I stared, they stared back. The sun was slowly rising behind a thick blanket of white-grey cloud so the light was dusky but I could clearly see their golden brown eyes looking intently into mine. I breathed hard through my mask, sucking in cloth, exhaling fascination. I was in marantaceae rainforest in the middle of a group of western lowland gorillas, in seventh heaven. See footage of western lowland gorillas. The young gorilla I was eyeballing was sitting on a branch practically above my head. One of their friends came bounding down behind them, a bundle of brownish-grey fur and fun, and pushed into them, wanting to play. The two juveniles went hand over hand down tree limbs or swung on vines. A branch broke and they plummeted to the ground but were apparently unhurt. We
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