Africa Safaris

The Mountain Gorillas of Virunga

There are certain corners of the world were geologic tension seems to translate directly into human stress. In this regard the Great Rift Valley is the defining feature of Africa. It begins in the restless Levantine and runs through the Horn of Africa before forming the Great Lakes and the Central African highlands. All three are landscapes burdened by poverty, population compression, environmental decay, war and instability.

The Central African Highlands

Of all of these, though, it is the lakes and mountains of Central Africa that are perhaps the most poignant. Here lies one of the most profoundly beautiful and most ecologically energetic of all the world’s biodiversity hotspots, and yet also one of the most blighted. The efforts of many an august organization and individual have been devoted to highlighting and protecting the wildlife of this region, and in particular such species as the lowland and mountain gorillas. Of course the gorillas are just one of hundreds, if not thousands of endangered species in Central Africa, and while some local governments make genuine efforts towards co-operation with international conservation efforts, most are wantonly indifferent. This too often leaves the fate of endangered antelope and primates in the hands of corrupt local officials, warlords and desperately poor tribesmen trading bushmeat or charcoal simply to survive.

The bushmeat trade has not historically affected the diminishing mountain gorilla population of the Virunga highlands, whose future tends to hang more in the balance of diminishing habitat than hunting or poaching. This was confirmed on July 22 2007 when 10 members of the Congolese Rudengo family of mountain gorillas were slaughtered for no apparent reason, and their bodies left untouched. National Geographic Magazine revealed in a 2008 investigation into this tragedy that the deaths had occurred largely as a consequence of the lucrative charcoal trade.

Date: October 6th, 2008 | No Comments

Hard Facts About African Travel

This sequence of photographs was sent to me by a friend in South Africa. Elephants are a familiar sight around some of the regions more remote bush camps and park rest camps. Like black bears they are attracted by the availability of food, in particular fruit and vegetables, but unlike black bears slinging your tucker in a tree is a waste of time…

Date: September 9th, 2008 | No Comments