Gorillas!

Were they incredible. Everyone inevitably asks (or at least those who know the price—full disclosure, it costs $500 for a permit to visit them), “Was it worth it?” I told a guy who asked us the night before we went, even if it’s not, I’ll still probably say it was, because come on, who wants to spend that much on anything other than spectacular. But the truth is, it really is one of those once in a lifetime experience (although more than one person I met was doing it twice in one week!). To be that close to such massive, gentle, human-like creatures, living and thriving in their natural environment is a unique gift.

Of course, we almost didn’t make it. After a month of scrambling to get the permits, which is not easy due to the holiday work schedule, internet and other communication issues, we secured them and were told by numerous people to report to the main wildlife authority office in Ruhengeri on Monday morning at 7am (of course never mind that our tickets said the office at Kinigi). So we showed up to sure enough have no one else there, only an office assistant who spoke bits of English and we were pretty convinced we would miss the trek which had us in a serious panic. After waiting ages (“soon, soon”) for the bodas to arrive to take us to the Kinigi office, we experience a terrifying 20 minute hair-raising (but beautiful) ride out to the national park of the Vulcans Mountains, and managed to just catch the last group that was leaving to visit the Umbano gorilla group. Boy were we lucky! We were sad because we had wanted to visit the Susa group (the one originally studied by Dian Fossey that is only accessed by a very rigorous 4-hour ascent into their mountain habitat), but that group had left early—but thank goodness, it was a blessing in disguise! I had put “excellent” for my physical fitness level on the questionnaire (I had run a half marathon less than a month beforehand after all), but not so!! I was STRUGGLING. We had a two hour ascent (with some slippery descents thrown in too) and I along with the rest of the group was huffing and puffing.

But then suddenly there was a SWOOSH through the trees, and a gorilla was clambering along a mere 10 feet away! (So much for the 7 meter rule of distance that is commonly held!)Our guide, and the two arm guards that were with us guided us along the steep lush terrain following the gorilla troop as they swung through the trees and tumbled along the ground. There was a huge male silverback, the head for the 9-member troop, and the was just a massive sight to behold emerging from a thick green curtain. A mother nursed a baby just a few feet away, and when the baby came wandering over to us, to pat at one guy’s leg and check out his tripod bag, the mother came hurtling towards us! I felt the rush of wind as I dodged out of the way. Three young ones frolicked at our feet and then swung from the limbs and play-fought with each other. We watched as they picked through and munched on bamboo. There is a strict limit of an hour visit with the gorillas, and of course it passed in no time at all as I knew it would. After a final view of the troop who now appeared to be set up for a meeting up in the jungle brush, we made our way down the slippery slopes into the beautiful farmlands below with the striking outline of the mountains looming all around.

As we drove out (we were lucky to bum a ride with a nice Australian couple to the site of the trek) little local children bombarded us with drawings of gorillas for a few 100 RFr. The hope is that much of the permit costs goes to the poor villages in the Park in order that they derive benefit from the tourists hiking on their land, and encourage them to conserve the forest habitat of the gorillas and not hunt and poach them. The contrasts, like many in Africa, are striking: wealthy tourists’ extravagant activities in the face of so much poverty. I hope that the Rwandan government, as well as the Ugandan and Congolese government and wildlife authority will continue to protect the gorillas of their country as well as their own citizens and use their huge funds for the greater good. I guess only time will tell.

Upon our late arrival and our sadness over missing the Susa group, one of the wildlife authority claimed that all the groups are amazing and which ever one we visited, we would later proclaim that one to be the best. He was right, as Umbano group is clearly the best! My visit to the gorilla instilled in me a great respect for these creatures, whom when you look in the eye, really seem like a not-so-distant relative after all.