By Bob Strohm
bstrohm@wbcowqel.com
Visitors to the Crawford Park District’s Lowe-Volk Park Nature Center were taken on a trip to Africa Monday night.
James and Janet Pry shared photographs, videos, and experiences from their trip to Tanzania and Rwanda from earlier this year. Taking 15 days in May for the trip, the Prys travelled to Africa via New York to Amsterdam to Mt. Kilimanjaro Airport where their trek into the Dark Continent began.
Beginning their African journey at Tangier National Park the Pry’s then visited the Serengeti, followed by the Ngovongoro Conservation Area Crater which is 15 miles long, 26 miles wide and teaming with many of the grassland animals native to Africa.
“Traveling the crater would be like going from Bucyrus to Mansfield,” James Pry said.
“We saw all the animals you could expect to see in the area,” Janet Pry added. “However, we didn’t see any cheetahs during the trip.”
Following the stops in Tanzania, the Prys next ventured to the country of Rwanda where they experienced their favorite part of the trip seeing the silverback gorilla.
“Seeing the gorillas was probably one of the most enlightening and exciting things to see in Africa especially Rwanda” James said. “They are magnificent creatures; they are really worth seeing.”
“The gorillas are a once in a lifetime experience,” Janet said. “There are really no words to describe it.”
During their presentation on seeing the silver back gorillas the Prys noted that there were 16 families of silverback gorilla in Rwanda with 10 of the families that tourists are allowed to see in 10 groups of eight with a one-hour time limit of viewing.
The Prys also discussed the genocide of the Tutsi that occurred during the 1990s at the hands of the Hutu. While discussing the genocide the Prys showed videos of the memorial and museum dedicated to those lost during the turbulent time in Rwanda’s history.
“It was a very moving museum,” Janet said. “It was very well done.”
The Prys noted that the Hutus and Tutsis do not discuss whether they are Hutu or Tutsi rather they say, “We are one people.”
While it was James who wanted to go on the trip it was Janet who planned out the logistics.
“I had a really good person I was working with. Basically we knew what we wanted to see” Janet explained. “I didn’t want to be traveling every night. I wanted us to spend at least a two nights or three nights at each place so we that we could really take it in relax and enjoy it, and that worked out to be really good.”
“A trip is one-third planning, one-third being there and one-third sharing the experience,” James said. “Thank you for allowing us to share our experience.”
The Prys will next visit Patagonia on the southern tip of Chile and Argentina in South America.
“We are going down to see the Andes Mountains, some of the scenery, and wildlife that is down there as well as the southernmost city.” Pry said.