Gorillas In The Mist

Well my Ugandan bucket list has recently been shortened thanks to Mama and Papa Matthews.

After camp had ended I headed further south to the Impenetrable Forest in Bwindi to trek some gorillas… The 18-member Rushegura family to be exact. 

The adventure started with Chelsea, Erin, Susy, and I traveling down to Bwindi with the campers and counselor who stay there.  Our bus ride was pretty uneventful, you know just swerving left and right to avoid potholes. 

That was until we reached Rukungiri.

Our ride was no longer on paved roads but rather a bumpy and dusty dirt path.  There was a lot of construction going on in the area, which caused the soil to not be set, which caused our bus to slowly tip to a forty-five degree angle landing on the bank.  Making sure to grab my book bag filled with my computer and other electronics, I jumped out the window and onto safe ground.  After accounting for the campers and waiting for the tire to be dug out, we were again on our way.

We arrived to Eric’s house as the sun was setting.  Eric is another PCV from my group who happens to live in the area and he graciously let us stay at his place.  Eric’s humble abode looks directly into the forest and he has said that on rare occasions the gorillas will pass in front of his house for a friendly visit.

That night we took hot showers, read, and began dreaming of gorillas.  The following day we spent low key, walking around the small town, stalking up on water, more bathing, and watching movies.  We had to rest up for our big hike the following day.   For dinner that night we went to a lodge where “Eric’s friends get a discount”, as Moses told us.  Instead of paying $15 USD we got a discount to $10 USD, which included soup, mashed potatoes, fish fillet, beef stroganoff, fresh vegetables, and dessert.  It was a steal!  Then as we were paying Moses insisted we stay for two glasses of complimentary wine.  We sat back down.

The next morning we were off, permits in hand and backpacks loaded with water and snacks.  As we got to the site we realized we were in for an adventure.  Our guide told us that a trekker was sent off that morning to find the gorillas but we have to hike to find him.  And by hike I mean scale a muddy mountain.  Now Uganda is home to the mountain gorillas unlike the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is home to the low land gorillas.  Lucky Congo.

Some background information on gorillas.  Bwindi houses half of the world’s population of the endangered mountain gorillas at almost 400, meaning there are only approximately 800 in the world.  These gentle creatures reside in Uganda, the DRC, and Rwanda so I consider myself blessed to live among these animals.

In Uganda, the Batwa pygmies used to live amongst the gorillas but in 1992 they were displaced, as the Impenetrable Forest became a national park and World Heritage Site to protect the mountain gorillas.  The Batwa had no title or land thus was given no compensation.  These indigenous people became conservation refugees in an unfamiliar and unforested world.  Due to their close residency with the endangered species, the gorillas were able to quickly habituate.

Before I go into more let me tell you how they find these gorillas.  So when I decided to commit to this trek I had some questions, such as what happens if you don’t find the family the morning of the trek.  Everyone quickly assured me that the gorillas are always found.  Part of this is due to their habituation but another part is due to how the trekkers go about finding them.  Well gorillas are always on the move to new places in the forest being that they are always searching for food and prefer not to stay in one place too long, hence giving us a run (or rather hike) for our money!  Trekkers set a GPS location of the previous days destination where the gorillas and they go from there.  The look for signs, including broken branches and a pile of feces covered by vegetation.  Once the trekker locate these they know they are somewhere near and quite frankly you can hear the gorillas at this point.  They are banging on their chest, swinging in trees, and having a morning chat.

After an hour hike uphill at an elevation range from 3,900 to 8,553 feet, not quite the 30 feet of Novato, we made it to our destination.  The guide told us to drop our bags, take our last swigs of water, and grab our cameras.  At this point we were not walking on what felt like solid ground but rather what felt like a gymnastic, forest floor that happened to be covered in branches and mossy grass. 

I was in the back and as I turn my head to the left there it is sitting oh so eloquently in the bushes.

A gorilla.

As I turn another corner I am immediately welcomed into their home for the day.  There are baby gorillas swinging on branches, a mother breastfeeding her child, another in the back practicing some kind of yoga pose, some more munching on leaves, and to our surprise two gorillas making a baby… That was until the all-powerful silverback started pounding on his chest and racing towards the scene. 

Now we were supposed to remain seven meters, 23 feet back from the gorillas but our guides were awesome and let us get up close and personal.  I even happened to be a little too close and received a little love pat from a baby gorilla on my leg.  I can consider that a sign of good luck right?!

We were given one hour to visit with the family and the whole time I was in awe to be in their natural habitat.  There were no fences or zookeepers stopping by to feed them.  I was in their territory and I felt so at peace.

As the gorillas started to move into the sun another little guy ran right in front of me and shot me a glance that said something like, “Welcome to the jungle.”

Still, a week and a half later I am speechless at my experience.

It was in that forest that I came to fully comprehend with whom we are blessed to share the world with.