Tanzania and Rwanda

We have just received another email and some photos from Gilly and Geoff, after Kenya they have spent time in Tanzania - which is where they saw the playful and family side of a Hyena couple with their baby twins on the plains below.

Last week they were in Rwanda at the Volcano National Park to spend 2 separate days trekking out to see two different groups of Mountain Gorillas. There are only 8 families of Gorillas which tourists are allowed to visit - 8 tourists only per group with a guide, number of visitors per day is extremely limited - once you have trekked and found the Gorilla family, you can spend one hour only with them. It does sound like it is very well controlled - there are only about 780 Mountain Gorillas left in the world now.

These are photos from Gilly and Geoff, and on their two days, they saw two different families, with the head Silverback Gorilla above, and middle age and very young ones, like this little guy below.

I have read that these Mountain gorillas were not known to Science till 1902, and that we humans and gorillas are 98% genetically identical.

Gilly and Geoff were amazed how the Rwandans appeared to have recovered, and the city of Kigali and the surrounding areas are so very clean and full of agriculture - no plastic bags - instead woven bags from banana leaves, no coke cans garbage or debris on the roads, and apparently local produce is the only way to go. They visited the Genocide Memorial Centre - G and G's words - "a very powerful place". They are now at Victoria Falls, and back in Canberra on Geoffrey's birthday next Wednesday. We shall get to look at "all", and I mean thousands of shots when we catch up with them in Canberra on our way to the Snowy Mountains in November - what an experience they have had though.