How the trip came about

My love affair with Africa started in the summer of 2003. Cathy, Alex, Drew and I spent a month traveling in Tanzania, Zambia and South Africa. We spent about an hour in Zimbabwe and have the passport stamps to prove it, but it doesn't really count. The first three weeks we travelled with good friends and were guided by Jim Heck of Explorers World Travel. Except for a trip to see Victoria Falls, the first three weeks were spent game viewing in "the bush". I found the game viewing fascinating and exciting. I was never bored. When there wasn't action on the ground, there were almost always birds to watch. There are more than an thousand species of birds in East Africa.

In the years since, I have returned to Africa three times, always to Rwanda. The first trip Cathy joined me but the second two were solo trips. All three trips were related to a medical project I was working on and not intended as tourism. However, Africans take their time off very seriously, and I was never able to convince anyone to work on weekends. So, on each trip I went gorilla trekking on Saturdays. The famed Mountain Gorillas of this region number only about 700 and can only be found in the bamboo jungles of the Virunga mountains, a beautiful range of volcanic mountains that share the borders of Rwanda, Uganda and the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo). Most of the gorillas seen in Western zoos are Lowland gorillas, a far more common, smaller, less beautiful species. The Mountain gorillas were made famous by the movie "Gorillas in the Mist", which dramatized the work of Dian Fossey. There are 8 "habituated" gorilla families in Parc du Volcans in Northern Rwanda (and Congo). A very limited (and lucky) number of permit-carrying tourists are guided by experienced rangers to these families each day: once found, you are allowed to observe the gorillas for one hour only. You are supposed to stay 10 feet away from these amazing ancestors at all times. What is truly stunning is that you can easily get that close! With the exception of the birth of my children, my three gorilla treks are the most exciting and awesome events of my life. Since the first trip with Cathy, I have dreamed about taking the boys.

In May, I got an email from Jim Heck offering me two spots on an August Primate Safari to Uganda and Rwanda to trek for chimpanzees and Mountain gorillas. My initial response was no-way: I have been away from work so much in the past year I could not imagine asking for yet more time off in the peak summer vacation time period. My interest was tweaked enough, however, that I checked the vacation schedule, and lo and behold, none of my partners had asked for time off during those two weeks: karma. I played the cancer card against myself and then summoned the courage to email them all with my request. Being the amazingly generous group that they are, they all immediately told me to attack my "bucket list" with gusto. I knew that Cathy was unlikely to be able to get the time off, that Drew was committed to his summer music festival in California but the itinerary would allow Alex to arrive home in time for the start of law school orientation.

So off we go. The only thing left to do is to figure out how to get Drew to Rwanda in the future. I am sure I will think of something.

Best,

Bill