Greg Bakunzi: From Rwandan refugee to founding force
Greg Bakunzi grew up in a refugee camp in Uganda, having fled the extreme violence of the Rwandan genocide in the 1990s.
Raised under “extremely challenging” conditions, the young Greg had little access to formal education.
Despite these origins, the Greg Bakunzi of the 2020s is a renowned pioneer, trailblazer, and innovator in community-based tourism in central and eastern Africa.
“I believe life is like a magic carpet,” Greg said. “Sometimes it takes you to the highest of the mountains, and sometimes to the deepest of the seas. Through it all, life is worth living.”
Greg Bakunzi’s return to Rwanda
In 1998, as peace was returning to the region after the 1994 genocide, Greg followed his heart to return to his native Rwanda and his ancestral home in the north.
“I was 24 years old, and I had a good command of English language,” Greg said.
“Youth and language skills were about all I had,” he added with a grin. “But I could communicate with foreigners and guide them within our locality.”
That proved to be useful. Greg became a local guide for visitors who were interested in the famous mountain gorillas.
“As I was meeting international tourists who were here to see the gorillas, I thought about how to interest them in our culture and at the same time give locals a chance to interact with these visitors to learn more about the outside world,” Greg said.
“So that’s why I started promoting opportunities for cultural exchange; exchanges that could benefit community members and our culture, while at the same time protecting the natural habitat of the mountain gorillas.”
“I believe life is like a magic carpet. Sometimes it takes you to the highest of the mountains, and sometimes to the deepest of the seas. Through it all, life is worth living.”
Greg Bakunzi
Passion
It was through these exchanges that Greg became passionate about tourism’s potential to contribute positively to culture and development as well as nature conservation.
“I understood through those experiences how life-changing tourism could be for not only visitors, but also the places and people they visited,” Greg said.
“I thought deeply about how I might use tourism as a tool to eradicate poverty in local communities residing near protected areas.”
Realising the vast potential of community-based tourism to alleviate poverty, Greg founded the Ruhengeri Community Ecotourism Association and Amahoro Tours, which now offers tours in the Congo and Uganda, as well as Rwanda.
His projects attracted rapidly increasing numbers of visitors and, as a result, he was able to create jobs for people and to bring economic benefits to their communities.
While his initial focus was on northern Rwanda and the communities surrounding Volcanoes National Park, he later launched responsible ecotourism initiatives in other parts of the country, including Nyungwe National Park.
Greg Bakunzi’s work has (so far) culminated in the creation of Red Rocks Rwanda and Red Rocks Initiative for Sustainable Development.
Read more about Red Rocks Rwanda & Red Rocks Initiatives including
“Can you help Rwanda’s sustainable tourism, community development?”
Acclaim
Today, Greg enjoys national and international acclaim for his pioneering work.
In 2011, he received the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize for his work in promoting responsible ecotourism and sustainable community development in Rwanda.
In 2015, his name was added to the A‑Team for Wildlife “Wall of Fame” in recognition of his work to save endangered species.
A year later, he was invited to join a panel on the topic “Africa — The future is now” at the Tourism Investment and Business Forum for Africa, organised by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), FITUR, and Casa Africa. It was the first big international event that he was invited to participate in as a speaker.
The African Tourism Board has since asked Greg to serve on its steering committee.
In 2022, Greg’s village of Nkotsi was named among the ‘Best Tourism Villages’ by the UNWTO for preserving its culture and traditions, celebrating and safeguarding diversity, and providing opportunities to locals.
In 2023, TIME decided that Red Rocks’ home town of Musanze is among ‘The World’s Greatest Places’ — “50 extraordinary destinations to explore” — destinations offering visitors extraordinary experiences unlike any other. Indeed Red Rocks gets a mention: “[…] an amenity-rich, nonprofit hostel, strives to bridge the gap between locals and visitors through storytelling, banana-beer making, and Rwandan dance.”
Greg Bakunzi’s legacy grows
Greg Bakunzi’s social enterprises, community-based initiatives, and the local industry associations he has founded continue to provide economic benefits to Rwandan communities while preserving natural beauty, biodiversity, and cultural richness.
His community development projects continue to empower numerous local people and promote environmental stewardship.
And his vision of sustainable community-based tourism has become a case study for others who follow in his path of promoting sustainable development around the world.
If you wish to partner with Greg Bakunzi on his Red Rocks-related initiatives or any other, he would be delighted to hear from you. Please email info@redrocksinitiative.org.
