{"id":65475,"date":"2011-06-25T09:53:58","date_gmt":"2011-06-25T08:53:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.etendues-sauvages.com\/actualites\/2011\/06\/25\/rwanda-the-gorillas-of-the-virunga\/"},"modified":"2011-06-25T09:53:58","modified_gmt":"2011-06-25T08:53:58","slug":"rwanda-the-gorillas-of-the-virunga","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.etendues-sauvages.com\/en\/news\/2011\/06\/25\/rwanda-the-gorillas-of-the-virunga\/","title":{"rendered":"Rwanda, the gorillas of the Virunga"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Caroline is a tireless traveller, drawn to discovery and to encounters with people and animals alike.<br \/>\nIn Rwanda, meeting the gorillas is always an unforgettable moment \u2014 a journey during which the line between human and animal can be hard to draw&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Rwanda, a small country at the heart of the Volcanoes region, known through the research of Dian Fossey and her tragic end.<\/p>\n<p>We travelled the length and breadth of the country, starting from the capital Kigali and heading towards Lake Kivu, passing through Butare and Nyungwe National Park in the south.<br \/>\nWe missed the chimpanzees, who refused to show themselves, but we did come across colobus monkeys with their white epaulettes and white faces, after walking through the tea fields. A high point that left us eager for the gorilla encounter to come \u2014 our cousins.<\/p>\n<p>Then we followed the genocide commemorations in Kibuye, Nyanza and Kigali.<br \/>\nProcessions along the roads, churches where people gathered in mourning with songs that would break your heart, and a genocide memorial in Kigali that conveys the full horror of 16 April 1994. How did this country come to this? I still wonder, and I&#8217;ll never have the answer, but the testimonies are deeply moving&#8230;<br \/>\nMuch like our cousins the gorillas \u2014 peaceful, pacifist animals \u2014 killed for trophies!!!<\/p>\n<p>Then came our arrival in the Virunga volcanoes region, where we would discover the gorillas in their shrinking habitat.<br \/>\nThe climb is tiring, but the pleasure of standing before them is magnificent and moving.<br \/>\nTears come to your eyes, being able to watch them from a metre away, as if you could touch them with your gaze. A family of 10 members: the silverback, heavy with his 200 kg, sitting and savouring his favourite leaves; moving majestically or lying down to digest and sleep, watching you, head resting in his hands. Pensive before these humans&#8230;<br \/>\nAnd the 6-month-old infants tumbling about, somersaulting and clowning around, discovering their feet just like children!!!<br \/>\nAnd a female with her twins, kept apart from the clan for some peace and quiet&#8230;<br \/>\nPure happiness.<\/p>\n<p>Rwanda was a first for me. I came back transformed by this sight, and I won&#8217;t forget these gorillas, my cousins.<br \/>\nI understand better now why Fabrice Martinez fights for them through his association in France, &#8220;<a title=\"Association Gorilla de Fabrice Martinez\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gorilla.fr\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Gorilla<\/a>&#8220;, a figure as well known to rangers and guides as the proverbial white wolf! His book &#8220;Au secours des gorilles&#8221;, published by Presses du Midi, is also well worth reading.<\/p>\n<p>This land of a thousand hills holds fine gifts, both animal and human.<br \/>\nAll the children who pour out from everywhere, giving you their smiles&#8230; What joy for life!<br \/>\nNow it&#8217;s your turn to discover Rwanda!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Trip taken in April 2011, with \u00c9tendues Sauvages.<\/p>\n<p>Images, Caroline E.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Caroline is a tireless traveller, drawn to discovery and to encounters with people and animals alike. In Rwanda, meeting the gorillas is always an unforgettable moment \u2014 a journey during which the line between human and animal can be hard to draw&#8230; &#8220;Rwanda, a small country at the heart of the Volcanoes region, known through [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":64723,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[2813,2814,2699,2558,2618,2815,2816,2817,2818,2512,2559,2215,2775,2812,2776,2610,2561,2819],"class_list":["post-65475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-traveller-accounts","category-rwanda","tag-chimpanzes","tag-diane-fossey","tag-famille","tag-gorille","tag-gorilles","tag-grands-lacs","tag-kibuye","tag-kigali","tag-nyanza","tag-parc","tag-rwanda","tag-safari","tag-singes","tag-sur-mesure","tag-virunga","tag-volcans","tag-voyage","tag-voyage-su-mesure"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etendues-sauvages.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65475","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etendues-sauvages.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etendues-sauvages.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etendues-sauvages.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65475"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.etendues-sauvages.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65475\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etendues-sauvages.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etendues-sauvages.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etendues-sauvages.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}