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A birds-eye view of the Africa of our dreams |
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Do you have pictures
of Parc des Volcans?
May we post your pictures or link to it? |
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Diane Fossey Grave
Click on the pictures for larger images!
| Location - between
Mt. Karisimbi and Mt. Bisoke (therefore the name Karisoke) |
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Home Page About Diane Fossey
Dr Fossey obtained her
Ph.D. at Cambridge University in 1976 and in 1980 accepted a position
at Cornell University that enabled her to finish writing Gorillas in
the Mist. Its publication brought her world fame and helped to focus
much needed attention on the plight of the mountain gorillas, whose
numbers had by then dwindled to 250. She returned to Karisoke to
continue her tireless campaign to ensure the survival of the mountain
gorilla and to stop poaching. The Trek to her cabin and grave site It is a long trek - steep at places and when it rains expect a muddy and rather swampy hike! Overall, we rate the trek as challenging because of the conditions, the altitude and the distance. There are plenty of stinging nettles along the way (wear gloves and cover up) The total round-trip distance is 5.65 miles; you need at least 5 hours to complete the trek. Meet at 7am at the ORTPN office and place your name on the Fossey hike list. Then assemble at the meeting point for the hike where you will be grouped with others and assigned a guide. The drive to the parking area takes about 30 minutes of which the last 15 minutes is on a rather rough road! You will notice at least 3 armed guards (for protection against possible wild animals such as buffalo and elephant, and even armed poachers). And then the hike starts - through potato and cabbage fields at first before reaching the buffalo wall after about 30 minutes. The Fossey cabins at Karisoke do not exist anymore. There are some overgrown foundations but not much else. Disappointing in one way, yet interesting because one gets a sense how tough it must have been to live amongst the gorillas. It is damp, a bit humid, cold then warm - not many of us are cut out for a research lifestyle for more than a few weeks!
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| Karisimbi peak |
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| Parking for Amahoro and Umubano groups, Diane Fossey grave, one day Bisoke hike |
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| Looking down from the parking for Amahoro and Umubano groups, Diane Fossey grave, one day Bisoke hike |
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| The hike is very similar to a gorilla trek - you are with a guide and armed rangers |
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| Location of Fossey's first cabin. She was murdered in the new cabin. |
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| The marker at the place of her cabin where she was murdered. |
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| This is what's left of the famous Research Center after it burned down. Just a foundation or two covered with overgrowth. |
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| The simple markers of the gorilla graves next to Diane Fossey's final resting place |
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| Diane Fossey's grave |
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| The simple "museum" with some pictures and graphics of events at Karisoke. |
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