Call of the Wild Offers New Uganda Rwenzoris Trek to Celebrate International Women's Day

Bend, OR, May 21, 2015 (Newswire.com) - ​Call of the Wild Adventures, Inc. is pleased to announce an exciting new trip offering for the adventurous female traveler.  In 2016, we are running the Rwenzoris trek in the high mountains of Uganda in East Africa.  This is a challenging trek nine-day hut-to-hut trek with two rest days to take in the views.  Our high point on the trek is Elena Camp at 4,563m/15,060ft.  

The Rwenzori National Park lies along the western border of Uganda and rise to a height of 5,109m/16,849ft (Mt Stanley). The Rwenzoris are the source of the Nile River and a World Heritage Site. These legendary mist-covered "Mountains of the Moon," 120km by 48km, were formed from a block thrust up creating the western portion of the Great East African Rift Valley. 

"This is an amazing opportunity to impact both the wonderful Bakonjo women of the region, as well as provide an unusually enriching experience for our female trekking clients."

Emilie Cortes, President

The Rwenzoris are also the location of Climb High Foundation's primary project training local Bakonjo women to be porters and guides.  Famous mountaineer, speaker, and author, Alison Levine founded Climb High Foundation whose mission "is dedicated to teaching women in developing nations the skills that will enable them to benefit from climbing and trekking-related tourism. We focus our work in geographic areas where women have subordinate social status and as a result have little or no access to education, healthcare or jobs."

According to Climb High Foundation, "women in this area have a particularly rough existence as they are considered property of men and basically have no rights no access to education or healthcare or jobs. Diseases like HIV/AIDS, malaria, cholera, hepatitis, and tuberculosis are not treated and are deadly. The average life expectancy is 42."  Visit www.climbhighfoundation.org for more information.

Emilie Cortes, owner of Call of the Wild, is enthusiastic about this trip as it aligns well with the values of the company.  She shares, "This is an amazing opportunity to impact both the wonderful Bakonjo women of the region, as well as provide an unusually enriching experience for our female trekking clients.  All in one trip, we will be:

1. Hiring as many local female porters and guides as possible.  Our female clients will have a chance to interact with these women as we share our journey together.
2. Overlapping with International Women's Day on March 8, 2016.  In 2015, we had a grand celebration on the trail complete with a dance party and we are looking forward to a repeat performance.  There is no better way to celebrate than with a group of women supporting the work of another group of women.
3. Running a gear drive to bring high quality trekking and camping gear to all of the local porters and guides that we hire, male and female alike."

The Rwenzoris trek is rated challenging due to the terrain, altitude, and duration.  Women with previous trekking experience and passion about women's empowerment are encouraged to join the trip.  Emilie Cortes adds, "I kept hearing that the beauty of the Rwenzoris was unparalleled.  As someone who has traveled the world over, I was skeptical but in the end, I was blown away by this region.  I can't wait to share this experience with other adventurous women and I will be personally guiding this trip again!"

The trip will run from February 28 to March 11, 2016.  The cost is $4295 for all guiding, lodging, in-country transportation, and most meals.  To learn more or register online, visit http://tinyurl.com/rwenzoris2016.  To stay tuned for details on the gear drive or learn about other Call of the Wild trips, please join our mailing list at www.callwild.com.