Advertisement
We are up early as we need to be at the Ranger Station by 8am. We have breakfast (Victor is quite concerned when we turn down a large cooked breakfast) pack our bag with the lunches they have prepared for us and it’s a short 5 minute walk to the briefing point.
BORING FORMALITIES
We watch a bit of gorilla video until everyone is there and then we get our first briefing where it is explained the circumstances in which we may or may not receive any of our permit fee ($500 USD) back.
1. If we have a cold or are unwell and we do not depart we get 50% back
2. If we do not see any gorillas we get 100% back
3. If we get half way and realise we are physically unable to complete it we get nothing back
4. If we have to be helped out because we are physically unable to go on, we get zero back and must pay someone to carry us out
5. If an elephant is sighted or fresh elephant tracks are found then we will be turned back immediately and 100% is refunded
Then we get
our second briefing from our guide whose name is Gud. He tells us how far to stay away from the gorillas, what to do if they approach us (if possible all group together but otherwise do nothing and stand very still), he again goes into our health and suitability to complete the trek. He also gives us the information on the porters, trackers and armed escorts that will be with us.
FORMALITIES OVER, ON OUR WAY
Then FINALLY we’re away! There are 3 families over our side of the mountain that are being tracked (there are 30 families in total, only 7 are tracked at a time, and only 5 are visited each day - 3 on the northern side and 2 on the southern side) and to get to ours we need to drive about an hour to the start point. In our group of 8 (there is only ever 8 in a group) there are 4 Danish girls and an American couple.
When we arrive at the start point we are given walking sticks and a porter if we chose to have one. We did and his name was Moses, he didn’t speak much English
but he tried his best. For some reason Tim missed out on a walking stick, the last one they had was way too small!
THE WALK STARTS
The Danish girls went off in a hurry, the guide kept telling them to slow down but they didn’t so we ended up calling them the Gazelles! The first part of the walk was okay, it was uphill but was on a track and it was probably better quality than some of the roads we’d been driving on! After about half an hour or so of nice pathway we moved onto thinner tracks that turned into even thinner trails, still a lot of uphill but some flatter areas. Then it all changed…
The thin tracks turns into steep, really steep mountain goat trails. They were muddy and slippery and I was really glad I had a stick and had brought my Army bush boots with me - they were heavy and a pain in the butt to have to wear on every flight because of their weight, but was well worth it in the end, they gripped in and were great. Even so, the porter held my hand all the way
down! Tim bought hiking shoes before we left, and even though they were comfortable, didn’t really offer the same sort of grip that I had and combined with the fact that he didn’t have a walking stick either, it is to his credit that he didn’t end up on his backside and slide all the way down!
GORILLA’S!!!!!!!
About an hour and a half or so after we started walking, we finally saw the first gorilla! It was the most amazing and surreal thing, my legs felt a bit wobbly (not sure if it was from the hill or excitement!) and we were all lost for words - even me! We were very lucky in that we saw them from a distance first so the first 15 minutes or so weren’t counted towards our hour that we’re able to spend with them.
Our porters and all the trackers but one stopped here and after giving up our walking sticks we ventured further down the hill with one tracker and the guide. We saw a family of 12 and at one point they were all around us, just eating, sitting, playing and carrying on as though we weren’t
there. A couple of times the Silverback gave a bit of a growl just to let us know where we placed in the scheme of things but apart from that they weren’t bothered. There were a couple of young babies in the group and they were climbing the trees and playing, absolutely adorable.
We were advised to bring Aeroguard because of the mosquitoes but we were so excited we forgot to put it on, even though it was in our bag. We didn’t remember until we were smack in the middle of the gorilla family and suddenly there were thousands of mosquitoes around us! Damn, damn, damn! But we managed to suck it up, build a bridge, harden up etc etc etc….
At one stage I had a gorilla walk past me not more than 30 - 40cms away from me. I became a post and didn’t move. Fortunately the guide was constantly telling us to move here or go there so he told me what to do. It was a little intimidating having such an animal so close but it was also the best experience you could have.
All of a sudden our time was up
(the guide started counting down when we had 11 minutes left - the one hour policy is strictly enforced), so before we knew it we were back with our porters and trackers ooohing and aarghing about the experience. We were going to have our lunch but it started to sprinkle with rain so our guide suggested we postpone lunch and get back before the rain hit.
THE WALK BACK - OH MY GOD….
The walk back was horrendous! The mountain goat trail that wasn’t too bad to go down, especially when you are excited and anticipating seeing the gorillas, was soooo hard going back, the poor old knees weren’t having a good time of it and having just gotten over the cold that Tim so generously shared with me, neither were the lungs! But the guide held my hand again and the porter put both hands on my back and we went up the mountain like that. All the porters did the same thing with their people so I didn’t feel so bad.
When we got back onto flattish ground the guide came and chatted and explained how he was getting married soon as soon as he
could afford it. Most of the gifts they receive is in the form of livestock before the wedding that is used to feed all the guests. Some of the livestock is just to be kept. I found out that a chicken is worth about 20,000 Uganda Schillings, a goat 100,000 and a good quality cow about 350,000. But the ceremony is the same as what we would do, he would wear a suit, the bride a dress and veil etc.
IT DOESN’T JUST SPRINKLE IN UGANDA
We got back to car just in time, because we just had enough time to pay our porter (worth his weight in gold!), buy the obligatory souvenir and then the sky opened up and it bucketed down!
The roads became like rivers and at one stage the entire road was covered in about 30 cms of water so the guide who was driving couldn’t see where all the potholes were so, bang, he hit a huge pothole and everyone who was sitting on Tim’s side of the Landrover ended up almost sitting in our laps who were sitting opposite, surprised no-one hit their head on the roof!
Then shortly after
there were 2 boys about 10 years old standing on the side of the road. The driver beeped madly at them to get out of the way but they didn’t budge. Next thing we go through a HUGE puddle and the water goes all over the boys, as mean as it sounds the driver starts laughing, we all start laughing and everytime Tim and I talk about it we start laughing, I’m laughing as I write this!
We get back to the Ranger point and we each get our certificate and head back to the lodge. Tim and I eat our packed lunch on our verandah (it’s huge, sandwich, piece of chicken, an egg, fruit, fruit drink, even a serviette with a toothpick tucked inside an a little square of aluminum foil with salt in it) have a shower and Tim has a nap while I do pretty well big fat nothing.
We go up for dinner and there is another group that has arrived and will be doing the trek tomorrow. They are mostly over 50 and one younger English woman in the group is telling them what to expect with the trek. Unfortunately she tells them
it is nothing strenuous and is mostly on walking trails. Before we head off after dinner we tell the group a more accurate idea of what to expect since they will be seeing the same family as us and highly recommend they get a porter each.
We hope they do well and feel better knowing they are a little better prepared with what to expect.
We go to bed that again has been warmed with a hot water bottle and collapse until morning.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.088s; Tpl: 0.047s; cc: 8; qc: 23; dbt: 0.0298s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Ros
non-member comment
Incredible
To be that close... just incredible. I'm glad you made the trek cause I don't think I would have. Didn't Nancy go with you on this one??