Last week, Classic Africa Safaris delivered food supplies to the 464 gorilla trekking porters who assist guests as they track the mountain gorillas on the slopes of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Due to COVID-19, tourism has been suspended and the porters’ primary means of income has disappeared.

In June, CAS launched a Go Fund Me fundraiser to help supply maize meal, rice, beans, sugar, salt, soap and cooking oil to the unemployed porters in Bwindi. With the cessation of tourism, the porters are living in near poverty and struggling to sustain their families. Along with the support of our North American travel trade partners and past safari goers, we raised over $12,000. CAS donated a vehicle, driver and office team, and covered the costs of the 4-day journey to Bwindi and the reconnaissance mission last month. Mahogany Springs Lodge accommodated the CAS team at no cost during the supply delivery.

Many of you – our valued North American trade partners – reached out to your extensive list of travelers and made appeals for support. Several past visitors to Uganda, eager to help, wrote in with the name of their porter and personal notes about how crucial he or she was to their gorilla trekking experience.

With the assistance of a wholesaler in Kabale town, the CAS team sourced the goods and repackaged them into 10kg portions to maintain sanitary protocols and ease in distribution. The goods were distributed at each of the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) Bwindi headquarters with the assistance of the five Bwindi Porters Associations and the UWA. Videos of the delivery mission can be seen on the CAS YouTube Channel.

For further details or any questions, please contact Lyndsay Harshman, CAS sales manager.
“Since COVID-19 started here, we have not been working and therefore times are hard. We have seen this food now and we are very happy and thank you all very much!” ~The Bwindi Porters