!$7,490 Per Person, Sharing; $1,560 Single Supplement

$750 Gorilla Tracking & Viewing Permit (optional) Based on 10 people participating or a surcharge will apply !!

Trip Highlights !Visit master weavers and social entrepreneurs, Janet Nkubana & Joy Ndungutse

& the economically empowered women of Gayaha Links Cooperative !Spend time with potters and an all-women’s drumming group in the Southern provinces

Visit a school launched by Women for Women International, that enables women to be self-sufficientTrek and view gorillas and meet former poachers who have become conservation activists!!!!

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PASSPORT TO FOLK ART: RWANDA !September 28 - October 6, 2017

VISIT FOLK ARTISTS IN KIGALI & BUTARE !TRACK GORILLAS AT VIRUNGA VOLCANOES, LAKE KIVU !Photo © Bob Smith

28TH September 2017 Upon arrival at Kigali International Airport, you will be met and transferred to Kigali Serena Hotel for overnight. Janet and Joy of Gahaya Links Cooperative will join us for dinner. Accommodations: Kigali Serena Hotel - 5 nights !29th September 2017 After breakfast, we will spend the entire day with master weavers Janet Nkubana and Joy Ndungutse of the Gayaha Links Cooperative, long-time Market participant and a Rwandan handicraft company dedicated to women’s economic empowerment through enterprise design. Gahaya Links has pioneered women-led economic development in Rwanda over the last twenty years. In 2008 Gahaya Links won the “Best Corporate Social Responsibility” award for empowering disadvantaged women in rural areas by providing training opportunities and access to global markets. What began as an opportunity for basic income generation and skills training for women, has grown to produce positive multiplier effects in the lives of their children, their families, and their communities. The weavers have achieved access to education for their children, clean water and nutritious foods for their families and secure housing for their livelihoods, helping to enrich and strengthen communities across Rwanda. This is sure to be a day you will never forget. !30th September 2017 After breakfast, you will drive 85 miles south to visit the Gatagara Pottery Group. The pottery group was started in the late 1970s from collaboration between local potters and a Belgian potter. The technique has remained largely unchanged, but the unique coloring and finishing of the piece is an evolution. The group has seen some changes through the years, but the quality and authenticity of the product has remain unchanged. Some of the pottery workers have 20-30 years of creating ceramic pieces. Gatagara will have everything you need to practice your hand at making pottery, watch expert artisans at work, and see their final products. Though they have smocks for you to wear, you may wish to wear clothing that can get a little dirty! !Then continue with a stop at the traditional seat of the monarchy. Visit the Royal Palace in Nyanza, which has been restored entirely of traditional materials to its 19th century state. Afterwards, you will continue to the university town of Butare, where you will visit the National Museum which houses perhaps the best ethnographic collection in East and Central Africa. Lunch will be at a local restaurant. Also in Butare, you are in for a special treat when you meet Sweet Dreams drumming group. Sweet Dreams stars a group of stalwart Rwandese women who discover the power of drumming and ice cream. Ingoma Nshya (New Kingdom) is the name of Rwanda’s first and only all-female drumming group, who also started an ice cream shop! The troupe is made up of women from all ages and from both the Hutu and Tutsi tribes. In 1994 the genocidal conflict that erupted between the Hutu and Tutsi people took the life of nearly one million people. In interviews with the women, it is clear that the drumming group is a vital way to build trust and reestablish a sense of community. Infectious anthems accompany the thunderous drumming, where you will have an opportunity to drum along, making the perfect soundtrack for a newly empowered Rwanda.

Photo © Harvey Morgan ii Photo © Sweet Dreams

1st October 2017After breakfast, drive to the Eastern province to visit the Gatsibo Weaving Group, known for their silkworm weaving. Following, we will go the Kayonza Women’s Opportunity Centre, a Rwandan school based on the idea of enabling women to be self-sufficient. The school was launched by Women for Women International, a non-profit humanitarian organization based in Washington, D.C. They believe that in order to rebuild a country that has suffered through genocide, the best approach is education and self-empowerment at a grassroots level. The center will be both a permanent residence and a gathering place for women survivors of war as they learn new skills including crafts and brick making. The project aims to rebuild social infrastructure and restore cultural heritage. We will have lunch at a local restaurant. !2nd October 2017 After breakfast, drive to Muhange to visit the Aziz Life Organization, where you will have the opportunity to take Rwandan dance lessons. Azizi is a Swahili word that means “precious”, “treasured” or “excellent” and it is their belief that every person’s life is Azizi. Azizi Life is currently working with around 25 different independent groups of artisans. The groups vary in size but on average they have between 15 and 20 members, of whom about 95% are women. Their hope and dream is to find more markets to sell their products. Following, we will visit the Twa Potters. The Twa, also called Batwa, are an indigenous Rwandan pygmy people, who make up about one percent of the country's population of 8,000,000. They originally lived as hunter-gatherers in the high mountain forests around the Great Lakes of the Central Africa. Being driven out of the forests, Twa have turned to one of very few remaining income-generating activities that they have: pottery, which they have been practicing for generations to trade with their agriculturist neighbors. However, as the government aims to exploit the country's marshland for agricultural use, the Twa are losing the land critical to collect clay for their pottery. Although some Twa have started to farm on a small scale, most of them live in habitats unsuitable for agriculture and as a result, making and selling pottery remains their main income. Twa are often easily distinguishable from others by their short stature. Time permitting, we will visit the creative, contemporary art venues of Inema Art Center, Ivuka Arts Center and the Niyo Art Gallery. !3rd October 2017 Following breakfast, take a city tour of Kigali; visit the Genocide Memorial, which commemorates the Rwandan genocide in 1994. The remains of over 250,000 people are interred there. The Center is a permanent memorial to those who fell victim to the genocide and serves as a place in which the bereaved could bury their family and friends. Following this, we will visit the local craft markets with lunch at a local restaurant before we take a leisurely 2 1/2 hour drive to Gisenyi arriving at Lake Kivu Serena Hotel late afternoon in time for check-in. Lake Kivu Serena Hotel is ideally located on a sandy beach, in the Rwandan resort town of Gisenyi, on the shores of Lake Kivu, the 6th largest lake in Africa. The nearby Virunga Volcanoes provide a spectacular backdrop on one side complimenting a panoramic view of the lake on the other.Accommodations: Lake Kivu Serena Hotel - 2 nights !

4th October 2017 After an early breakfast, drive to Volcanoes National Park headquarters to be allocated a gorilla tracking group (Note: Gorilla tracking is optional). There will be a 7:00 a.m. briefing by your trackers then drive to the trail head for the start of an amazing adventure where you will track, view and photograph gorillas in their natural habitat (Note: Clients are allowed to photograph the gorillas but not with professional photography equipment, as this attracts a different charge). Our exhilarating trek, in the footsteps of the rare and critically endangered Mountain Gorillas, the largest living primate on earth, starts in the cultivated foothills of the Virungas, with stirring views in all directions. Upon entering the national park, her paths littered with fresh spoor of the mountains’ elusive buffalo and elephant, trekkers will be immersed in the mysterious intimacy of the rainforest, alive with colorful bird calls, butterflies, etc. Through gaps in the canopy, the magnificent Virunga peaks, among the highest in Africa yet easily accessible, are glimpsed, beckoning an ascent.!Weaving through overhanging vines, moss-covered hagenia and giant lobelias, that thrive in the tropical climate, our experienced trackers, who have spent their entire lives in or close to this forest, soon bring us up close with the gorilla family. Upon sighting the gorillas, you will stay with them for a magical hour as they go about their daily life, feeding, playing, resting and raising their young. Coming face to face with a giant silverback must truly be one of the greatest wildlife experiences on earth!!Afterwards, you trek back to base where your drivers will be waiting to take you back to the lodge for a well deserved shower and lunch. In the afternoon, you tour to the nearby ex-poacher’s village. An award-winning conservation initiative, former poachers were convinced to renounced their old ways and become conservation activists. Together with their families, they founded this little village where they now participate in eco-tourism showcasing Rwandan culture. Visitors can learn about traditional skills like fire-making, archery, traditional medicine, traditional architecture (totally unique grass thatched huts that were used for the kings), traditional medicine, cultural dances, etc. among other attractions.!5th October 2017 After a leisurely breakfast, drive back to Kigali and proceed to Kigali Serena Hotel for check-in. In the evening you will be taken for a farewell dinner at one of local restaurants.Accommodations: Kigali Serena Hotel - 1 night !6th October 2017 Following breakfast, transfer to the airport for your departure flight.

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PASSPORT TO FOLK ART: RWANDA Kigali, Butare & Virunga Volcanoes, Lake Kivu

$7,490 Per Person, Sharing; $1,560 Single Supplement$750 Gorilla Tracking & Viewing Permit (optional)

Based on 10 people participating or a surcharge will apply !PRICE INCLUDES: PRICE DOES NOT INCLUDE Meet and greet International AirfareAccommodations Specialty beverages (coffees & alcohol)Local transportation Insurance (required)All meals and some beverages Personal expenses-laundry, phone/fax, All described transfers, excursions and sightseeing camera fees at monuments,Entrance fees airport departure taxes & visasEnglish-speaking guide Gorilla tracking & viewing permit ($750)Professional trackers for gorillasGratuities$500 donation to IFAA!To SIGN UP for PASSPORT TO FOLK ART: RWANDA, please complete the enclosed Reservation Form and send with your $1,000 deposit to: !

BJ Adventures, Inc. /Jean Zunkel 157 Old Lamy Trail

Lamy, New Mexico 87540 !!PAYMENT SCHEDULE is as follows: CANCELLATION POLICY::$1,000 per person due at Booking (non-refundable) Deposit is non-refundable$3,245 due December 1, 2016 120 days before departure – 50% forfeited$3,245 due February 1, 2017 Fewer than 120 days before departure– $750 Gorilla Tracking Permit due February 1, 2017 100% forfeited !Note: BJ Adventures will be happy to give you a quote for your international airline ticket. If BJ Adventures books your international ticket, payment will be due at booking. If you book your ticket yourself, please let us review it before you finalize the booking. !Upon receipt of your Reservation Form and deposit, a trip information packet will be sent to you which will provide information on clothing suggestions, what to bring, health requirements, etc. We insist you take out comprehensive insurance to protect you for trip cancellation, medical expenses, baggage and money loss, as well as emergency evacuation expenses. We will provide information and quotes on options for type of insurance coverage. !!!!

JEAN ZUNKEL & AHDINA ZUNKEL BJ ADVENTURES, INC. 157 OLD LAMY TRAIL LAMY, NM 87540 T: 505.466.2289; M: 505.310.5110 E: jean.zunkel@bjadventures.com ahdina.zunkel@bjadventures.com www.bjadventures.com

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