AN OVERVIEW OF GORILLA NEST ACCOMMODATION
Located a few metres from the main entrance of the Parc National des Volcans, with extraordinary views, especially in the early morning and late afternoon. To one side are Virunga mountains, where Dian Fossey lived a good part of her life (and where she is buried)
The Mgahinga Forest National Park covers the slopes of the three northern Virunga volcanoes and gives the park its name. The volcanic soils are full of lava rocks and the area is inhabited by more than half the world's population of Mountain Gorillas. About the same size as Bwindi, 340 square Km, Mgahinga is a high-altitude savanna woodland, with rich forests of bamboo on the slopes and dwarf heath vegetation found near the summits. The Mountain Gorillas spend most of their time in the hagenia woodlands and bamboo forests. During the rainy season when new bamboo shoots are growing, the gorillas forage at base altitude. The climb to the natural habitat of bamboo forest and Hagenia woodlands offers fantastic views.
DIAN FOSSEY
Dian Fossey is known throughout the world for her pioneering research on Gorillas and their behavior. Born in California in 1937, she saw her first wild gorillas on a trip to Africa in 1963. Later, Louis Leakey encouraged Fossey to conduct a long-term study of the animals in their natural environment.After a brief stay in the Congo, Fossey moved to Rwanda and established a research camp, Karisoke, in 1967. There, she spent years tracking Gorillas up and down the steep slopes of the Virunga Volcanoes.
It wasn't until two of her beloved gorillas, Digit and Uncle Bert, were killed in 1978 that she changed from pure scientist to active conversationist, launching an often controversial campaign against poachers. Articles in "National Geographic" magazine, television appearances, and the 1983 publication of her book "Gorillas in the Mist" (which was later made into a popular movie), focused world attention on the he Gorilla's plight, but gave her little protection from the hatred of the poachers.
Fossey was found murdered at Karisoke in 1985 and was buried in the camp's cemetery next to Digit and Uncle Bert. Her epitaph reads, "No one loved gorillas more
