I’m 
... on 
Monika Schnarre, who considers herself a supermodel/actor/journalist, is about to visit Rwanda. And she’ll blog about it. She’s so edgy. Watch out gorillas!
Most people try to lose weight before a big trip; I decided to take the opposite approach.
I have gained five pounds as a ‘‘cushion,’’ in case I get malaria, yellow fever, or tuberculosis (although people who know me might blame one too many summer BBQs and Mojitos for the extra weight).
Anyway, I feel the less attractive I am the better. God forbid a silverback takes a liking to me, as did that emu in Australia who chased me around a wildlife sanctuary after deciding he wanted to mate with me.
Tomorrow I embark on my journey to Rwanda. I’ve resisted telling many people because their reaction usually ranges from perplexed to aghast. Some 14 years after the genocide of a million Tutsis and the widely publicized poaching of the silverbacks, they may have some cause for concern.
But I’ve been fascinated with primates since I was a kid, and I still have the book that I used to tote around as a child, The Love of Monkeys and Apes by Dan Freeman (1977). With the numbers of gorillas in the wild dwindling (there are only an estimated 700 left) I figured it was time to go before I would lose the chance.
My friend Michael Bancroft will be joining me from Brisbane. Michael’s been teaching about seven spin classes a day to pay for the trip —and, he says, to protect me from any hungry lions. Or maybe an amorous gorilla.
Amani says:
This is right up there with MTV’s “My Super Sweet Sixteen: Exiled.”
[Reply]
— November 8, 2008 @ 8:57 pm
Kira says:
Jeez, how come she didn’t invite Paris Hilton to come with her…
[Reply]
— November 10, 2008 @ 10:20 pm
Roberts says:
Great to have visit our great country. ahome of mountain gorillas.You can visit the gorilla safaris Guide for more information on gorilla trekking
[Reply]
— November 11, 2008 @ 9:16 pm
Abbey says:
barbie girls.
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— December 13, 2008 @ 7:46 pm
Eliza says:
Talking about African stereotypes: a blog post on the Guardian’s website about a UN symposium to educate, inform and engage with Men and boys has raised all sorts of comments about the African male being more promiscuous.
In essence the valid point is African men need to face up to their responsibility in the spread of HIV if they continue to have multiple partners as customs allow…but can we paint them all with the same brush?
Please visit the blog, we’d love to hear your comments
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/katineblog/2009/apr/23/macho-sex-hiv-aids
[Reply]
— April 23, 2009 @ 3:56 pm
Anonymous says:
Is that all you see or think when you talk about Africa? Someone once said "The only ignorance there is about Africa, is the Western world's ignorance". I lived with a young lady who had tooth paste and toilet paper sent to her all the way from the US??what??we had more than seven supermarkets round the corner. You think Africa, you think jungle, poverty, TB…the list goes on! A young man arriving in Joburg asked where all the animals were??talk about ignorance. You all seriously need to be educated!
[Reply]
— July 2, 2009 @ 8:52 am
Scarlett Lion says:
@Anonymous – your comment makes me upset. I spend all of my time working against the kind of stereotypes you seem to imply I'm pushing. I posted this because it was ridiculous, totally insane, and my tone is sarcastic. Click around this blog before you jump to conclusions, and you'll quickly realize that I may not be so "ignorant." I completely agree that there needs to be more education about what's going on in Africa, but in accusing "you all" (ie, me!) of the same crap a supermodel is pulling, you are stereotyping all Western journalists in exactly the same way you decry others do to Africans. Context, as always, is everything.
[Reply]
— July 2, 2009 @ 10:50 am