The document describes a visit to see a male silverback gorilla named Agashya in Rwanda's Parc National des Volcans. It took a group of tourists several hours of hiking through thick vegetation to locate Agashya, who was eating a mid-morning snack of plants when they found him. The document provides background on the critically endangered mountain gorilla population and Rwanda's history of genocide, and notes how gorilla tourism now plays a key economic role in the country and funds conservation efforts. Observing Agashya and his family called for reflection on the resilience of both gorillas and Rwandans.

1. 32 INSPIRED thinking

2. Agashya looked a lot like King Kong.
He weighed about 450 pounds, had an arm-span of more than seven feet and a telltale grey stripe
running down his ample, bushy backside. Although 97 per cent of his DNA is identical to ours,
he appeared to be unfettered by social norms. Upon our arrival in his verdant hideout, he ignored us
and carried on munching his way through bamboo shoots, giant thistles, lobelia and wild celery leaves.
Clearly we were interrupting his mid-morning snack.
A male silverback gorilla, Agashya belongs to one of seven gorilla families in Rwanda’s Parc National
des Volcans. It had taken us all morning to find him. We had set out amid the peppery smells of
decaying leaves and eucalyptus, my husband and I, two American businessmen, a Ugandan student,
a retired British couple and, to our amazement, a plucky 70-year-old grandmother from Edmonton.
Accompanied by two machine gun-toting trackers and a guide, we had climbed, pushed and pulled
our way through stinging nettles and thickets of tangled branches, reeds and vines. Some three hours
later and 9,000 feet up, we were more than ready for an exclusive meeting with the world’s most
endangered primate.
BY LIANE BEAM WANSBROUGH
PHOTOGRAPHY BY MICHAEL WANSBROUGH
INSPIRED thinking 33

3. 34 INSPIRED thinking
There are only 720 mountain gorillas left in the world and they are divided into two distinct
populations in Central Africa. The first is in Uganda and the second is found in the Virunga Volcano
Region, which lies across the borders of Rwanda, Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo. The
park area in Rwanda, an evergreen and bamboo forest with open grassland, swamp and heath, rose
to fame as the adopted home of the late primatologist Dian Fossey and the site of the movie Gorillas
in the Mist. That was in the 1980s when Rwanda was set to become Africa’s premier gorilla-tracking
destination.
All that changed in 1994 when 800,000 of the country’s ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus were
slaughtered on the orders of Hutu extremists. Since then, Rwanda has been known mainly as a land of
genocide.
A growing tourist industry today speaks volumes about Rwanda’s recovery. Visits by high profile
personalities such as Bill and Melinda Gates, David Rockefeller, Sigourney Weaver and Ashley Judd have
helped put the country back on the tourist map. By 2010 the country expects to have 70,000 visitors.
When you consider that there were virtually no tourists at all in the years immediately following the
genocide, the transformation has been remarkable. A stable government with a focus on reconciliation
and national unity is in place, security within the country’s borders has been restored and Rwanda is
now considered one of the safest countries in Africa.
By far the biggest draw to this part of Africa is the primate experience. The plight of the gorillas
was first brought to the world’s attention by Fossey and her efforts undoubtedly saved them from
extinction. At the time of her murder in 1985, poaching was considered a major risk. Today, a different
threat is clear. Neatly hoed fields of potatoes, cassavas and beans run right up to the boundaries of the

4. INSPIRED thinking 35
Getting There
Fly to Nairobi and then connect to Kigali on
Kenya Airways or Air Rwanda. Canadians
don’t need visas but proof of yellow fever
vaccination is required. Typhoid and hepatitis
A shots are recommended along with anti-
malarial drugs.
Lodging
In Kigali choices include the Serena
(www.serenahotels.com), Hotel des Mille
Collines (www.millecollines.net) and Novotel
Kigali (www.novotel.com). Doubles from
$300. The Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge
(www.governorscamp.com) just outside the
national park has rates around $600 per night
with full board.
Tour Operators
The simplest way to do the trip is to hire a
travel company to book permits and arrange
lodging and transportation. Volcanoes Safaris
(www.volcanoessafaris.com) and World
Primate Safaris (www.worldprimatesafaris.com)
are both reputable.
Gorilla Permits
A permit runs $500 and most tour companies
will book them for you. Plan to reserve at least
a year in advance.
Gorilla Conservation
Learn more about conservation efforts by
visiting Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International
(www.gorillafund.org), International Gorilla
Conservation Program (www.igcp.org) and
World Wildlife Fund (www.worldwildlife.org).
rainforest. The gorilla’s home is essentially taking up valuable land in a country that needs every bit of
soil for agriculture to feed its burgeoning population.
The fate of the gorillas now rests on the substantial fees paid by tourists to visit them. The proceeds
pay the salaries of rangers, trackers and soldiers to care for the animals. Local communities also share
the benefits thanks to a profit sharing policy in which the Rwanda Office of Tourism and National
Parks allocates 5 per cent of its total revenue from gorilla tourism to projects such as building schools,
hospitals and water taps. Thus, the gorillas have a key economic role in the life of the nation.
With gorillas in the national park and perfectly frothed cappuccinos in the new cafes, all is well and
good, but there is still no denying the big elephant in the room. Acknowledging this and believing that
the country has a responsibility to show the world what happened, tourism officials encourage visits
to the genocide memorials and numerous massacre sites. Grim as they are, they show the reality of
Rwanda’s brutal history and how its people have had to pick up and move on.
Most visitors use Kigali, the capital, as a base for travel. The city is safe, small and attractive with
orderly tree-lined boulevards that stretch out into lush, green hills. The trip north from here to the
national park is two and a half hours by car. After that it’s not so easy—you must hike straight up
for an indeterminate number of hours while a guide tracks the gorillas. But eventually, you will find
yourself looking into a strangely familiar face.
Over the course of an hour we observe Agashya and then venture further into the jungle where
the rest of the family is napping, grooming and tumbling around. You can’t help but be astonished by
the existence of such peaceful creatures in an area that has been marked by so much violence. It’s an
experience that calls for reflection on resilience, both of the gorillas and the people of Rwanda, and
how their lives are inextricably entwined.
“You can’t help but be astonished by the existence of such
peaceful creatures in an area that has been marked by so
much violence.”