Gorilla tracking in Uganda

View of Bwindi sitting from my balcony at Silverback Lodge.

I was going to experience a great adventure – but what to expect?  The gorillas’ home in Uganda is the Bwindi Impenetrable Rainforest National Park, a 124 square mile UNESCO site which is the habitat of around 350 mountain gorillas, 50% of the worlds remaining population. We stayed at the Silverback Lodge in the Buhoma sector of Bwindi. The accommodation is in an excellent situation with wonderful views of the valley and surrounding forests.  

The sign signalling we had arrived at the Ranger Station.

Woken up very early at 5.00 am, before daylight, breakfast was at 5.30 am! Could I eat breakfast at this hour?  I remember thinking I hope this gorilla tracking is worth it and we get to see them.  Our guide, Robert, had told us we had a 90% chance of seeing the gorillas.  At 6.00 am we started out on the 11/2 hour drive to the ranger station from our accommodation.   On arrival our permits were checked and we were assigned to a gorilla tracking group according to the degree of difficulty chosen, easy (up to a two hour track), medium (between 2 and 4 hours), or difficult (4 hours plus).  We opted for easy.  The largest group size was 8.   We were then taken by a ranger for our briefing, the instructions were detailed and built the anticipation nicely.  Illnesses are a legitimate concern for the rangers as they can be transmitted from humans to the gorillas so anyone showing the symptoms of a cold had the chance to own up and forgo the experience getting a refund of their permit fee.  Show signs of symptoms later we were told and you will be escorted out of the park with no refund.  

"What is that black blog over there?"

A further short drive from the Ranger Centre, a matter of minutes, we were dropped off by the roadside at the park boundary where we were met by the waiting porters who will for $20 a day carry your bag and generally assist with negotiating the steep mountain terrain.  I figured as a bag could become very heavy at the end of a long day negotiating the steep ascents and descents of the mountain terrain I would hire a porter.  I shared the cost with another member of the group. We were told that paying for a porter is a way of supporting the community putting money back into the local economy encouraging the locals to support gorilla conservation and protection.

It was explained that some of the porters were ex-poachers or were from the families of former poachers and the money they earned from ‘portering’ provided a living for their families which stopped them poaching the gorillas.  My porter was a charming young woman called Evelain who easily negotiated the terrain while laden with two bags and could even offer to help me with my footing.  In single file, tourists, porters, rangers and guards set off downhill through the thicket.  We had been on our way for no more than a minute when a group member, Sue, who was walking at the front of our group could be heard excitingly asking one of the rangers “what is that black blob up in the trees, just over there?”  
 

There were gorillas seemingly everywhere.

Hiding in the bushes?

We continued walking for no more than 3 minutes down a very steep, and I mean very steep slope, and walked straight into a family of gorillas.  How amazing and so soon into our trek.  No-one in the group could believe our luck as we had been told to expect to walk for 1 to 11/2 hours through the difficult terrain before expecting to see the gorillas, if we saw them at all.  The group we had stumbled upon included 2 adult silverbacks, a young silverback, at least three female gorillas (I lost count), two babies, one only two years old a ranger informed me and 3 other young gorillas.  

Just what is that?!

Wonderful!  Fascinating and humbling, what a privilege, a truly unforgettable experience.  I had never imagined stumbling on the gorillas so quickly or being able to spend an hour in the company of so many of these gentle giants.  The undergrowth in the rainforest is dense and there are many thick creepers, but the rangers clear the way for you and helpfully move branches aside so you get a better view of the gorillas. 

We observed the gorillas for one hour and during that time, and in no particular order, my

Face to face with the young silverback.

experiences were:  One of the adult silverbacks walked in front of me no more than 2 feet away.  Two females passed me by one with a baby on her back, closely followed by a young one. Walking straight into the path of the young silverback who was lagging behind the others, he was walking up the mountain as I was heading down at the end of our hour; I was in awe, one of the rangers encouraged me to take the photo opposite. Watching the silverback lying in contemplation, his baby playing on his back and doing somersaults using the branch of a tree near at hand. Two young gorillas grooming the other adult silverback.  Two females and other young gorillas resting in the hollow of a tree whilst a couple of other gorillas played in the trees.

Children will be children!

  The making of memories just went on and on.  Two or three of the gorillas were still gorging themselves.  I found myself so close to one female who was standing at the base of a tree trunk reaching up into the tree pulling down nuts or was it a seed of some sort (?) to eat, that I could clearly hear her crunching as she ate.  And, comically there was so much farting and burping, especially from the silverbacks – must have been all that fibre!

If there is one moment that particularly stands out for me it was loosing my footing in the deep foliage on a steep incline and falling onto my bottom not 10 feet from where one of the silverbacks was feeding.  Rather nervously I looked up to find my fall had not gone unnoticed for the silverback had momentarily stopped eating and was looking directly at the distraction, me!  I even found time to photograph the moment.  

So, my fall did not go unnoticed!

Guidance given for safe distance to stand.

All too soon the hour was up and we left the gorillas as they moved off deeper into the forest.  But what an experience to treasure.  My tip - if you go do be sure not to take photos all of the time, take the time to truly appreciate the experience, watch and take it all in.  I laugh to myself now when I think of the ranger instruction given at our briefing that we were to stay eight feet away from the gorillas, you just can’t explain that to an animal in the wild can you, as I discovered?!  

Silverback deep in contemplation.