This weekend's adventure took place at Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. A merry band of misfits and I decided to go gorilla trekking. Bwindi is one of three places IN THE WORLD that you can actually interact with gorilla families in their natural habitats. The other places are in Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Gorilla trekking takes quite some time to plan. You have to go to the local wildlife authority and get permits, which cost $350 in the off season and $475 in the high season. When you get the trekking permits, you also pick the family you are going to trek. When I say 'trekking' I mean we actually go find a family of gorillas. The family we chose was the Rushegura group (commonly called the R group). This group is supposed to be the easier of groups, the one that is the most habituated with humans. This group is also supposed to be one of the groups that is closest to the rest camp we stayed at. The other groups tend to be further away, leading to a very long, strenuous hike. Our hike wasn't terrible, it was steep at some points but it wasn't exactly impossible. The worst part was the fire ants or safari ants. They are big, red, and evil. When they bite, you know. It's really painful and the pain lasts.
When we finally got to the gorillas, we couldn't see them clearly at first. They were mostly youngsters who were in trees. Eventually they came down and we got to sit and watch for a bit. We took plenty of pictures. At one point, one of the girls in the group was posing for a picture and the silver back came down the path. It passed behind her by a mere 4 feet.
The silver back went down and posed for many pictures along with a mother and some babies. After a while they all started heading up. We followed them a bit, until the silver back decided to charge one of
the younger gorillas. At this point I froze and threw my hands up in an 'I didn't do it' type action. Of course if the gorillas had seen me, they would have thought I was being aggressive and would have charged me. Thank goodness they didn't see me.
I got really close to a mother and a baby and at this point the silver back had gone back up the hill. When I was posing for some pictures, the silver back started coming back down and passed behind me by a mere few feet. I freaked out and of course the guide keep trying to reassure me to stay calm and I'd be fine. I did and I was, but it was a bit scary while it was happening.
The time felt shorter than it was and we had to leave. We got back to the rest camp safe and sound. It was truly an amazing experience. Now I understand why Diane Fossey got all hyped up about these Gorillas (though she was in Rwanda, not Uganda).
Gorilla trekking takes quite some time to plan. You have to go to the local wildlife authority and get permits, which cost $350 in the off season and $475 in the high season. When you get the trekking permits, you also pick the family you are going to trek. When I say 'trekking' I mean we actually go find a family of gorillas. The family we chose was the Rushegura group (commonly called the R group). This group is supposed to be the easier of groups, the one that is the most habituated with humans. This group is also supposed to be one of the groups that is closest to the rest camp we stayed at. The other groups tend to be further away, leading to a very long, strenuous hike. Our hike wasn't terrible, it was steep at some points but it wasn't exactly impossible. The worst part was the fire ants or safari ants. They are big, red, and evil. When they bite, you know. It's really painful and the pain lasts.
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| Bwindi Impenetrable National Park |
When we finally got to the gorillas, we couldn't see them clearly at first. They were mostly youngsters who were in trees. Eventually they came down and we got to sit and watch for a bit. We took plenty of pictures. At one point, one of the girls in the group was posing for a picture and the silver back came down the path. It passed behind her by a mere 4 feet.
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| The REAL kings of the jungle |
The silver back went down and posed for many pictures along with a mother and some babies. After a while they all started heading up. We followed them a bit, until the silver back decided to charge one of
the younger gorillas. At this point I froze and threw my hands up in an 'I didn't do it' type action. Of course if the gorillas had seen me, they would have thought I was being aggressive and would have charged me. Thank goodness they didn't see me.
 |
| BANANGE BANANGE BANANGE (translation: OHMYGOD OHMYGOD OHMYGOD) |
The time felt shorter than it was and we had to leave. We got back to the rest camp safe and sound. It was truly an amazing experience. Now I understand why Diane Fossey got all hyped up about these Gorillas (though she was in Rwanda, not Uganda).
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