Every week or so, I write about my work with mountain gorillas in central Africa.

I started blogging about my experiences in Africa during November 2006, partly because there's so much to share, and partly because I love to write. My blog about working as the regional manager for the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project goes up on two websites, each with a different look and feel: Gorilla Doctors on WildlifeDirect and Gorillas in Peril on Discovery Channel.

In my current job for MGVP, I coordinate a team of seven field veterinarians and a small support staff. Our mission is to provide medical care for this rare subspecies throughout its range. Most of my potential patients live freely in the forested mountains of Uganda, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. A few are captive-living orphans.

Gorilla Doctors, one of dozens of blogs on the website for WildlifeDirect, a non-profit organization dedicated to raising funds for conservation founded by anthropologist Dr. Richard Leakey. http://gorilladoctors.wildlifedirect.org/

Gorillas in Peril, on the Discovery Channel's website, is part of Quest, a program that supports science and scientists in the field. http://discovery.blogs.com/quest/

Though we do have a routine, of sorts, no two days are the same for the MGVP field vets. Simply checking on one group of gorillas requires a fair amount of planning. Our offices and homes are outside the park--the same is true in Uganda, Rwanda, and DR Congo. To get the park border, we drive anywhere from 20 minutes to over an hour on roads that vary from newly paved to rarely maintained. We park, meet the trackers and porters, and walk into the forest together. Even when I don't go to the forest, I'm up early, and that's when I write my blog.

Elisabeth Nyirakaragire (left), ORTPN veterinary technician for the Parc National des Volcans in Rwanda, and MGVP regional veterinary manager Dr. Lucy Spelman prepare for the field.