Today, greeted with a fantastic sky FULL of stars, soon to
be replaced with the sun trying to push its way through the thick mist; my
dream was going to become reality. I kept saying to myself this is what Dian
Fossey would have experienced every morning. At 8am we arrived at the briefing
hut to meet Stephen (our head ranger) who would eventually be leading us to the
Bitukura gorilla group. This group is made up of 13 individuals including four silverbacks, adult females, juveniles and a 13 month old baby. Did you know
that when a male reaches 14 years old he will start to develop a silverback, it
is not just the dominant male that has it.
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| Sunrise in Bwindi |
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| Head ranger Stephen |
We were then told the rules such as no
eating/drinking/smoking within 200m of the gorillas, the young get curious and
may come close but don’t try to touch them, the silverback is always watching, to
make sure we stay 7 metres away and my personal favourite was if we are charged
to stay still and crouch down (better said then done I think).
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| A demonstration of the 7 metre distance rule |
After the briefing we had a few moments to read more about
where we were and the gorillas in general. It was fantastic to see they had
scratched over the original total number of 700 and replaced it with 880. The
mountain gorillas are the only species of great ape that are increasing in
number; Chimpanzees, Bonobos, Orangutans and the other species of Gorilla are
all declining. Then Stephen uttered the words I had been waiting 20 years for
someone to say, “Let’s go and see the gorillas”.
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| Just in case we didn't see the real gorillas |
After a quick drive we arrived at the path into the forest,
but we had to wait, Stephen was in radio contact with the rangers who would
tell us when to leave so the gorillas would be in a good position and we were
not walking for hours. The call came in and we were off! We started going
downhill and very soon there were tall, thick ferns around us, visions of seeing
Dian Fossey, Ian Redmond and David Attenborough in such a surrounding suddenly
popped into my mind and I was overcome with excitement. Except for the odd bird
call and the rangers using their radios it was eerily quiet as we walked. After
about 10 minutes the thick ferns had turned into tall trees and we were going
down a steeper hill. They had used the forest elephant’s paths to
construct the ways through; I can see why it is called the Impenetrable Forest.
Every now and again one of the rangers would make a whooping call and wait to
hear a response to know which direction to travel in. After walking for 1 hour
and navigating a very steep hill we come across two new rangers, and then I
realised that we must be nearby the gorillas. All of a sudden I hear some
branches break and leaves rustle and a baby gorilla climbs up a small tree
almost like saying “Hi there”.
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| OK, here we go |
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| The rangers with the gorillas |
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| The beautiful baby gorilla that greeted us |
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| I just love this guy |
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| This baby knows how to enjoy life |
At first I could not quite believe I was actually starring
at a baby gorilla, it was so cute and fluffy and didn't seem to have a care in
the world. I grabbed my camera, dropped my bag and started snapping. As we got
closer the rangers cut away the foliage nearby so we could have a clearer view
in; there was the mother. If you thought gorillas were big it is nothing like
when you are here standing next to them. As we got closer to the mother she
welcomed us with a very loud fart that didn't seem to bother her; all that
lovely plant fiber she is eating. I then heard a rustle and crack to my
immediate left….. GRUNT…… it was an adult male silverback and he was massive. I
was currently standing 2 metres away from this guy, his head was 4 times bigger
than mine and his fingers were so thick and big. I felt so vulnerable and helpless
if he decided to charge; luckily I had been told to stay still and crouch if
that did happen. We followed their movements through the forest for the next 15
minutes, and then we saw some juveniles climbing bigger trees and another
silverback. I had gorillas all around me and it just felt surreal; I would love
to do this full time.
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| The mother watches her baby while we are close |
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| A juvenile climbs a tree for a nap |
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| The silverback reveals himself, and he is big |
I was getting worried that I wouldn't get any good pictures
and then (as if they heard me) we suddenly found ourselves out of the dark,
dense forest and in a small clearing. There in front of me was a youngster
playing on a fallen tree, to the side the silverback was sitting and a female
foraging and eating; it was perfect. Watching them go about their daily
business was so interesting and there was something so familiar with the way
they used their hands and facial expressions. The frequent grunts from the silverback kept reminding me not only that he was he there, but how
insignificant I was in size and power. The rangers would often do grunts of
their own, mimicking the gorillas sound to reassure them where we were. Also,
these grunts are done from the beginning of the habituation process and act as
a signal for saying it is me and you like me; we come in peace.
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| Juvenile playing |
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| Add caption |
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| Proof I was really there |
Before I knew it I heard the words I was dreading “time is
up guys”, that was the fastest hour of my life. As we started heading back (all
up hill) we went past the alpha silverback who was lying down on his stomach,
resting with his eyes shut. This proves how effective and successful this
habituation and ecotourism project is; they are very comfortable with us
around. Off we went, back to reality after having the most amazing experience
of my life.
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| Very happy after that experience |
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| Silverback lying down for a nap, whilst we are all around |
The rangers planned the trek so well we were back at the
briefing station by 12pm with the whole afternoon to see what else Bwindi had
to offer. I visited the local village and went on a nature walk with a staff
member from the lodge. The scenery was so fascinating and it was deafly quiet,
pleasant, with only the occasional farmer working, child playing or bird
tweeting to break the silence.
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| Group shot with the rangers |
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| Stephen presenting me with my gorilla certificate |
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| Gorilla drawing in local village |
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| Local village where I purchased some small gorilla carvings |
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| The stunning landscape |
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| Imagine farming crops up that |
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| Woman farming her crops with baby tied to her back |
On returning to the lodge the local kids were getting ready
to sing and dance for us in their matching yellow t-shirts bearing the words
“GorillaChildren”. They ranged from 3-13 and gave us the most incredible experience
that would have put most theatre productions in the West End of London to
shame. Within their first song they welcomed us to Bwindi and thanked us for
investing in their community (I learnt 20+% of the permit money goes to
community development and pays for schools/hospitals and salaries of teachers).
Nothing could top the hour I spent with the gorillas but this came close, near
the end they even invited me up to dance with them (how could I refuse); they
put me to shame with their moves though. After saying goodbye to them I was
left to enjoy the evening camp fire reminiscing on the events of the day with
my final night in the mountains.
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| Showing the kids the photos I took |
Uganda
is a beautiful country with lovely people and amazing wildlife and is well
worth a visit. They have many national parks that I would love to come back to
and see for myself.
I would like to thank Agaba of
A&A Gorilla Tours Ltd and
especially our guide Paul for the fantastic job they did. Everything about the
trip was well done and you could see they really love what they do and care
about the work. The places we stayed in were lovely and have a particular link
to the local communities; plus the staff were really friendly. Paul was so knowledgeable,
suddenly stopping and pointing out a bird, or describing the landscape so it
made more sense; or even telling us to sniff the air (we were passing through a
region that was famous for growing onions and yes you could smell it in the
air). I personally could not recommend them highly enough and if you are even
contemplating the thought of seeing the gorillas use these guys; do mention my
name if you do.
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| Standing with our excellent guide Pau |
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