Wilderness Bisate News – January 2023

Ryan and Tiffany had leave over January, and Corlia, our stalwart Relief Manager, stepped in to oversee operations. She was joined by our newest staff member Christian, who will be joining Corlia in her responsibilities as the caretakers of Wilderness’ Rwandan lodges when the resident managers take their breaks.  

Bisate went through another month of growth, with a new staff garden and a refresh of our back-of-house garden and seedling tanks in the staff village.

The grounds at Bisate look spectacular after the gift of some light rainfall in January coupled with the dedication of our ground teams. The property seems to have come into its own and it almost feels like our African redwood trees have grown a further 10 meters in height! We are beginning to see the beautiful canopy that will blanket our property in the future.

Gorilla Viewing

With a small break from the steady rainfall that we typically receive in the region, the gorilla viewing has been fantastic, as the gentle giants are not always fond of wet weather! This has led to some amazing sightings and interactions with guests. As the bamboo shoot season has started to slow down, we have also seen the gorilla families start to venture closer to the park's boundaries, which has made for a few instances of easier trekking for some of our guests.  The smaller supply of bamboo shoots has also resulted in a few golden monkey sightings during gorilla treks, and we all know that everyone loves a two-for-one special!

Bisate Family

We are very proud to welcome Christian Herve to our ever-growing operation in Rwanda. He has joined as Trainee Relief Manager. Chris has valuable experience in hotels around the world and will bring a great deal of class and experience. He spent his first few weeks with Wilderness working at Bisate and getting to know the property and team. We are very excited to have him as a part of the team, and Tiffany and Ryan can rest easy in the knowledge that the lodge is in great hands when they take their leave.

Our Back of House Manager, Charles Nshuti, has also welcomed his second son to his family. We wish Charles and his wife all the best, and we all send some big congratulations to them from the Bisate team – welcome to the family, Tony!

Wildlife & Nature Trails

With the easing off of the rainfall, we have experienced an explosion of foliage around the property, as well as a massive increase in chameleon numbers around our grounds. Some guests are reporting double-digit sightings on a single nature walk, with Kathryn Nathanson currently holding the property record of 16 different chameleons of all shapes and sizes on a single morning nature walk! We have also seen many baby chameleons, which showcases the very healthy ecosystem that we have for them to thrive here.