Jonathan Kleiman – Health and Nutrition Instructor
There are moments when you look through the viewfinder of your video camera and know you are capturing magic. I had many of these moments last week.
Thanks to the generous efforts of Ged Caddick with Terra Incognita EcoTours, twenty Akilah student had the opportunity last week to go gorilla trekking. I had the opportunity to accompany and film these students.
The first magical moment came during dinner our first night together. Earlier that day, the students and I boarded a bus in Kigali and headed out to Musanze in the Northern Provence of Rwanda. We spent the night in a hotel in Musanze so we could begin our big trek the next day bright and early. For most of the students, this was their first time in a hotel. They were so giddy the whole time – seeing the pool, getting their room keys, parading around in the complementary sandals – that I didn’t put my video camera away at all that first day.
And so I had my camera out when we sat down for dinner in the big hotel dining room. And I was able to watch through the viewfinder as one student asked the 9 others what the strange, folded piece of fabric on her plate was. I watched as the students imagined all possible uses for their napkins, until one finally tucked it into her collar and the rest followed suit.
And then there was the moment at the start of our trek the next morning. We were walking in a single file line through the forest as our guide tried to find us a pack of gorillas. I was trailing behind with two other students, out of site from the rest of the group, when I started hearing these low, grumbling sounds. I turned my camera on to film the gorillas but didn’t see any. I asked the two students where they were, but they couldn’t find the gorillas either. And then the grumblings got louder and more aggressive sounding. Maybe we were a little scared. We kept walked though and finally caught up to the rest of the group, who were clumped together making gorilla sounds to summon the gorillas.
Getting ready for the hike
Thank you to Terra Incognita Tours for making this trip possible!
I think this is amazing. And to see these girls understanding and being in the situation of hospitality at work is great. What we take for granted about what they know about the work they might do is instructive….a napkin. Plates in a pile. Beds in a room without other things. And I love that they noticed that the gorilla did not say “Welcome to our forest.” Perhaps they will have feedback about what the Gorilla treks could do to improve customer service. AND I dont know how many Rwandans have the opportunity to trek to see the gorillas, but I dont think very many and yet it is the gorilla’s that draw so many tourists to their country.
A very exciting trip. Nicely recorded.