In The Footsteps of Dian Fossey
Our tailor-made itineraries can also be operated as Small Group Tours. Led by our inspiring and knowledgeable Tour Leaders who are experts in their particular field, our Small Group Tours provide a unique insight into specific areas of interest, such as Wildlife Conservation, Culture, History, and Humanistic and Philanthropic legacies. Ian Redmond, Craig Sholley, John Fowler and Peter Veit are the former research staff and colleagues of the legendary gorilla primatologist, the late Dian Fossey.
Send us an enquiry if you are interested in a Small Group Tour escorted by one of our inspiring tour leaders.
To learn more about them, click on their photos below:
Tour Leader
Ian is a tropical field biologist and conservationist, known for his work with great apes and elephants. For more than 35 years he has supported mountain gorillas, through research, filming and conservation work. Ian first travelled to Africa in 1976 where he joined Dian Fossey, studying and protecting the mountain gorillas of Rwanda and Zaire (now DR Congo). In 1978, he introduced David Attenborough to the gorillas for the BBC’s ‘Life on Earth’ series, and has advised in the making of more than 100 documentaries. Ian has been a conservation advisor for organisations including the Born Free Foundation, the Gorilla Organization, the Orangutan Foundation, and International Fund for Animal Welfare. He established and chairs the Ape Alliance, the African Ele-Fund and the UK Rhino Group. Ian was Chief Consultant and Envoy for the UNEP/UNESCO Great Apes Survival Partnership and continues advising on matters pertaining to apes and environmental issues.
Tour Leader
Craig's passion for African wildlife and conservation began in 1973 as a Peace Corps volunteer in Zaire (now DR Congo). As an L.S.B. Leakey grant researcher in the late 1970s, Craig studied mountain gorillas with Dian Fossey and, in 1987, became Director of Rwanda's Mountain Gorilla Project, of which African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) was a sponsor. He has worked and travelled extensively, providing conservation expertise, leading tours and photographing throughout Africa. Craig has acted as Scientific Advisor for the award-winning IMAX film, "Mountain Gorilla," and with the National Geographic Society, he surveyed the conservation status of mountain gorillas in Rwanda, Uganda and DRC in 1995. Craig’s direct involvement with AWF began as a Senior Associate and member of its Board of Trustees. Operating as a full-time employee of AWF since 2001, he now serves as Senior Vice President. He has also served on the Board of the Ecotourism Society.
Tour Leader
Rose-Marie is an independent researcher, historian and language expert specialising in traditional Rwandan oral literature, myths and rituals. She is a member of the Rwandan Academy of Language and Culture and regularly moderates informal study groups for cultural heritage. These groups typically attract young professionals, who have dubbed the effort as a ‘School of Rwandan Wisdom.’ Rose-Marie gives regular talks on Rwandan Culture Tourism including the Civic Education Programme known as Itorero ry'Igihugu, to train Rwandans on customs such as Umuganura (annual First Fruits Festival), and the Rwanda Women's Network, on traditional marriage rites and ceremonies. Rose-Marie participates as a key resource person in orientation seminars to educate newly appointed members to the Rwanda National Commission for UNESCO, on Intangible Cultural Heritage, Oral Literature, Heritage Sites and Cultural Industries. Rose-Marie speaks Kinyarwanda, Kiswahili, English and French.
Tour Leader
In the legacy of the late Dian Fossey, Dr. Gladys has become one of the leading conservationists and scientists working to save the critically endangered mountain gorillas of East Africa. She is founder and Chief Executive Officer of Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH), a 20-year old nonprofit organization that promotes conservation by improving the quality of life of people and wildlife to enable them to coexist in and around protected areas in Africa. She became an Ashoka Fellow in 2007 for merging Uganda’s wildlife management and rural public health programs to create common resources for both people and animals. Dr. Gladys trained as a veterinarian at the University of London’s Royal Veterinary College. Between 1996 and 2000, she set up the first Veterinary Unit at the Uganda Wildlife Authority. From 2000 to 2003, she completed a zoological medicine residency and masters in specialized veterinary medicine at North Carolina State University and North Carolina Zoological Park.
Tour Leader
Peter is a conservationist and Director of the Land and Resource Rights initiative with the World Resources Institute (WRI) in Washington. For more than 35 years, Peter has worked on environment and development issues, in 70+ countries. Early in his career, Peter studied animal behavior and wildlife conservation at the University of California, Santa Cruz. This work inspired him to study wildlife in Africa. In 1978, Peter met Dian Fossey in the San Francisco Bay area, after which he was invited to study the behavior of mountain gorillas at the Karisoke Research Center in the Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda. Peter lived in the park and worked with the mountain gorillas for more than 2 years from 1979 to 1981, serving as the director of the Karisoke Center whilst Dian moved back to the US to teach at Cornell University in New York. Peter has worked for WRI for more than 30 years, specialising in the links between natural resource management, human rights and democratic governance.
Tour Leader
John holds a BS in Zoology from the University of Georgia and an MS in Technology and Science Policy from Georgia Tech. After completing an undergraduate study program in Kenya, John got the rare opportunity that would become, “A Forest in the Clouds: My Year Among the Mountain Gorillas in the Remote Enclave of Dian Fossey”— his memoir of life and work in the Virunga Volcanos of Rwanda with National Geographic’s famous gorilla behaviourist. John also appeared in the pages of Fossey’s own, “Gorillas in the Mist” as well as Farley Mowat’s story, “Woman in the Mists”. Upon his return from Africa, John began a 21-year career in zoos in the U.S. and Australia, and met fellow zookeeper, Janet, who became his wife. His zoo work included leading tours to Africa, South America, Australia and New Zealand. Now retired from zoo work, John is a research coordinator in human behavioural healthcare. In addition to writing, John is an artist in nature-based abstract painting.
“You cannot leave Africa, Africa said. It is always with you, there inside your head. Our rivers run in currents in the swirl of your thumbprints; our drumbeats counting out your pulse; our coastline the silhouette of your soul”
— Bridget Dore