Perry Beeman's Blogs

  • Joy in Rwanda, Part I

    The Gishwati Area Conservation Program staged a competition among students in area schools. The task was to come up with a song and dance routine, or poetry, or rap, or drama to explain the concepts behind the program’s efforts to conserve and expand the Gishwati Forest. Great Ape Trust of Iowa and its sister organization, Earthpark, co-founded the program with the Rwandan federal and local governments.

    Winners got computers donated by Iowa State University, along with cash,

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  • Mountain gorillas

    Tourism has overtaken coffee and tea sales as Rwanda’s No. 1 business, said Fidele Ruzigandekwe of the Rwanda Development Board. The top draw are the rare mountain gorillas of the Virunga Mountains. I was blessed to visit Group 13 the other day. The group of a couple of dozen gorillas includes a number of infants and a 200-pound male leader, Agasha. The dominant gorilla in the group, Agasha is a silverback, the name given to the older male gorillas who are in charge of each group.

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  • Rwandan footwear, clothing notes

    Spend a few days in Rwanda and one thing becomes clear quickly. Fewer people run around barefoot, though four players at a recent soccer game were. Croc-like sandals are everythere. Sky blue. Lime green. They come from China, apparently, and cost about $4 a pair. Not cheap by Rwandan standards, but obviously the masses are able to buy them, or perhaps get donations.

    Another clothing note: Mission groups bring all sorts of professional and college sports t-shirts over here. We’ve

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  • How the Gorilla King died

    Ruhengeri, Rwanda – Titus, a famous ape known widely as the “Gorilla King,” likely died of infection from wounds he received in a fight with another dominant gorilla, said the veterinarian who led the post-death examination.

    Jan Ramer’s revelation in an exclusive interview replaced early reports from tourism officials that Titus – featured in the Dian Fossey biopic “Gorillas in the Mist” – had died of old age on Sept. 14. His death cast a pall across the Virunga

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  • Sorting chimp poop

    Dr. Rebecca Chancellor spends many days in Rwanda sorting chimpanzee poop and cherishing every second.

    “As you can see, it’s quite a glamorous operation,” said a chuckling Chancellor, who is leading a study of chimpanzees in Gishwati Forest in northwestern Rwanda, in East Africa.

    It’s good science. These are wild chimps and are not habituated, meaning they don’t casually let people observe them at great length. That means it’s tough for Chancellor and other workers in

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  • Rwandan alarm clocks

    It’s been an interesting trip on the alarm clock/sleeping front. I’ve been up by 5 most days, and that’s if I’m not around the mosque at Gisenyi or the Adventist Church in Gishwati.

    The first night we spent in Gisenyi, I thought I had had too much banana beer (actually, I had none, and I hear it’s awful, but Primus beer is good and comes close to a liter for like $1.50 US.)

    I thought I was dreaming when loud Muslim music began playing at approximately 3 a.m. It turned out

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  • “Don’t poop in forest”
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  • The Rwandan countryside

    In my first few days in Rwanda, several things became abundantly clear. People walk everywhere here. They carry produce on their heads and on their bikes.

    In a three and a half hour wind through Rwanda’s famous hills earlier this week, I first saw the never-ending parade of people working. They are up at 4:30 — when music played near the Gishwati camp to wake everyone — and they are on the job by 5:30, savoring the 12 hours of daylight before darkness hits about 6 p.m. (On the

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  • Talk about home field advantage

    I took in parts of a couple soccer games yesterday. One game was between Rugaragara and Bitenga. The Bitenga squad had to walk two hours to get to the game. They arrived looking fresh, in matching yellow uniforms. I’m not sure which squad won, but you would think this was a true home field advantage.

    The game was one of the final games in a tournament set up among eco clubs from regional schools. The Gishwati Area Conservation Program, led in part by Des Moines-based Great Ape

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  • Muzungu madness

    Hi, I’m Perry, and I too am a muzungu. I had admitted this before my trip to Rwanda on a fellowship through the International Reporting Project, only because my readings had suggested that the label fit. But after five days in Rwanda, I can now fully accept the fact that children will shout “muzungu!” in my direction this whole, five-week trip. I’m in the east African country on a fellowship through the International Reporting Project to write about this country’s efforts

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