent silverbacks are more than worth the drive and simply breathtaking to see.

Apart from Gorillas, we also saw good chimps, legendary tree-climbing lions, had one of the best shoebill sightings ever and visited the Buhoma Community High School who are doing a fantastic job with the LEAF LIFE tree planting project.

Tulabagane omwezi ogujja (see you next month).





VANILLA FACT FILE:
• Vanilla is an orchid vine originally from Central America and the only orchid of the 25,000 species to produce an edible fruit.
• It grows in tropical latitudes stretching approximately 23° on either side of the equator.
• There are two types of vanilla beans: Organic and Conventional.
• The vine needs to entwine itself to a host tree, requires plenty of dappled sunlight and lots of rain and rich fertile soils.
• The vanilla bean is harvested 9 - 11 months after pollination, the longer the beans are left on the vine, the better.
• 70 workers from the surrounding area are employed at the Ndali factory.
For more info on the processing and extraction of vanilla, log onto www.ndali.net


GORILLA NEWS
The Rushegura group remain in Congo...
Tragically, the Habinyanja group have lost 8 members including the dominant silverback, Ruanzigadzi. To date, the guides have neither found a splinter group nor the remains of any gorillas. What has happened, no one quite knows. Will definitely keep you all posted.