Sorry for the long silence. I have been away from Samburu for 2 weeks, and today, I am breaking away from lion news to write about an amazing experience I recently had.
I have recently returned from Rwanda, “the land of a thousand hills”, to fulfill a dream of mine – to see the mountain gorillas. Mountain gorillas are endangered and approximately 700 remain in the wild. Rwanda is a tiny hilly country (slightly larger than Samburu District!) with 9 million people crammed into it. Every space available is cultivated, except what falls in National Parks, including the Volcanoes National Park, home to some of the last mountain gorillas in the spectacular Virunga mountains.
After spending a night in Kigali, I left for the Virunga volcanoes which straddle 3 national borders -Congo, Uganda and Rwanda. After spending the night at a small guest house at the foot of Mt Sabinyo, I trekked Mt Bisoke (see photo below) the following day to visit the Amahoro gorilla group. It took us more than 3 hours to find them and it was a pretty hard trek towards the end. Mud, stinging nettles, buffalo dung and steep slopes covered the mountain sides. We found them eventually and got to see a silverback, a few babies, including a 3 month old baby, some females and juveniles. The gorillas moved off and we followed them. At one point I was balancing on one foot, a steep crevice on one side and a gorilla on the other (3 metres away from me)! It was fantastic. A black back gorilla then decided he wanted to pass us and walked right next to me and disappeared into the bush. Seeing the mountain gorillas was an amazing experience.
I truly believe we would have fewer gorillas today if it had not been for the efforts of Dian Fossey in the 70s. I have had a great interest in Dian Fossey since I was a child after I watched films and read books about her and the work she did to protect mountain gorillas. It was her passion and dedication that inspired me to become a wildlife biologist. So this trip to Rwanda was not only about seeing the gorillas but also to see where Dian Fossey worked.
After the gorilla trek, the following day, I joined a group of trekkers to visit Dian Fossey’s gravesite and old research camp. The trek was stunning and exactly how I pictured it to be (see photo below). It was amazing to be walking in Dian Fossey’s footsteps. Huge hagenia trees covered the area as we followed fresh buffalo tracks and gorilla spoor as well. After a lot of mud sloshing, I got really excited as we approached her camp (Karisoke research centre). We saw the sites of her old cabins, the trackers home which was destroyed by rebels in 2000, and also the bamboo forest she planted to attract buffaloes near her cabin. We were very fortunate to have a guide with us who had been with Dian 25 years ago. He used to be her tracker at the age of 15. We then moved to her grave site, where she was buried with the gorillas that she tried so hard to protect. Seeing her grave, and the grave signs of Digit, Beetsme, Pablo, Kweli was an emotional moment for me as I have grown up learning about these names and their lives. It was a very special visit and one I will never forget. The work of the trackers, guides, rangers, anti-poaching patrol teams and researchers is amazing and inspires me to be a better conservationist.
I returned to Kigali that night and the following morning took a motor taxi to the Rwanda Genocide memorial. This was incredibly hard to see and learn what happened in this tiny country in 1994. It truly is remarkable to see how far Rwanda has come along in only 14 years.
A great trip, one that I definitely hope to repeat some day. I am really looking forward to sharing my Rwandan adventure with the guys in Samburu.
I return to Samburu tomorrow where I am setting up a new temporary research camp in West Gate Conservancy. I have spent the past week in Nairobi buying tents, solar panels, food and much more for the camp. Exciting times ahead!