Whenever I mentioned that I was going to be an English Language Fellow in Mbarara, Uganda, almost always somebody said something to the effect of, "You're so lucky because you'll be right near the gorillas!" And they were totally right. Working in Mbarara means that I'm only a few hours away from the opportunity to track gorillas and it's an experience that I started planning as soon as I arrived in the country.
There aren't many places in the world where one can encounter gorillas and there are only about 900 mountain gorillas in the wild, currently only found in Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Many people choose to see gorillas in Uganda because of increased prices in Rwanda and problems with safety and stability in the DRC. Opting to do a gorilla trek in Uganda is still quite an investment, however, with high season permits costing around $600 and low seasons ones around $450. In contrast, doing a gorilla trek in Rwanda can typically cost over $1000. When Sean and I arrived in early October, we joined a group of expats planning a gorilla trek in late November. This made the experience more affordable because November is the rainy, off season and going in a group decreases costs of hiring a car and a driver. A gorilla trek has to be planned a bit in advance because official permits have to be acquired and paid for in Kampala through the Ugandan Wildlife Association and more often than not the demand for permits outnumbers the supply.
Last Friday afternoon after teaching communication class, the group of us set out for Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, which was about a five hour drive passing through Kabale. The last two hours of the journey involved rough mountain roads and we ended up getting a flat tire. Fortunately, everyone in the group was positive and outgoing and we enjoyed a few beers on the veranda of a roadside hotel while waiting for a new tire to be delivered. We reached Rushaga Gorilla Camp at about 7:30 p.m. and had a lovely set dinner together at 8 p.m. Everyone headed to bed early in anticipation of the hike to the gorillas the following day.
Saturday began very early with breakfast at 6:15 a.m. and a hike to the gorilla tracking headquarters for the briefing which began at 8:00 a.m. We joined about twenty-five other excited hikers from all over the world for an hour-long session explaining the history of the program, the habitat and ecology of the gorillas and the rules for the trek. We were warned that because of the enormity of the park, some groups might hike up to 5 hours before seeing the gorillas whereas other groups might only have to hike for 30 minutes. There are several different gorilla families located in Bwindi and we were divided up into groups of no more than eight people to visit one of them. Before we had arrived, experienced Ugandan gorilla trackers had set out to locate each of the families so that they could radio their location to our guide to cut down on hiking time. Our trekking group consisted of 8 tourists, one guide, one porter and two soldiers in the front and back for protection against poachers and aggressive mountain elephants.
After the briefing, we met our guide, learned which family we would track, picked out walking sticks and introduced ourselves to the rest of our group. We started the hike at nine and after about 30 minutes of hiking our guide received a radio call notifying us that the gorilla family had changed direction so we had to turn around and start off again on a new trail. After only hiking for a short while, it was easy to see why the forest had been named "Impenetrable" as the trekking was difficult due to dense trees and growth. Since it was the rainy season, trails were slick and everybody was slipping and falling when there were steep ascents and descents. Other challenges during the hike were mobs of biting safari ants, thick clouds of mosquitoes, lots of thorny undergrowth and wet stream crossings. After two hours of hiking, we stopped and waiting for the gorilla trackers to recommend a specific route to find our family. Once we received the information, we started hiking off trail into the thick, untamed bush of Bwindi National Park. Two guides went in front with machetes to help clear the way and our group slowly descended into the thick rainforest for one final hour. I have never hiked in such a challenging environment before and it made all of us imagine what it must have been like for early explorers navigating new landscapes with no ready-made trails.
Rounding the corner and seeing the group of mountain gorillas for the first time was a magical and surreal experience. Since the gorillas in Bwindi are habituated, we were able to get and stay very close for the full hour-long experience. Being 'habituated' means that the gorillas had been exposed to humans often and thus were quite accustomed to us being a certain distance away. We watched them play with each other, snack, nap and talk to each other using loud grunts and coughs. Our group consisted of nine gorillas: one silverback male, three babies and five other younger males and females. For most of the hour, they stayed in one area but when they started walking to a different place we were able to follow them at a safe distance. It was fascinating to see them interact with each other as they were eerily humanlike.
The hour passed much too quickly and all too soon it was time to hike back to the park headquarters. Everyone had a fantastic experience and there were no doubts as to whether it was worth the time, effort and money to commit to seeing such amazing animals in the wild. We made it back to camp at about 3:00 p.m. and enjoyed cold beers, warm showers and lots of photo and video sharing. Doing a gorilla trek exceeded my expectations and is something that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys hiking and who is interested in seeing wildlife in their natural habitat. I can now understand why so many people said it was a "must-do" experience for me and Sean during my time in Uganda as an ELF.
So incredible!!!
Nice experience you guys. Wish I could see you again. Steve from Changzhou in DC