Thinking about Dian Fossey

     In the part of the world I found myself--near where the nations of Rwanda, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo come together--it is impossible NOT to think about Dian Fossey.  Her memory is so very cherished by so many people, and the impact of her life's work is so very extensive, that she seems to be at the forefront of the collective consciousness, despite her being gone for 30-plus years.  AND for a tourist like me, she gives me the increasingly rare experience of being PROUD to be an American!
      Seeing all the memorabilia about her around Ruhengeri, however, set off a different wave of nostalgia in me though.  I was fortunate enough to be friends with people who knew Dr. Fossey very well.  My friends were photographers and producers of the television show Wild Kingdom,and I met them while working on a couple of the show's episodes and we became good friends.  Their home was in the Marina Towers in downtown Chicago, and visiting them there at their home was a highpoint of my adolescence.  Warren and Genny Garst were very very fine people and incredible animal lovers, and Warren was an Emmy-winning wildlife photographer.  

     One time when I was visiting the Garsts in Chicago, Genny showed me a letter she'd received from THEIR friend Dian Fossey informing the Garsts of the death of Digit, Dian's treasured companion gorilla.  I read the letter, I remember, and cried over the depth of her grief and her respect and love for Digit.  The Garsts retired to Fort Collins, Colorado, and I was lucky enough to visit them there several times.  Once when I was there, a nearby university had an exhibit devoted to Dr. Fossey's research, and I accompanied the Garsts to see it.  Her desk at her camp high in the mountains in Rwanda was re-created there, and I vividly remember a wonderful photograph of Warren Garst at his huge movie camera with a young gorilla looking RIGHT into the lens from the other side.  So, while I was staying at the Muhabura Hotel, I found myself wondering whether the Garsts had stayed at the same hotel so many years ago--ate in the same dining room, etc. etc.  I felt quite melancholic.

This is Room 12 at the Hotel Muhabura, the room that Dr. Fossey kept for her necessary visits down the mountain to the town.  It is kept just like she kept it, with loads of books and papers.
     The less noted (and less notable) wildlife enthusiast Ann Eshelman stayed in Room 15.




    


 Here is a photo of my SECOND visit to Dr. Fossey's desk, the first being in Colorado.  This time her office re-creation is at the Dian Fossey International Gorilla Research facility in Ruhengeri.  It is said to be exactly how she had her research "office" at her camp up in the Volcanoes.

     






 

Here Jackie and I are looking at replicas of     
the graves marking the burial of both Dian
Fossey and Digit, both murder victims.  We were not able to get up into Virunga National Park, where her research cabin was located.

The Center is devoted to providing education about all species of gorillas, but mainly mountain gorillas.  Here are three examples of the two species, gorilla and homo sapiens, so closely related that 99% of genetic material is possessed by both (or, in this case, all three).

I left the Center feeling that Dr. Fossey would have been so incredibly proud that here in Ruhengeri this center existed, funneling money to local communities to allow them to live poaching-free lives, educating the world about gorillas, and promoting tourism and attracting gorilla trekkers from all over.  I was thrilled to learn that about 150 reserachers work out of this facility.   That's some legacy.