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Published: January 2nd 2011
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Even when 220kg of gorilla muscle is standing in front of you they look cuddly and shy. Being so close to them is surprisingly not intimidating at all. The only time intimidation can happen is that moment when the biggest silverback is coming right for you!
My initial plan was to have a very private experience in Congo DR but with my failed effort to enter the country (explained earlier) I went to Rwanda’s Parc National Des Volcans. Booking a long time in advance was not needed and I booked in Kigali to go the following day. I went to Musanze the closest major town and stayed overnight.
The cost to see the gorilla spectacle is $500, which is about the maximum it should be I feel. Rumours are that as of 2011 it is going to increase to $750-1000. If that is the case I hope that they provide transport to the site. Because as it stands at the moment unless you are a group of 6 or so you have to scavenge around town asking every white person you see and/or call up tour groups to try and split the $80 it costs for a 4WD to
take you the 14 kms.
A fellow traveller mentioned that a local said to him that they probably wouldn’t change because the tourists forget about the extra expense after seeing the gorillas. Well ‘hello’ what do you know, the dribbleman hasn’t!! That could be because I was looking down the barrel of $80 since there were hardly any tourists in town. This inconvenience should not happen when you have paid $500. I was looking at 580 for this trip until 3 South Africans walk into my crummy hotel. They were even more peeved at the ridiculous extra fee than me.
We left town at 615am the next day and went through lush farmland to the Gorilla Headquarters. The whole ride I heard the SAFA’s bitch about the extra fee. We all considered moto taxis but heard that to get to the last part (the start of the trek) a 4WD can only do. This is a whole lot of bullshit that needs to be told as we stop our 4WD at the last bit of tarred road.
Before we started we were briefed about the group we were going to see. Sabyinyyo group had 2 silverbacks, a
female with her hand missing and the oldest and largest gorilla in the mountains. These mountains were where Diane Fossey (of gorillas in the mist fame) did her studies and apparently was against tourism. ‘So welcome!’
She was killed and the guide suggested that it wasn’t peasants or poachers because she had money in her house and the money wasn’t touched. He suspects it was the government, as they wanted to make the gorillas a tourist site. Now they have split the groups of gorillas, some for tourists other groups for research.
Before we went in we practised communicating with the gorillas. A cookie monster type groan is required to signal you are their friend. I had lost my voice from a cold that built up over 4 weeks and struggled to do it. Whilst some other guys would get compliments from the guide “Oooh we have some silverbacks here!”
Entry is through a thick bamboo forest and walking on deep mud that you slush through sometimes ankle deep, you are unable to see far. We were a group of 8 with a guide, two armed rangers and a group of trackers in the distance. The
trackers left a few hours earlier to try and find them.
The rangers are there to protect us if a buffalo attacks and within the half hour a large “BANG” came over the forest. The ranger shots in the air to warn a buffalo, which was minding his own business to stay clear. The buffalo freaked out and the sound of braking and fallen bamboo as it rushes off was concerning briefly as it broke the silence in a dramatic way. The guide was not happy, as the ranger wasn’t meant to do that. Only shoot when absolutely necessary plus it could scare off the gorillas.
It took 1 ½ hours of trekking to get a message that the trackers had found them. We leave our bags and take cameras and ourselves. The first sight they are in thick bamboo so it was hard to see. We held back and eventually through time they went to an open area.
Visiting time is only an hour, as the gorillas get restless and uncomfortable with you being there. In the bamboo forest we did get close, touching distance. Less so in the open area. They seemed really shy and
would crawl off or roll around. Eye contact is a sign of challenge so that is not really happening. It is what I wanted, a personal experience and after seeing so much animal life in the past 5 months I think I have overdone it because the gorillas don’t provide that too often.
I’m not saying it was crap but it won’t be the absolute highlight of my trip. The added bonus of this experience is the landscape. Once in the open you’ve got, green hills, bamboo forest behind you, a light mist and these monster animals eating away 7m from you.
Out of all the experiences in the world. Gorilla trekking is the hardest to make a decision, should I take this photo or just observe. Lighting is not that strong until you are clearly in the open. A lot of shots are of the back of the head or a blurry body. They aren’t super quick until they start heading right for you.
Because of the shyness and the taking of photos I don’t have many distinct details just flashes of incidents. The hands and their black fingernails whilst they scratch their back is one.
A black furry body crawling past me is another, young gorillas climbing the shoots to get to the best food, the babies crawling around and the biggest silverback coming right for me.
What will be a lasting memory will be my efforts to recoup the money that I spent on this. Straight away that night I headed off to Gisenyi and a beach town on Lake Kivu. There is accommodation opposite the bus stop at the Presbyterian Church. $2 a night to sleep in a dorm with all locals. I was told this place by an Irish girl who had some obsessed old lady, which preyed loudly all night in the bed next to her. I thought when she told me this, ‘I have got to get this experience!’
I was lucky enough to bump into a German guy there who was thinking of going to Congo the next day. He told me later that one guy was preying and would wish all the best to the 2 mzungus. So we had two tourists and about 12 locals. 2 just talked for ages, which I accepted as part of the deal but the German put his hands out
of his mosquito net and clapped. At 4am a guy puts his radio on full blast and the German goes “HEY! You don’t put the radio on at 4 in the morning!”
The mosquito nets in the room covered the whole double bunk. I was on the bottom bunk but half way through the night I noticed the sounds of mosquito’s buzzing around my head. I look to the side and the mosquito net has disappeared at the top half of my bed. I drag the net back down.
Later on it has happened again. ‘What the hell!’ I’m thinking. This went on 3 times and on the 3rd I got out of my bed to see the guy on the top bunk sleeping with my portion of the mosquito net tucked under his body. This means he’s 3/4 covered and left his face exposed. I yell, “What are you doing? Mosquito’s, bzzzzzz!” So two mzungus have got the shits all night and by 10 to 6 the next morning we were up and ready to leave. Leaving the cleaning out of nose noises and the claustrophobic BO smells behind us and headed for Congo for a second
effort to get across. Will persistence pay off?
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Good details
We've been wanting to go on a gorilla trek so thanks for this information and details.