A Forest in the Clouds: My Year Among the Mountain Gorillas in the Remote Enclave of Dian Fossey

by John Fowler

In A Forest in the Clouds, John Fowler takes us into the world of Karisoke Research Center, the remote mountain gorilla camp of Dr. Dian Fossey, a few years prior to her gruesome murder. Drawn to the adventure and promise of learning the science of studying mountain gorillas amid the beauty of Central Africa’s cloud forest, Fowler soon learns the cold harsh realities of life inside Fossey’s enclave ten thousand feet up in the Virunga Volcanoes.



Instead of the intrepid scientist he had admired in the pages of National Geographic, Fowler finds a chain-smoking, hard-drinking woman bullying her staff into submission. While pressures mount from powers beyond Karisoke in an effort to extricate Fossey from her domain of thirteen years, she brings new students in to serve her most pressing need—to hang on to the remote research camp that has become her mountain home. Increasingly bizarre behavior has targeted Fossey for extrication by an ever-growing group of detractors—from conservation and research organizations to the Rwandan government.



Amid the turmoil, Fowler must abandon his own research assignments to assuage the troubled Fossey as she orders him on illegal treks across the border into Zaire, over volcanoes, in search of missing gorillas, and to serve as surrogate parent to an orphaned baby ape in preparation for its traumatic re-introduction into a wild gorilla group.



This riveting story is the only first-person account from inside Dian Fossey’s beleaguered camp. Fowler must come to grips with his own aspirations, career objectives, and disappointments as he develops the physical endurance to keep up with mountain gorillas over volcanic terrain in icy downpours above ten thousand feet, only to be affronted by the frightening charges of indignant giant silverbacks or to be treed by aggressive forest buffalos. Back in camp, he must nurture the sensitivity and patience needed for the demands of rehabilitating an orphaned baby gorilla.



A Forest in the Clouds takes the armchair adventurer on a journey into an extraordinary world that now only exists in the memories of the very few who knew it.

Genres: Nonfiction, Animals, Memoir, Science, Nature, Africa, Biography

336 pages, Hardcover

First published February 6, 2018

Reviews

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

So unlike probably everyone else, I read this having NOT read Gorillas in the Mist or knowing much of anything about primatologist Dian Fossey. My boyfriend read Gorillas in the Mist and then this, and was telling me all about Dian's murder and I was like whaaaaat. Give me that book right now.

Always a sucker for nonfiction about crazy people and murder.



I think this book is interesting on many levels. First, there's Dian Fossey's emotional instability and awful management style, John Fowler's interpretation of that crazy based on his own life experiences and issues, and then it's just a really good book about gorillas and what it's like to be a relatively average american joe living in Africa in the 70s.

There actually isn't too much of a focus on her infamous murder, which I think is good because so little is known, and I wouldn't want to spend a bunch of time reading about some guy speculating about it. He sticks to what he knows: his time in Karisoke.

There is no doubt in my mind that Dian Fossey was crazy. At times I questioned John's reading of her behavior because he seems like such a push over. (If you want to know what I mean, he recounts once eating a dry bouillon cube because Dian handed it to him thinking it was cheese, and he didn't want to say anything. Is that speaking to Dian being emotionally unstable or to John being absolutely terrified of confrontation? I lean more toward John being bad at adulting in moments like this, because jesus man, you couldn't have casually put it in your pocket or something?) But once I started looking into Dian Fossey, it was really easy to corroborate his version of events. In interviews, people who worked with her constantly seem to be saying she was difficult without actually saying it.

What I hate is that I'll never know what I really want to know. What was wrong with her...PTSD? Schizophrenia? BPD? And who murdered her and why? Pretty much everyone who knew her and was in Africa at the time is a suspect because she made enemies left and right. Unfortunately, John can't help us out with these questions, he can only point out that her murder isn't as shocking as it might seem, because she wasn't the soft spoken charismatic woman from interviews.

Overall, I thought John handled the subject well given his strong personal feelings about Dian. At times I felt he was maybe a little harsh considering she had poor health and she must have been suffering from some kind of PTSD, which I think explains a lot. But there is some next level nonsense he had to put up with, and he didn't stop to complain about most of it. Like the fact that she would get angry at them for getting hungry, as if the need for food was a character flaw. Is it hard to imagine anyone being able to effectively practice empathy in the face of such callousness. I generally tend to feel that even the most awful people can be understood and deserve some level of understanding, but I also know what it's like to deal with people who are a prisoner to their own paranoia and anger.

Dian's story isn't a tragedy because it's a bad thing happening to a good person, but it's a tragedy because she was so screwed up that it likely got her killed. I can't imagine what it must have been like to live in that self imposed isolation, completely unable to maintain even a single human relationship. Seemingly, the only thing she truly cared about where her gorillas, and she wasn't doing a good job of protecting them. John portrays the world as better off without her, and that really is sad.

The reason I gave this book four stars instead of five is that the editing is kind of a mess. It doesn't effect the readability dramatically, but it is irritating at times. It seems that the order of the chapters was changed at one point and so information will be given without context, and then be explained later as if you're hearing it for the first time. Like it's super important to know that the baby gorilla's name gets changed about six times during the course of the book. He doesn't explain that until after he starts calling her by another name, making you think for a second that maybe there are two baby gorillas - Charlie and Josephine. If you read Gorillas in the Mist you might not pick up on these oversights because you already know these things, but this was my introduction and I was very confused at times.

This book also suffers from giving you the same explanation over and over and over again. Like you'll get the explanation about the gorilla name change late, but then you get it at least three times over the course of the book. And these repeat explanations are very copy/paste, as if the author forgot he already described that exact thing exactly that way. The worst offender is his descriptions of the baby gorilla. He describes the baby's "black leathery face" and "herbal breath" AT LEAST a dozen times and you're like yeah, I get it. Pick some different adjectives.

Other times he fails to repeat information when it would be really helpful. I kept being like, "Who the hell is Cindy?" every time she was mentioned, because she only comes up three or four times. It would have been really helpful if she was consistently described as "Dian's dog Cindy" for those of us with a trash memory for names.

But most of the writing is solid, so it's easy to look past the points where it's not. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who thinks anything about it sounds interesting because you wont be disappointed.

[Anu · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ok, Dian Fossey was a terrible person to work with. Her courageous push to protect gorillas went off into a morally questionable overdrive against humans some times. But the author acts like a pouty teenager that now has the chance to eviscerate his school bully in print. His personal attacks against Dian Fossey are relentless and petty. (He writes about how great it must have been to see Dian‘s ex lover’s new girlfriend “kick Dian’s ass up the mountain” when he dumped Dian for her) His writing is abjectly poor, the editing is worse. The 1 star is for whatever content on gorillas that you can trawl through this mess.

[Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I was in college I was fascinated with anthropology and I was fortunate enough to attend a university that had a great program. I took a class dedicated to primatology and of course we studied the three great female primatologists who studied under Louis Leakey: Jane Goodall in Gombe, Birute Galdikas in Borneo, and Dian Fossey in Rwanda. Their works were our textbooks, we watched their documentaries, read their research logs, studied their methods. Galdikas's work was most interesting to me because at the time I felt orangutans were the red-headed stepchildren of the primate world. Goodall's chimps and Fossey's gorillas got all of the attention. But I was absolutely taken by the beauty of Karisoke as it was represented in Gorillas in the Mist. I thought it was one of the most beautiful places I had ever seen, and the quality of data Fossey's team had collected was staggering. At that time (late 90s, early 2000s) Dian Fossey was already dead and the rumors about her poor interpersonal skills were no longer quite so hush hush. Certainly most people in the field were aware of her temperament and even our professor commented on her poor reputation.

For that reason, most of the narrative about Dian Fossey related in A Forest in the Clouds was not that surprising, though I was a bit shocked at the extent of her anti-social nature. I was also shocked by the discovery that most of her research in the field was not compiled by her - even the data she used for Gorillas in the Mist was poached from her beleaguered research assistants' extensive notes. Those extensive notes definitely came in handy for John Fowler, who delivered a work that is expansive in depth and breadth. His attention to detail is astounding, and his ability to weave what could be a boring narrative into a cohesive story is incredible. He doesn't shy away from the part of Dian that was difficult but he also presents a picture of a woman who has retreated so far into the world of her beloved gorillas that she alienated herself from the world of humans. The reader is able to empathize with Dian despite her bad behavior because she so clearly loved these animals she fought so hard to save.

More than that, Fowler's work is about the gorillas he engaged with during his years at Karisoke. He paints a detailed picture of the local men who worked as guides for the camp, and who helped Dian keep the poachers at bay. He also spent a lot of time in the field, and most of that time was spent caring for a baby gorilla who had been abandoned by her group. Through his eyes we are able to see the beauty of the Rwandan mountains and the complex social lives of the gorillas who call it their home.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Amanda Misiti · Rating 3 out of 5]

I repeatedly asked myself why I was still reading this book. Usually when reading overly detailed accounts of the banality of everyday life on a mountain doing menial tasks with gorillas and under the thumb of a manipulative, unpredictable and controlling boss.

The book seems to be mainly centered on the author’s self-discovery in a developing country as a young twentysomething and what a trouble and impossible to work with person Dian Fossey was. Both of which are interesting—but I think could have been narrated more succinctly.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like many people in my age group (more or less that of the author) I grew up hearing about Dian Fossey through the National Geographic stories about her gorilla research. I don't think I actually ever read Gorillas in the Mist, although I may have years ago, and I think I might now. But the failings of Fossey as a researcher and employer revealed in this book were pretty shocking, although also pretty credible. Probably the more interesting parts of the book though for me were the author's interactions with the gorillas, particularly the baby he helped raise until she was released into a new band. I also appreciated his interactions with the African staff and the fact that he took the trouble to learn enough Swahili to be able to communicate with them. All in all, it was a great story of an amazing year imbedded in Rwanda (fortunately for him, before the time of the genocides). The book could have done with some more thorough editing, but it still kept me enthralled to the end.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't read a lot of nonfiction but I am so glad I read this book! A fascinating insider look at life on the edge of civilization and the mountain gorillas. I found myself thinking about the book every time I put it down.

[Karleigh Kebartas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love gorillas!!!!

[Meredith · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I was 9 or 10, I went a life science museum with my family. For some reason, I was allowed to buy something in the gift shop before we left (something that never happened before or since. I can't imagine why I got to on this day). I fell in love with a toy gorilla, and ever since then, they've been my favorite animal. I've branched out as a grownup to loving other great apes, especially bonobos, but gorillas are still my first animal love. For a while, I imagined I would become an intrepid gorilla scientist, like the famed Dian Fossey. I admired her life and work in a vague, uninformed sort of way. Reading this book was something of a wake up call.

The students at the center of this book (John, the writer, was joined by several other student researchers) also admired Dian Fossey and dreamed of working with her in the jungle. They followed through on it more than I ever did (my extent was donating to the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International), but they were pretty quickly disillusioned. Dian Fossey was kind of crazy. There's no denying her impact on conservation, but you also have to wonder what her impact could have been if she had liked other people as much as she liked gorillas. Reading about John and the other students' contentious relationship with Dian was not pleasant. But reading about John's adventures with the gorillas and other animals in the jungle, and his experiences with the gorilla trackers and other camp dwellers, especially Bonne Annee, the orphaned gorilla, was a delight. The timeline confused me somewhat, and I was perplexed by the ever changing names of Bonne Annee, but I'm glad that John Fowler decided to finally share his complicated story with the world. Also, I really like that sweater his parents gave him for Christmas (as noted in the pictures, which were one of my favorite parts of the book).

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book that shares a different perspective on Dian Fossey and this authors experiences living with mountain gorillas. Like other reviewers I find Dian's behavior absolutely crazy, but there is bias and a lot of hard feelings from the author too. She was a complicated character for sure and I think the author glossed over some of the things that might have caused her to be "Crazy". You can feel the voice of the author and his opinions pretty strongly.


Some of the editing needs to be refined too. They changed the name of the baby gorilla six times and there was a point where he started calling the baby a new name without establishing it until chapters later. It was hard to read at points and I had to reread a couple parts because of it.

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. I felt like I was there with John and Bonne Annee. It felt honest.
I came to this book after reading Primates, so I knew that Fossey had some character issues. If you didn't know anything outside of her docs, photos, and Gorillas in the Mist; you might be shocked by the booze swilling, swearing, and spiteful depiction of her in this text.

A better takeaway from this book than his descriptions of the famous primatologist is Fowler's descriptions of the country, his connection to its former colonial state, and his experiences with the great apes of the Virungas.

[Dave Kane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once I started reading, I couldn't wait to get back to this story each day, the baby gorilla, the wild gorillas, forest elephants, buffaloes...and the strange and unpredictable Fossey. I can see from some reviews that fans of Dian Fossey resent this author for dispelling the myths about their idol but you soon realize there was much more to her than the heroic story she told in her own accounts. For one thing, she relied on a lot of young students, although she treated them so badly. Fowler's descriptions are so vivid and detailed, I felt as if I was there. Often I was glad I wasn't.

[Roberta Guthrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful story!

Fowler was a young, inexperienced researcher when he was given the incredible chance of a lifetime - travel to Rwanda to work alongside the world-renowned primatologist, Dian Fossey.
What he found was not what he expected.


While to the outside world Fossey was the beloved stuff of legends - tender National Geographic specials featuring her lovingly interacting with her beloved gorillas and the gauzy dreams of “Gorillas in the Mist” - those who knew her best found her to be the stuff of nightmares.
Fossey was a terrifying, abusive drunk - viperish, paranoid and impossible to be around for any length of time.
She was casually racist and after decades in Africa was unable to speak anything other than broken languages and refused to even learn the names of the local house staff.
Even her “research” was, at times , highly suspect. She regularly mis-gendered many of the Gorillas she observed and a questionable but much hyped publicity-driven release of a young orphaned gorilla back into the wild very nearly got that juvenile torn to pieces.
Almost all of “Gorillas in the Mist” was cribbed from her student’s work since she had stopped observing the Gorillas herself years ago. (To Fowler’s credit he finds this amusingly exasperating)
It wasn’t until Fosse was murdered that her demons began to be more than just whispers. In the face of endless questions from her adoring fans about “What was she like?” even those she had abused most severely could only answer “she was...difficult”
After her murder, the authorities asked “Who would want to kill Fosse?” - the easier question might have been “Who DIDN’T want to kill her?” (Fowler notes that the people convicted were “convenient patsys”)
But beyond the complex story of the reality of working for such a complicated and flawed person is Fowler’s lyrical telling of his life among the gorillas.
Fowler makes you feel as if you are there with him - and his loving tributes to the primates and the region and people he cares so deeply for make this book so much more than a “tell-all” gossip-fest about Fossey.
Fossey was fond of screaming at people “We’re here for the Gorillas!” And ultimately - that’s what Fowler shows us.

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

John Fowler’s A Forest in the Clouds is his account of studying gorillas alongside famous naturalist Dian Fossey. Although I picked it up for the gorillas (as one would), the memoir is overwhelmed by Fossey, who by Fowler’s account was an astonishingly eccentric and belligerent woman who viewed the science lab as a necessary evil to allow her to live on the mountain near the wildlife she loved. Fowler presents Fossey as a mercurial control freak who regarded any gathering of students as a potential mutiny and waged a private war against local poachers. Fowler contends that Fossey had little use for most people, especially the locals who she constantly verbally abused (employing both sounds imitating the gorillas and a polyglot mishmash of profanities to do so), and the amount of time readers spend in this unpleasant company does not make for an enjoyable book. The narrative is easy to read, but the poor gorillas are nearly relegated to the background; Fowler writes about what they’re doing often enough, but there’s little to learn about them here, besides the fact that their noses can be used like fingerprints, and they have no qualms about peeing all over a human they’re affectionately holding on to. I’ve never read anything else about Fossey, so I don’t know if Fowler’s memory is perfect or exaggerating Fosser any.

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an incredible book! As an animal lover, I have been intrigued by gorillas and monkeys since childhood. I purchased A Forest in the Clouds by John Fowler with very little knowledge of the story that it held; and what an amazing story it is.

On December 27, 1985, Dian Fossey was found brutally murdered in her mountain home at the Karisoke research center. I was familiar with her legacy of saving the mountain gorillas in Africa, but that was all I knew until I read this book. In 1979, college student, John Fowler, applied for a student research position to work with Dian Fossey at the Karisoke research center. He and three other students arrived in January 1980 to begin living and working among the mountain gorillas in very sparse conditions and with the unexpected, difficult traits of the infamous Dian Fossey.

Immediately upon meeting Dian, Fowler was shocked at how rude, disrespectful, and verbally abusive Dian was towards others without knowing them. Fowler was instantly treated by Fossey as though she didn’t like him and quickly determined it was better for him if his communications with Dian were kept to a minimum. Fowler shares many accounts of Fossey’s bizarre, erratic...

I have more photos, a movie trailer for Gorillas in the Mist, and additional information about the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International that I'm unable to include here. It can all be found on my blog, in the link below.
A Book And A Dog

[Lance Grabmiller · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not terrible but often a bit tedious because it's mostly a Dian Fossey hit piece. At the halfway point of the book you suddenly realize he is only a month into what is supposed to be a year in Rwanda and it has all been the moment by moment minutiae of how horrible Dian Fossey is. Then there are a couple chapters with Dian Fossey away and back in the states. Then she returns and he states it has been five months she was away and then he goes on for two more chapters on how horrible her FIVE DAY stay had been, proving once again he had little to say that wasn't complaining about Dian Fossey. Also, there were lots of weird repetitions of facts and information, sometimes verbatim, that would appear later in a chapter or in the next chapter. It felt as if he were trying out certain information in several different places and forgot to get rid of it in the place it didn't work so well. The worst of it was the use of "smoke billowed" early in a very long sentence that ended with "smoke billowing." Really needed a heavier handed editor. All that aside, the book is interesting and gets better as it moves into the second half. It's not that I doubt any of his horror stories of Dian Fossey (there have been many more) but the book was just too much complaining for me.

[Hate Goodall · Rating 1 out of 5]

Smear book released in connection with the 50 Years Karisoke jubilee and Mini Series "Secrets in the Mist"

This books was promoted by Jane "The Cold" Goodall, who trashtalks her former "friend" Dian Fossey since around 2010.

The conservation icons William "Bill" Weber & Amy Vedder are also attacked in this book
(They are critics of Jane Goodalls methods)

The book flopped thankfully
- Ellen DeGeneres decision to support the Fossey Fund in 2018
- The media ignored this book
- Nobody cares about Mad Fossey

Fowler is now forced to do "Dian Fossey" Safaris
(I hate Fossey ... but i need her to make $$$)

The Book itself is boring as fuck


This book is way better (It's also Fossey critical)

"In the Kingdom of Gorillas" By Bill Weber and Amy Vedder

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

Highly disappointed in this book. I couldn’t even finish it. Very little details on the gorillas or the work that they did. It’s a self-serving whine fest because the author had issues with Dian. I have no doubt that she was difficult to work with. Most people know she was an alcoholic and had questionable methods of dealing with the people who went after her and her gorillas. But the author completely disregards all the good she did because she was “mean” to him and he couldn’t win her over. It’s childish, and his motivations for his attacks on her character are very transparent when you read the book.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

John Fowler was given the opportunity while in college to take a year away to work with Dian Fossey among the mountain gorillas of Rwanda. He saw it as an opportunity of a lifetime and went with high expectations for the year. What he found was a director who was extremely difficult to work with and for: upbeat one moment and loudly demeaning the next (Manic-Depressive comes to mind). This is his account of the year and the experiences among the gorillas.
While it was interesting to read, it was also difficult given the language and the verbal abuse. Good for him for sticking out the year commitment.

[Beth Hartnett · Rating 4 out of 5]

I devoured this incredible story and increased my knowledge of mountain gorillas by 100%. This must have been a cathartic experience for the author to describe the abusive employer-employee relationship he had with Dian Fossey. Some of that was uncomfortable to read...but much easier than living through the abuse! I was thinking of giving this three stars almost throughout the book, as the author kept repeating observations, but the glimpse into this world ultimately changed my mind...I give four stars unreservedly.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Fowler spent a year in Rwanda at Dian Fossey's gorilla research center, an experience both fascinating and frustrating. This is supposedly the only "behind the scenes" book written about Fossey and her personal and professional life. It is quite damning about her interference in the lives of her staff and volunteers. So it's full of "real life" gossip. But by far the greatest interest in the book is Fowler's description of working with his colleagues and the gorillas, especially the young female gorilla he helped to reintroduce to her family. Skip the gossip; learn about gorillas.

[Brenda Klaassen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was interesting to me because it was a first person account of living in Africa for a year and interacting with wild mountain gorillas. I find that stories about gorillas peak my interest. John does not sugar-coat how hard the year for him was. He understands how human nature can put famous people on pedestals, but Dr. Dian Fossey should not be put above any other humans. It is sad that Dr. Fossey was murdered; but Fowler explains how it might have been brought on by Dr. Fossey. Mr. Fowler also explains some of the behaviors of the mountain gorillas. I did enjoy this book.

[Cathy Hawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I ended up liking this book very much although I initially found it a little hard to get into. I came to appreciate the author's skill in making the story move at the pace he lived life in a very new world: the first days were long and sometimes stressful, the days in the middle moved apace and the days at the end were almost always a blur, although with an awareness that something special was coming to a close. It's the first book I have read that makes me want to see Rwanda!

[Margaret · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! What a strange experience for a young undergrad. Reading some of the other reviews for this book, I can see that Diane Fossey fans are not pleased that the author revealed so much about their idol, perhaps tarnishing their fantasy view of her. But if you like memoirs, and interesting people, this is a must read. The gorillas are great, but Dr. Fossey is even more fascinating and scarier than any of the beasts in the forest.

[D Jenks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Real World meets Survivor! Dian Fossey fans may not enjoy this book because it dispels the myths about her as an intrepid scientist and hero who single handedly saved the mountain gorillas. But really, she does this to herself and Fowler is just shining a bright light on the action. If you enjoy true stories and memoirs about eccentric and fascinating characters in an interesting setting among wild creatures, then this is the book for you. As I got swept away into this adventurous story and the interpersonal action, I couldn't put it down.

[Elinor · Rating 2 out of 5]

Almost dnf because this book contained so many editing and proofing errors. Events are constantly related out of order and/or repeated. The baby gorilla they care for changes name without explanation or even a simple note like "Josephine, who used to be called Charlie." The reader just has to gather this from context clues (there is an explanation later on for why her name was changed, but seriously? I have trouble believing that anyone edited this). This book needed to be proofread so badly. And I get that Dian said "reaallllllly and trullllly" a lot. It didn't need to punctuate every line out of her mouth. Don't even get me started on the usage of italics.
But reading about the gorillas was cool, I guess.

[Vishnu Vardhan · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading Dian Fossey's 'Gorillas in the Mist' and other books by naturalists such as George Schaller and Alan Root, this book provides yet another interesting perspective and adds another layer to the complex personality of Dian Fossey. Shows how experiences shape people's behaviours, some of which might seem utterly inexplicable and, at times, irrational but could be better explained if we know the person better.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pretty interesting memoir about the author's time spent working for and with Dian Fossey. Not knowing much about Dian Fossey (except for what I saw in the movie Gorillas in the Mist), I was quite shocked at the author's portrayal of a very complicated (to the say the least) woman. If the author's account is to be believed, Fossey had many issues and was simply not a very nice person.

[Leslie P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I found out that the author is coming to speak at our library, I decided I wanted to read his book beforehand. I loved his vibrant descriptions of his year working with Dian Fossey in Rwanda with mountain gorillas. I really want to trek in Rwanda and was fascinated with the author’s story, not only about the wonderful gorillas, but also about the not very likable Fossey.

[Elsa · Rating 3 out of 5]

"To not know [Dian Fossey] is to love her." This is an interesting account of one college student's year of mountain gorilla research under Fossey. He paints a portrait of Fossey as a volatile, egotistical drunk and portrays the landscape and wildlife beautifully.

[Carmen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book read like a novel, but it was all true! A fascinating and intimate adventure story. Amid the interpersonal drama, I learned a lot about mountain gorillas, conservation, and the people who work to save endangered species.