AUIP’s Managing Director, Laura Sessions, wrote in her last blog about her visit to the mountain gorillas in Rwanda. Gorillas are the main reason most tourists visit Rwanda, but Laura found the country has so much more to offer.

After the horrific genocide of 1994, which led to the deaths of about 800,000 people over the course of just ten days, tourism to Rwanda virtually disappeared. Seventeen years on, reminders of the genocide are everywhere (there are over 200 genocide memorials), and yet the country is seen by many as a model for change in Africa. It is now a safe and beautiful country to visit, with highlights being chimpanzee trekking, colourful markets, scenic lakes and some of the friendliest people you will find anywhere in the world.

In addition to Rwanda, Laura also visited Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania. Highlights here included seeing the annual wildebeest migration in the Masai Mara of Kenya and close encounters with elephant, lion, leopard, cheetah, hippo and more in Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park.

Below is just a few of the awesome pictures that Laura took on her trip.