Volcanoes Safaris
About Company
About Us
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.
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.
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.
1999
A simple camp at Bwindi Gorilla National Park was opened in 1999.
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.
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.
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’.
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.
