Africa 2018

So why fly all the way to Africa to see mountain gorillas?  Apparently, there are no mountain gorillas in captivity, as they don’t survive in captivity.  So what are all the gorillas we see in the zoos?  Well, they are the Western lowland gorillas, not mountain gorillas.  The only way to see mountain gorillas is to go to 3 countries in Africa – Uganda, Rwanda, and Congo (which isn’t safe to go to right now thanks to the continued fighting).  We picked Uganda, because the trekking permits were cheaper ($600 per person per trek) vs. Rwanda’s $1500.  Subsequently, we decided to do 2 treks – one per day.

There are 3-4 habituated gorilla families in the Buhome area.  Habituated means that the gorillas have been slowly “exposed” to humans over the course of 2 years to the point where they are used to seeing humans, and yet still act as they normally would in nature.  Obviously, there are wild gorillas whom, we were told, you don’t want to come into contact with, as they may be unpredictable.

These are the 3 families…

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The way gorilla trekking works is as follows.  The team of 3 trekkers will hike out @ 7AM to where they last left the gorilla family the evening before (gorillas are just like humans where they will ‘set up camp’ at night fall for bedtime, and then wake up in the AM to start foraging and traveling), the trekkers will then radio the guides to inform them of their location.  Gorilla families obviously have their territories and will stay within bounds.  Some are located closer to the headquarters than others.  

Prior to our trek, I had made it quite clear I preferred going on the longer hike, but for some reason, we ended up trekking to the gorilla family closest to the headquarter – the Rushegura Family.  It took less than 30 minutes before we came upon the family of gorillas.

Once we arrived to the spot where the gorillas are, we got to spend a maximum of 1 hour with the gorillas.  It was exciting to see the gorillas milling around in their natural habitat not minding us at all.  One of them got within 5 ft of me (we were advised to keep a distance from the gorillas, to prevent transmission of disease to them).  The same one had climbed onto a branch which broke right on top of me.  It was craziness in the beginning.  I finally got my bearings, and managed to stay out of the way.

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People were taking selfies with the gorillas, and we just couldn’t pass up that chance.

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The silver back of this group wasn’t quite so impressive, but we were immensely entertained by the baby gorilla frolicking around us in the forest.

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Before we knew it our time was up, and it was back to camp.  We got back before noon (so much for the boxed lunch) and had nothing else to do for the rest of the day.  I’ll admit, I was disappointed by the short hike.  However, this family of gorillas is perfect for old folks who are not as fit and can’t hike as long.  This makes the gorillas accessible to them.

I spent the rest of the day praying that the next day’s adventure would be more exciting, and less a walk in the park.

The next morning, we met up with the Sanctuary rep for our 7:45AM flight to Kihihi.  With our priority pass, we got to check out the VIP lounge at the airport for a quick bite – yummy beef samosa!

We didn’t get to stay long, as someone came to fetch us for our flight.  

The flight itself took an hour and a half after making 2 other stops in between.  The first stop had us landing on a grassy airstrip!

And at the second stop in Kisoro, we landed on gravel!

Here are some birds eye view of Uganda’s terrain.  Everything is so green and lush!

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We finally landed at Kihihi on a clay gravel airstrip.

Pavement must be a luxury in Uganda.

We were met by Rogers, our driver who would bring us to the Sanctuary Gorilla Forrest Camp.  Along the way, I was struck by how poor the area is, yet, everyone was going about their business, either going to work or to school.  We were told that some kids would walk 10K (6 miles) each way daily just to go to school.  Puts western kids to shame, with their private vehicle drop offs and all.

The road on the way wasn’t paved, and after a bumpy hour and a half ride to the camp I was happy to see the entrance to the park.

The Gorilla Forrest Camp is located within the park and only minutes from the park headquarters.  After ascending a long flight of stair, we were greeted by this view of the camp.

We were given mango juice upon check-in, and given a briefing in the reception/dining area before heading to our room.

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The path leading up to our lodge for the next 3 days.

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Had lunch and the rest of the day at leisure.  The camp was perfect except for the fact that wifi is only available in the main area, and it was painfully slow.  I know we should not be on our devices while on vacation, but there wasn’t much else to do around camp.  Well, we could have ventured out, but chose not to.  We wanted to rest up for the next day – our first gorilla trek.