Photos of Kira Salak in Rwanda with the Mountain Gorillas

Kira Salak in Rwanda with the Mountain Gorillas

Read Salak's National Geographic Article about the Mountain Gorillas

Dian Fossey's Grave-- I paid my respects to Fossey, who was murdered at Karisoke (her mountain gorilla research station, located in Rwanda, close to the Zaire border). Her body was buried beside the graves of her gorilla friends.

Photos of Rwanda and Rwanda Mountain Gorillas

Rwanda © Kira Salak 2003

Scenes of Karisoke-- I trekked above 10,000 feet to see what was left of Dian Fossey's research station. Karisoke had been destroyed by Hutu rebels during the Rwandan genocide; these photos show what little remains.

Rwanda © Kira Salak 2003

Rwanda's Mountain Gorillas-- There are less than 600 of these animals left. The region's protracted civil war could lead to their extinction.

Rwanda © Kira Salak 2003

Congo's Gorillas-- These are some of the few remaining mountain gorillas left in the Democratic Republic of Congo (the former Zaire). Recently (in 2008), some of these gorillas were killed by rebel soldiers.

Rwanda © Kira Salak 2003

THE WHITE MARY

by Kira Salak

READ AN EXCERPT

BUY THE WHITE MARY

"A gripping debut novel."
Publishers Weekly Pick-of-the-Week

"There aren't many books that we hand to friends, urging,
'You have to read this.' The White Mary is one of them."
Cleveland Plain Dealer

"Riveting."
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

"With The White Mary, journalist Kira Salak makes a stunning
debut as a novelist. This is a story whose beauty and power
sweeps you along, like the jungle rivers that bear her heroine
into the heart of New Guinea in search of a vanished American."

--Philip Caputo

Go to the top of the page