African Encounter — Steve Hayes

Many years ago, a friend of Hollywood screenwriter Steve Hayes had traveled to the Virunga Mountains of Africa, to see the gorillas there. She had looked into the eyes of a giant silverback, and it looked back at her without malice or guile but instead questioningly -- as if it too was engaged in the moment, the wonder of meeting a fellow creature who might be a distant relative. The feeling she experienced was nothing short of spiritual, and Steve was hoping for something similar. But the trip was not without its dangers, for Congolese rebels regularly waged war in the region. Then a fluke accident led to a chance encounter with Dr Robert Odoki ... Robert had devoted himself to healing the sick of this poverty-ridden country, and the two men hit if off immediately. Traveling the road to Bwindi together, seeing Africa in all its moods, they were to forge a friendship that neither expected.