_Africa: June 2008 Archives

38 years ago, Dian Fossey wrote about her encounters with mountain gorillas in Rwanda, Uganda and the Congo, offering a first fascinating peek at how these elusive apes behave in the wild. National Geographic published her account in the January 1970 issue of the magazine, and just republished it this month, along with the original memorable photos, on the NatGeo website, to coincide with the July cover story "Who Murdered the Virunga Gorillas?" Fossey's patient, painstaking work with mountain gorillas convinced the world that these gentle, intelligent creatures were worth protecting, and years later a successful mountain gorilla tourism program was born in Virunga National Park, bringing income and education to local people who trained as wildlife rangers and trackers, and allowed carefully limited views of the gorillas in their native habitat. That success was shattered last year when seven mountain gorillas, known and loved by tourists and the rangers, were mysteriously and inexplicably murdered. 

Despite this setback, several nonprofits are still actively helping to protect the gorillas and the rangers, including the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International. I happened across a blog by McGill University student Sarah Conner from Montreal, who landed a plum internship in Rwanda this summer working for Fossey's foundation. She'll be reporting "on all the programs that Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International helps fund. So I am going to visit all the schools, clinics, and biodiversity programs and interview those involved."  She's got great photos, and you can follow along with her here. More about the Virunga gorillas, and an upcoming National Geographic Channel documentary about them, here.

UPDATE:  A new video about the gorilla murders is now available on the National Geographic site.

Photo: baby mountain gorilla by Tristan 27 via Intelligent Travel Flickr pool.

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Even though the Beijing Olympics are practically upon us, the International Olympic Committee is always focused on the future. The IOC just recently announced the shortlist for the XXXI Summer Olympiad, to take place in 2016. Four hopeful cities, Chicago, Tokyo, Madrid, and Rio de Janeiro are now vying for the ultimate sports blazon: being an Olympic host. So we took a moment to handicap the contestants.

Rio is the only candidate in a country which hasn't yet hosted the event, but it is no stranger to big sports competitions, having successfully staged the XV Pan American Games last year. A winning bid for Rio would also mark the first time for the event to be held in South America. Chicago and Tokyo have both won previous bids—Chicago's bid, however, was transferred to St. Louis to coincide with the World's Fair that year (1904)—and the Japanese capital served as host to the Games in 1964. A Madrid win would come 24 years after Barcelona bore that torch for Spain's first Olympics in 1992.

If sports tourism is your thing, you'll be happy to know your destination choices will be narrowed down in October of 2009, when the winning city is announced. In the meantime, you can enjoy more statistics and catch up on bid standings here and here. And if 2016 is too far ahead, and your team-spirit cravings need more immediate satisfaction, you can start planning right away for any of these upcoming global sports events after the jump: