Uganda and Rwanda Gorilla Safari

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I am new to this blogging thing, but I thought I would write about my recent trip to Africa to track the mountain gorillas of Uganda and Rwanda.

I usually travel on my own, arranging things as I go, but I was limited with the time I had available and also I have heard that you have to prebook your gorilla tracking permits way in advance, so I thought I would consult a Tour operator. I gave a couple of UK based tour operators a call and got some advice, but I could hear that none of them had actually been to either Uganda or Rwanda and so were giving me information that I could probably find on the internet. If I was going to do this once in a life time experience I had to do it properly. I carried on searching the internet and came across a company called World Primate Safaris (www.worldprimatesafaris.com) who sounded like they knew what they were talking about, so I gave them a call. As it turns out, that was a good move. It seems that not only have they all travelled to Uganda and Rwanda (and possibly to theother destinations they offer) but that they are all exguides and tour leaders - theseare the guys I had to get the nformation from. They knew what they were talking about. I booked a 13 day Small group Camping safari (I couldn't afford a private safari as it was just me!!!!) which included 2 gorilla trackings 0 1 in Uganda and the other in Rwanda, chimpanzee tracking in Kibale and Kyamburu Gorge (excuse spelling) and also game drives in the Queen Elizabeth National Park.

We had amazing chimp sighting in both Kibale and Kyamburu Gorge as well as 2 leopard sightings in Queen Elizabeth National Park and then the highlight were the 2 gorilla trackings. The first time I tracked them was in Bwindi in Uganda and we trekked for 7 hours up through the forest and over the mountains. The bush at the top of the hill was very thick and it involved us having to scramble through thorn bushes and vines, but it was all worth it when we got to the family we had be tracking. We got to spend a very memrable hour with the family. We had the silverback not too far off eating his leaves, we had a mother and tiny baby playing in the trees above our heads and we 2 sub adults infront of us eating wild rasberries. They seem really comfortable with us being there, almost like we are part of the family for that hour. After our time was up we had to sadly say goodbye and head back to camp with wonderful memories in our minds - at least I knew I still had another tracking in Rwanda (and the guys at World Primate Safaris had said that Rwanda was better - lets see!!!!)

The operation in Rwanda seemed to be more organised which was a good start, and the scenery seemed better with the volcanoes as back drops and the bush seemed more open. Our trek this time was only a couple of hours along a well walked trail and was fairly flat which made for easier walking. We came across the family in a thick stand of bamboo which meant we had to go in single file which was a little dissapointing but things very quickly changed. The trackers have machettes with them and use them to clear spaces so that every body can get a good view of the gorillas. The gorillas don't seem to mind this at all and simply looked up for a second before continueing to feed or sleep. We had a fantastic sighting of the silverback (apparently he is the largest in Rwanda at 220Kg) as he sat up on his nest feeding. We were all watching him quietly when all of a sudden he stood up banged on his chest, like in the movies, and jumped down off his nest away from us. Everyone shat themselves........After that bit of excitment we moved round to where a young black back was resting and this gave us all the chance to sit down and quietly watch him sleeping a couple of meters away. It was at this point that we heard something moving through the bushes quite close to us - our guide calmly told us to stand up because the silverback was coming.......he came crashing through the bushes not more than 1 meter away from us grunting as he stood there 2 meters away from us. He was MASSIVE!!!!!!!

Our guide and tracker very calmly grunted back at him which seemed to work as he soon calmed down and continued to eat. The poor black back that had been sleeping was now wide awake - he didn't quite know what had happened.

We stayed there another 5 minutes before they both moved off, and so did we. We saw another female and very young baby in a tree above our heads. They decided they wanted to come down and go sdomewhere else, but we were blocking their path. We all parted like the Red Sea and let them pass within touching distance. After a couple more minutes watching various family members our time was up and we had to head back to the headquarters.........this was the best experience of my life and something I would love to do again.

I want to thank the guys at World Primate Safaris for talking me into doing the 2 trackings. They said to me that the first time you are watching them through your camera lens and the second time you apprciate the experience more and they were right; it was totally worth the extra $500 for the second permit.

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