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Published: November 30th 2006
So...who is going to play?
Looking serious now but five seconds later this gorilla was attempting to put another gorilla in a 'friendly' headlockAll of a sudden there was a rustling in the trees just twenty metres away. We looked at each other and grinned like mad. We could hardly believe that we were about to enter the world of the mountain gorillas.
There are only about 720 mountain gorillas left in the world, making it one of the most endangered species on the planet. There are no mountain gorillas in captivity (those in zoos are generally lowland gorillas) and so the only chance of seeing one is by hiking in the rainforests of Uganda, Rwanda or Congo. We chose Parc National Des Volcans in Rwanda for such an experience.
After travelling from Kampala to Kisoro, then crossing the border into Rwanda, we spent the night at a guesthouse in Kinigi. The following morning we joined about 50 other people at 7.30am in the carpark of the National Park office. We were split into small groups (our group just had us and two others) and were briefed on the gorilla group we were to visit and suitable behaviour. We were going to visit Kwitenda group, which has 17 gorillas.
I was quite apprehensive about the walk as I had heard it
could be extremely difficult hiking. Combine that with my love of creepy crawlies of the eight legged variety and it was not a good mix. However, the walk turned out to be fine. No walk in the park but still much better than I had anticipated. It took us about 75 minutes to locate the trackers (the men who track the gorillas so that we don't spend the day traipsing unsuccessfully up and down mountains). Seventy percent of this time was spent following a track, albeit an overgrown one. There were a couple of spills in the mud and the stinging nettles were not pleasant but it was a small price to pay to see these creatures. Oh, and I didn't see one spider!
Our guide asked us to leave our bags behind with the trackers and so, armed with just our cameras and our building excitement, we walked into the bamboo grove. There he sat - the silverback. One word came to mind: 'massive'. The head of the group was huge and his bulk could definitely be described as intimidating. However, he didn't show any animosity towards us. Rather, he watched us for a while, then turned his
Eating Bamboo
Bamboo is a treat for gorillas head and grabbed another stick of bamboo to eat. Although he didn't seem interested in us, you knew that he was monitoring our actions and keeping an eye on his family.
We moved past the silverback and into a clearing where another male had made himself quite comfortable. We sat just two metres away watching him eat, then create a nest into which he flopped down into. He sprawled on his stomach with his head in his hands and watched us watching him. The moment he made eye contact with me was humbling to say the least.
Our guide moved us from this gorilla to a smaller clearing where two juvenile gorillas were tumbling about. James looked at me with a delighted grin when the gorillas started beating their chests as a sign that they wanted to play. They continued their rough game of wrestling, at times rolling quite close to us.
The highlight of the experience for me, however, was the moment when we stood just a metre and a half away from a mother holding her baby. The baby was just five days old. All we could see was a beautiful fuzzy little head cradled
in her arms and a tiny hand waving about, grabbing at mum's fur. It was at this point that I got a bit teary. They are such magnificent creatures and the tenderness and protectiveness that this mother was showing her baby was just so beautiful.
I could write so many words about this experience. Instead, you can see for yourself in the photos a little bit of what we saw. I hope to post some more photos and video soon.
Just to finish, we crossed back into Uganda after the trek and stayed at Travellers Rest (where Dian Fossey stayed). The following day we visited Garama Cave in Mgahinga National Park and spent some time wandering around in the dark trying not to startle the bats. Next stop, chimpanzees...
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Cat Wood
non-member comment
Wow.
I am totally in awe of these majestic creatures... I can't believe that the photos on your blog are taken by you. Far out. Wow. I bet it was worth the $1000 to go and see them... PS Pleased you didn't see any spiders!