Following the recent concluded mountain gorilla census in the virunga massif, Rwanda’s mountain gorilla population has grown by 26.6% and the primates’ contribution to the country’s economic growth can be clearly seen from the revenue collected and infrastructure growth. This year the country has set a target of $444 million from tourism industry.
Come 7th September 2018 volcanoes national park in Kinigi will be fun filled with thousands of people from all walks of life to celebrate and participate in naming baby mountain gorillas.it is said 23 baby gorillas will be named since last year 2nd of September. Each baby gorilla is given a different name and its one way of creating awareness in conserving of mountain gorillas and the importance of tourism to the country. The ceremony attracts a number of people including conservationists, researchers, tour operators, local people and well-wishers who enjoy this joyful moment. Over 2000 people attended the event and hoping for more numbers come this year.
In 2017 kwita izina ceremony was attended by Actor Sean Penn who was invited by Hon Laurent Lamothe, a former Prime Minister of the Republic of Haiti and so many official celebrities like Howard Buffet, movie stars Isaiah Washington, Don Cheadle, Patience Ozuokor, Ramsey Nouah, born Ramsey Tokunbo Noah Jr, top model and conservation activist Veronica Varekova and US-based Rwandan Singer The Ben among others. This year Rwanda Development Board Tourism Officer revealed an arsenal football Super star who will also officiate the ceremony conservation ceremony and tourism flagship event following the recent official deal of visit Rwanda on the arsenal shirt sleeves and jerseys. The star will also make his way to other tourist destinations in Rwanda as part of the official partnership deal.
13 years down the road since kwita izina ceremony was launched on 14th 2005 over 258 mountain gorillas have been named. The mountain gorilla babies are picked from different from 10 gorilla families in Volcanoes national park in the Virunga conservation area.
Other than the gorilla naming ceremony other activities will also proceed such as visiting the cultural heritage attractions in Nyanza, visiting the memorial sites of Rwanda in remembrance and learning about the rich cultural history of Rwanda.
Then also Visit Nyungwe forest national park for the other unique quite number of primates like chimpanzees, colobus monkeys, red tailed monkeys, blue monkeys and many others,there is one of the kind canopy walk, visit volcanoes national park, Akagera national park as well as lake Kivu one of the largest water body in the land of a thousand hills.
Also travelers will attend a 2 days kwita izina conservation exhibition together with the conservation forum in Kigali. Invited are conservationists, civil society, policy makers, volunteers and local communities to brainstorm and discuss the current and future of the Volcanoes, they will also be introduced to the great achievements of Rwanda in regard to conservation. These achievements will be displayed inform of educational materials and other tourism products which make Rwanda a top tourist destination. Participants will also attend the cultural dinner as well as entertainment by the locals at the shores of Lake Kivu in Rubavu.
Besides Kwita izina and wildlife, travelers will enjoy other activities including football tournament organized with conservation education in mind. The finals will be played in the evening of kwita izina volcanoes national park tournament.