Rwanda, 5th

by Philip Briggs, Janice Booth

Overview

Rwanda is the world’s premier gorilla-tracking destination and was made famous as the setting for the film Gorillas in the Mist. However there is much to see beyond magical encounters with gorillas; Lake Kivu, the mountain-ringed inland sea; the immense Nyungwe Forest National Park with its chimpanzees, monkeys, and rare birds; and the wild savanna of Akagera National Park. Written in an engaging and colorful style this edition is packed with anecdotes of people and places met across the country.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781841624181
Publisher:	Bradt Publications UK
Publication date:	03/19/2013
Series:	Bradt Travel Guide Series
Edition description:	Fifth Edition
Pages:	328
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Philip Briggs is a long-standing Bradt author who has written a series of pioneering guides to destinations that were practically uncharted by the travel publishing industry. These included the first dedicated guides to Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, Somaliland, Ghana and the previous edition of the guide Rwanda.

Read an Excerpt

Rwanda, 5th

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By Philip Briggs

Bradt Travel Guides

Copyright © 2013 Philip Briggs
All right reserved.
ISBN: 9781841624181

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Tracking mountain gorillas in the Virungas is a peerless wildlife experience, and one of Africa’s indisputable travel highlights. It is difficult to describe the simple exhilaration attached to first setting eyes on a wild mountain gorilla. These are enormous animals: the silverbacks weigh about three times as much as the average man, and their bulk is exaggerated by a shaggily luxuriant coat. And yet despite their fearsome size and appearance, gorillas are remarkably peaceable creatures, certainly by comparison with most primates – gorilla-tracking would be a considerably more dangerous pursuit if these gentle giants had the temperament of vervet monkeys, say, or baboons (or, for that matter, humans).

More impressive even than the gorillas’ size and bearing is their unfathomable attitude to their daily human visitors, which differs greatly from that of any other wild animal. Anthropomorphic as it might sound, almost everybody who visits the gorillas experiences an almost mystical sense of recognition: we regularly had one of the gorillas break off from chomping on bamboo to study us, its soft brown eyes staring deeply into ours, as if seeking out some sort of connection.

Equally fascinating is the extent to which the gorillas try to interact with their visitors, often approaching them, and occasionally touching one of the guides in apparent recognition and greeting as they walk past. A photographic tripod raised considerable curiosity in several of the youngsters and a couple of the adults – one large female walked up to the tripod, stared ponderously into the lens, then wandered back off evidently satisfied. It is almost as if the gorillas recognise their daily visitors as a troop of fellow apes, but one too passive to pose any threat – often a youngster will put on a chest-beating display as it walks past tourists, safe in the knowledge that they’ll accept its dominance, something it would never do to an adult gorilla.

Continues...

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Excerpted from Rwanda, 5th by Philip Briggs Copyright © 2013 by Philip Briggs. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Part One: General informationChapter 1: Background informationChapter 2: Practical informationChapter 3: Health Part Two: The GuideChapter 4: KigaliChapter 5: The road to ButareChapter 6: ButareChapter 7: Nyungwe Forest National Park Chapter 8: Lake KivuChapter 9: Ruhengeri (Musanze) and SurroundsChapter 10: Volcanoes National ParkChapter 11: Eastern RwandaChapter 12: Akagera National ParkAppendices.

Editorial Reviews

"Rwanda is excellent; it captures the mood of the place and gives a positive and accurate account of a fantastic country." - Art of Travel"Every now and again you come across a guidebook which goes far above and beyond the humdrum list of exchange rates, visa requirements and one-line descriptions of sights and amenities. This guide is just such a book. It gives the prospective visitor real and detailed insights into the country, its people, history, flora and fauna. Even if you end up never going to Rwanda, you will feel you know the place quite intimately by the time you get to the final page." - Wildside"At last, a well-written and dedicated guide to Rwanda." - Footprints"Rwanda is an excellent book that I have recommended to all the visitors who come to Rwanda and who want to know more than just the superficial accounts from the press. This guide presents a clear and balanced overview of events in Rwanda's recent past, considered by many Rwandans to be one of the fairest representations. The book also describes the charm and attraction that make this country so different." - Dr Annette Lanjouw, Director of the International Gorilla Conservation Programme

From the Publisher