Off to Kenya, but we will miss the Rwandan people we met along the way. Can you find Diane in the band?
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Start a tally—we’ve seen our first monkeys. It was a muddy hike, but we finally reached the Golden Monkey Kabatwa troop. Their monkey family is named after the hill they were found on and has a little over 100 Monkeys. There are more Golden Monkeys than Mountain Gorillas, but they are both endangered. We hiked through potato and bean fields until we reached the bamboo forest. The monkeys love to feast on bamboo shoots. They are pretty quiet, but if you stand quietly in the bamboo swamp you can see them snacking or swinging through the trees. They like playing. They are much smaller than gorillas, but they seemed pretty big. They can weigh up to 15 kg (33 lbs)! I loved how colourful they were. I can’t decide which I like best, Mountain Gorillas or Golden Monkeys. Which is your favourite? Loving Rwanda. You are always in my Prayers. Love Mom. Volcanoes National Park is home to about 600 endangered Mountain Gorillas. Gorillas divide themselves into families. There are about 13 families of gorillas that you can visit in the park. Trackers headed out early to find our assigned family—the Kwitonda. We geared up in our bright blue gators, grabbed our walking sticks, and headed up the steep trail. When we came close we could hear the grunts of the Silverback Akarevuro. We knew there would be many gorillas nearby. Around the corner, we found six gorillas napping and grooming each other. We weren’t allowed to get too close to the gorillas, but the gorillas didn’t know the rules so they came very close to us. If Ray stretched out his arm he would have been able to touch them. That was just the beginning. We managed to see about 12 of the 28 Kwitonga gorillas. My favourite was the baby who pestering his older brother. His brother would swat back and the baby would somersault and then try bugging his brother again. Sometimes they even looked like they were laughing together. So, now we can check mountain gorillas off our list. Enjoy the video. Which part is your favourite? You are always in my Prayers. Love Mom. Today we went to Gorilla School at the Ellen Campus of Dian Fossey Research Center. Ray is practicing his silverback gorilla chest beating. Don't worry, he is not going to challenge any gorillas when we see them tomorrow.
Every gorilla in Volcanoes National Park has a unique name. They have a Kwita Izina once a year for the baby gorillas. Kwita Izina means "to give a name" in Kinyarwanda (a Rwandese local language). Gorillas also have unique nose prints. This is another way that research scientists can identify them. Can you identify the silverbacks from their nose prints? You are Always in my Prayers. Love Mom. Note: Credit to the Dian Fossey Learning Foundation for the nose prints We have arrived safely in Rwanda. NPWKB, you wanted to know about our plane? We flew with Ethiopian Air on an Airbus 350. The Airbus holds a maximum of about 300. All the mountain gorillas in Rwanda could be seated on two planes! Ray thinks some of them would have a hard time doing up their seatbelts.
The picture I took out the window is of a Boeing 787. It might be just a tiny bit smaller than our plane, but it has the same three colours on the tail--red, yellow, and green. These are the colours of the Ethiopian flag. The flag of Rwanda also has three colours--light blue, yellow, and green. The light blue band represents happiness and peace, and the green band symbolizes hope. If your class had to design your own flag what would you put on it? You are Always in my Prayers. Love Mom. Note: We visited Ethiopia in 2015. If you want to see us hanging out with the Gelda Baboons check out our video https://youtu.be/PJWdRv3qiEE?si=nGj9uROc4Pa7wIWJ |
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