I didn’t get to stay in Kigale, Rwanda long. I was only there one full day. I was met at the airport by my guide and new friend, Reginal. Reginal owns his own tour company in the city. He is fluent in several languages so, no problems communicating with him and the locals. It was a full day for us. He drove me around the city which was surprisingly clean and neat! People took pride in having no trash in the streets. People cleaned up after themselves, we should learn from them. I loved how friendly the locals were. They wave to you, flashing big smiles, always saying welcome, nice to meet you. I noticed several people saying “nice to meet you” as they put a hand over they’re heart as to say, from the bottom of my heart!
He showed me why, Kigali is known for it’s hundred hills and how each hill looked over the others across each other. I got to visit the Genocide Museum in town. A sad reminder of the Ethnic problems that’s plagued East Africa and other parts of the continent for decades. He showed me the different hospitals; unfortunately, I didn’t have time to go inside. Reginal was able to arrange a meeting with the Public Relations Officer of one of the biggest hospitals in Kigali. We can contact him in the future when I go back with volunteers.
Baby Gorilla MMA
It was early afternoon and I had to drive quickly to the Rwanda/Uganda border to make it to Bwindi before it gets too late. This is when I found out Rwanda grows tons of Green Tea to export to other countries. The hillsides outside the city was covered with Tea. The border was chaotic and we literally had to walk across because of the huge semi trucks, potholes and construction going on at the time. I met a guide and now, new friend Karim at the border. This is the beginning of the best adventure of my life!
If you could’ve seen me, I had the biggest smile on my face. I’m in Uganda! The reason I flew the long flight across the world, why I bought extra 128GB Micro SDXC 
It’s going to be a long drive so, Karim and I get acquainted. We chat about where we came from, our families and I was curious about Uganda. The roads are like the back of his hand. Even the gas station attendants recognize him. I’m very excited about my Gorillas so, I ask Karim what to expect and what my chances are of actually seeing a Silverback up close. He says, “95% chance” with a confident smile. The long, bumpy drive just got a lot more bearable.
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is huge and it takes us hours before we entered its borders to get to my lodge. The lodge is basic but, very nice and cozy. It’s made of hardwood found outside and inside the park. The staff is already waiting for me and dinner is a simple yet, tasty curry chicken. The staff is friendly and very helpful and offered lots of great Ugandan coffee. The coffee they serve and sell at the lodge is Mountain Gorilla Coffee. This company as well as lots of other companies that are in Uganda donate a portion of sales to the National Parks for conservation and education efforts. Before going to bed, Karim tells me what to expect tomorrow, my big day. I’m so excited I packed and unpacked my small backpack several times making sure I had enough water, snacks, insect repellant. I bought a new filtered Water Bottle
Today’s the big day! I’m praying and crossing my fingers that I get to see the Mountain Gorillas up close. We go to the Nat’l Park ranger station and get briefed on how to act around the Gorillas. The guides separate us in groups of eight, the maximum for each Gorilla family. This is why you have to book your trip in advance. The guides have to make sure they can get you a permit to go on the Gorilla Trekking. I found out that I’m going with a group to see a family with two babies! I’m even more excited to see the interaction between the Silverback, the black backs and the babies.
The whole expedition group is comprised of a guide, two armed national park rangers to protect us from wild, aggressive jungle elephants; and a minute chance from the Gorillas themselves. The Gorillas have been “habituated” to see humans for two years before groups of trekkers are introduced to the family. In addition to the group, two trackers usually go a couple of hours ahead and track the Gorillas from where they were the night before. After the briefing, the guides check in with the trackers via walkie talkies if they’ve found the Gorillas. Our trackers say that they’ve seen fresh tracks so, we jump in the 4×4 vehicles and drive to the nearest area we can drive to outside the jungle. They take us to a small town where they have porters trained to help trekkers who might be too weak or not sure footed. Some travelers just want to have their gear out of the way so, they can snap pictures the whole time. I choose to carry my own gear. I like to have my snacks handy.
Gorilla grooming
The hike was less than two hours long. I was thankful for that since, they told us it could be anywhere from two to six hours each way. We stop and again the guides tell us what to expect. We have to stay seven yards away from the Gorillas. we can’t touch the animals but, if they choose to walk to us and touch us, it’s ok. If the Silverback gets mad and looks like he’s about to charge; we’re to look down and maybe even bow down and look weak, helpless and submissive. We can’t show the Gorillas we’re eating and drinking so, we get a quick snack and hydrate for our hour long visit. I can hear growls and grunts from the thick bushes. The ranger next to me smiles and says, “they’re waiting for you”. I smile from ear to ear and get my camera and phone ready.
The jungle is thick and the guides and trackers hack vines and bushes to get us closer. I see a clearing and figures behind the leaves ahead of me. I walk faster and try to get behind the guide as the others are still hydrating. The guide whispers, “get your camera ready”. I point and shoot and use up 128gigs on video and photos of these amazingly playful and powerful creatures. The Silverback, who is the Alpha Male, is on his belly just relaxing. One female is in front of him and another behind. The rest of the family is scattered in the area where bushes are flattened on the moist earth. Good thing I sprayed my clothes with repellent and tucked my pants in my socks. There are bushes that can scratch you and bugs
We spend over an hour with the Gorillas. The babies were the highlight of the trip for me. I was sweating the whole time in the heat and humidity of the Ugandan jungle but, it was well worth the sweat. They actually had two babies and another about several months older. The three wrestled and played and climbed all over the adults the whole time. Sometimes the mother of one of the babies would grab her child to stop them when it gets too rowdy. The kids will stop for a good five seconds before walking to another adult and starting over on his or her side. The whole time the Gorillas barely pay attention to us. The Silverback farted a few times and nobody actually minded but, the eight humans snickered like little kids. The guide explained that Gorillas are vegetarian and eat all day. Their bellies fill with gas and have to let it out somehow.
After being there for almost an hour, a Blackback gets curious and meanders over to a bush directly in front of me. The guide says not to worry, he just wants to meet me and make friends. I was a little worried when one of the rangers started tugging at the bush and cuts some of the branches down while the Blackback was still in front of me. That didn’t seem to bother him. He just keeps looking at me and the person next to me. All of a sudden the Silverback lets out a loud grunt and the females grunt back to say everybody’s ok. That made a few of the trekkers a little nervous but, it happened so quick and none of the Gorillas actually moved that I thought it was so cool to witness their interaction.
Towards the end the Silverback gets up and heads deeper in to the jungle. Some of the Gorillas follow, some laze around a little longer. One of the females with a baby grabs her baby and swings him around so he can hang around her neck while on her back. The agility and smoothness of the way they move hides their brute strength until we got close to the end of our visit. We hear a loud crack and see a huge tree branch breaking and the Silverback’s hand holding on to middle of the tree branch that was almost the size of a medium tree trunk. On her way out a female with her baby rushes between a couple of Blackbacks and younger Gorillas and nearly tramples them. One of the younger ones recovers and scratches his head as if he were thinking “what just hit me”. Then it was his turn, he walks over to me and the guy next to me; he reaches over and puts his hand on the other trekker’s leg and pushes him away as if to say, I gotta take it out on someone else! We actually thought it was funny and the guy next to me excitedly said, “that was cool!”
We’ve stayed over an hour and the guide reminds us it’s time to go too. A mother and baby is left behind us. She let her baby climb a branch above her. The baby Gorilla was so cute and climbed with such agility. Our group just kept snapping away with our camera still snickering like little kids with our own little, funny secrets.
Bwindi, Gorilla Trekking guide and park rangers
On our way back to our vehicles, all we could do and talk about was how amazing and magical it was and how it was the best thing we’ve ever done and witnessed in our whole lives. We showed each other our videos and photos like the others weren’t there. We reached a valley where we could see the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the background and decided this was a perfect spot for pictures with our guide, rangers and trackers. I got to hold the AK47.
That amazing Gorilla Trek still puts a smile on my face every time I think of the baby Gorillas and the Silverback farts! Luckily I didn’t get a whiff of it, haha.
