Leap of faith to meet gorillas, scale mountains

Maasai Giraffe at Akagera National Park - Rwanda. (Photo/ Lydia Limbe)

On November 9, 2005, President Mwai Kibaki stirred the hornet's nest when he exported 130 wild animals to Thailand. Conservationists and wildfire lovers trained their guns on him.

But unknown to many Kenyans, the country had given out six giraffes to Rwanda in 1986 without a tinge of controversy. Today, the six animals have multiplied to nearly 200.