Unlike Brin, I had not had the luxury of seeing the gorillas before my trip to Rwanda (After all, I had only been to Mexico). So, I was quite excited, but a little apprehensive about trekking through the forests of Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda (yes, the volcanoes are active) to see the famed mountain gorillas. We started out the day on Tuesday by heading to the base headquarters up near the volcanoes. There, we were broken up into groups, with each group assigned to track a different gorilla family. Our group consisted of family of four from upstate New York, a French couple from the island of Reunion (of whom the husband ran the Heineken brewery), and Brin and me, and we were assigned to track the Titus family. Our guide was a Rwandan named Felix, and he had been working on the mountain for 21 years, so that gave me a little more comfort about our trek. We also had 2 armed guards from the Rwandan Army each carrying an AK-47 to protect us in case the gorillas charged. No, actually they will not shoot any of the gorillas if they charge humans, but they will shoot poachers who are hunting the gorillas (and maybe a solider or two from the DR Congo, if necessary).
Once our group was assembled, we drove further up into the volcanoes to the beginning of the trail that we were to hike. The trail was not your standard American hiking trail through the trees, but was actually a series of maze-like paths carved between the farms that are tended by the local peasant farmers. We hiked up the trail for about an hour and a half, or so, before getting to the jungle. Along the trail, we passed hundreds of people who live and farm up in the mountains and will likely live there their entire lives. The people appeared to grow crops (potatoes, bananas, peas, etc.) for their personal consumption, but they also sell crops in the markets that are hours away on foot.
As we arrived to the jungle, we were directed by our guide to stay 7 meters away from the gorillas once we came upon the family. Not for safety, but because the gorillas can catch our diseases. Upon entering the jungle, we hiked for about 10 minutes when we came upon the gorilla tracker who had been tracking the family and directing our guide via walkie-talkie where to hike. The tracker could uncannily “speak” gorilla and was able to lead us the final 50 meters or so to the gorilla family.
At this point, I was getting quite nervous about approaching the gorillas. Our first encounter with one of them was hearing it walking towards us through the thick jungle plants. I saw the plants moving, but I could not yet see the gorilla. After it emerged, though, it was pretty obvious that it meant no harm to us. We followed the gorilla for about another 20 meters, and it led us to the Silverback (the leader of the family), which was quite an imposing beast. He could have taken down our entire group in no time flat. We sat and watched the Silverback and the other gorilla for about 5 or 10 minutes, and then the gorillas headed up the volcano a short ways. We followed them up the volcano, and we were suddenly approached by another gorilla that was coming to join the family, which was going to take its morning rest in about 30 minutes. We snapped countless pictures of the family (I think we took about 300 pics of the gorillas), and some of the gorillas even appeared to pose for us. It was amazing. A few minutes later, a few more of the family came and joined their relatives, and there ended up being six gorillas in all. They were very calm and seemed to kind of enjoy being on stage for us. Brin said that the photo ops were better this year than when she did the trek last year.
After an hour with the gorillas, which is all we are allowed to spend with them because of the risk of communicating diseases to them, we headed back out of the jungle and started our hike back down the mountain. I was in amazement that I had just been 5 feet away from mountain gorillas (our guide was a little lax on the 7 meter rule). It was truly unbelievable.
Side Note from Brin: Barton is right, my pictures are a thousand times better this year, and there are literally almost 400 of them. I think most people were disappointed in pics last year, but I can assure you these capture it. We also used our same travel guide from last year, George. He and I have maintained contact over the last year and he has invited us to his wedding! (actually this is the 2nd wedding we have been invited to on this trip in Rwanda). Wedding in Rwanda anyone? We also drove to the twin lakes in the mountains, which I was not able to do last year. Here, some village children found us on a trail. I gave them Kashi bars and pens, which looked so strange and out of place as they clutched them in their tiny dirty hands. They were so excited about these small gifts that they performed a song and dance for us on the spot….The pics tell it all. We will post them soon.
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