As newly appointed Goodwill Ambassadors, Ben Stein and I went on our first official trip with the African Wildlife Foundation. Because 2009 was declared ‘The Year of the Gorilla’ by the U.N., we thought it was appropriate to begin our mission in Rwanda.It was an incredible experience! First day in Kigali (the capital of Rwanda) we visited The Genocide Memorial Center. The people of Rwanda are proud of where they stand today. But the reality of genocide is still very much part of their everyday life. The horrific stories and memories of those we met in The Genocide Memorial Center just left us speechless.
However, the focus is on the future of Rwanda, not the past. This is a country with a stable political environment and enormous dedication and patriotism. The discrimination or division of ethnicity between Hutus and Tutsis has no place in their lives today. They all said to me: ‘Today we are simply Rwandans.’ A nd I had so much respect for that simplicity!We also experienced a taste of Kigali’s nightlife and we had so much fun! We had a fantastic dinner at the restaurant ‘The Republika’ and later we went dancing at ‘The B-club.’ I thought I knew how to dance, but soon I was taught by one of our new friends ‘Manzi’ how to do the ‘African move’ properly. I realize today, it will take many more dancing lessons, before I can go back to The B-club.
The next morning we went to track the mountain gorillas. It was 5:30am and we were up and going. I thought there was a very slim chance for us to find them as there is only 750 of them today, spread between Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, and Rwanda. But the rangers of the National Park have a great system in place and do this every day. So after two hours we got lucky! For the first time in my life I saw a mountain gorilla! And it was magical!
Yes, I was scared at one point because you get so close to them! But after awhile you realize they are peaceful creatures. The babies were very playful. The Silverback, largest male gorilla in the group, is very calm, yet always observing. He sits like the king. They eat so much! All the time! You can feel they physical power as they break the bamboo shoots. But their facial expressions are tender and on occasion flirtatious.
We had three days with three different mountain gorilla groups. They all behaved differently. I felt like Dianne Fossey at times.We have learned so much! One of the peop
