Gorillas, Gorillas, Gorillas

Wednesday, May 4

Had a wonderful breakfast of fruit, eggs, and potatoes outside at Villa Gorilla. Our truck arrived at 6:40 to take us to the Volcanoes National Park. The hotel manager gave us 2 pairs of gaiters to use and said we could get more there. 

Registered and waited to meet our guide, Emmanuel. He went through orientation with us. We knew we would like him because he had a great sense of humor. He told us about the family of gorillas that we would see and how they live in families. There can be more than one silverback in a family but there is only one dominant one. He talked about the development of gorillas from birth to adulthood. Extremely fasinating. 

The gorilla family we would visit is called Umubano which means "living together." This family broke away away from another family when Charles, a silverback, and his silverback brother were left when a silverback died. It couldn't be decided who would be the dominant silverback so they eventually divided the family into two. Emmanuel said that once or twice a year the families get together for a day or two and then part ways until their next family reunion. 

The driver we hired would take us to the point where we would start walking. When we arrived Emmanuel suggested we hire a couple of porters for the journey so we did. They provided walking sticks for each of us. 

Got into mud right away. So much for clean shoes!

We had to walk 2km uphill and in the mud to get to the park. We went from 2300 meters to 2600 meters (7550 ft to 8530). It was not an easy walk. 

Emmanuel kept talking to someone on his radio. At one point he said that once we got to the park we would have about 30 minutes to walk to the gorillas. Of course, that was his walking time not ours. 

When we got to the park, we had to climb a three foot rock wall. Thank goodness there were places to put hands and feet along with porters. Short legs don't go very high! It was here we met a park ranger who would go with us. He carried a shotgun or rifle in case some animal came towards us. He could shoot up to scare animals away. 

Emmanuel kept calling Joe "Silverback." He said, "Silverback, I have some bad news. The gorillas are coming down the mountain to greet you. We will only have 15 minutes to walk." That was terrible news for us - NOT!!

We stopped to hear the rules just inside the park. Emmanuel warned us about stinging neddles. I remember them as a child as being very small but these were huge! And they hurt!!

Onward and upward we went. The ranger had to literally cut a path with machetes through the jungle for us to go. Mud everywhere. Stepping on downed small trees. Very difficult to walk. It was easy to lose your balance. It seemed like there was always a stinging neddle to grab. Painful!

We soon met 3 trackers who stay with the gorillas all day. They know where they bed down at night so it is easier for a group to find in the morning. All groups are limited to one hour so that the gorillas don't get stressed out. 

After 30 minutes or so, we walked up on a fairly young gorilla, a black back who was 9 years old. It was amazing. He just sat there. Looked at us, scratched himself, put his head on his arm like he was going to sleep. 

On a little further and we saw 3 or 4 more. We were surrounded. They didn't care one bit that we were there. We talked quietly and took pictures. Soon the dominant silverback, Charles, came to see silverback Joe. He came and sat down on some brush right in front of us and starting scratching his bottom. We just laughed at him. He left after a few minutes. 

There was one gorilla right behind Katherine. They could not have been more than 2 feet apart. It put its arm out towards K. He/she had already been showing off by turning on its back, eating, looking at us. Then it started to  move and came down right beside K. They were standing side by side. It was incredible. Then it moved toward me as I was standing right across from K. It wanted to go where I was so it walked right beside me brushing up against me. 

I couldn't believe it. It was hard not to touch but we were told not to. 

We were with them a little more than an hour. Then back down the mountain. 

We had to cross back over the tree bridge just before climbing back down out of the park. 

Having the porters along to carry our pack with water and cameras made the trip easier. They were also there to help keep us upright instead of down in the slippery mud. They were great!

We all kept thinking about the tomato soup that was awaiting us at Villa Gorilla. We had some rain on us on the way back but we had raincoats. We sweated a lot and it was cool so I got chilled. 

This is a picture of the mist on the way out. 

The road in and out was the bumpiest road I have ever been on. Big rocks everywhere! I am not sure we were averaging 2 miles an hour. If you could have walked over the rocks, you could easily have gotten to the paved road faster. 

When we arrived at Villa Gorilla, they were waiting for us. They had flip flops ready. They took off our shoes and socks and put on the flip flops for us. They took our shoes to wash. 

We went outside to eat. Delicious hot tomato soup, roll and butter. The main course was either chicken stir fry or pizza. Great meal. 

We all went to change clothes. We were going to shower but there was no hot water. 

Driver took us to bus station in Musanze to catch a bus to Gisenyi on the shore of Lake Kivu. We waited more than an hour for the bus to come. Bus ride was 2 hours. 

Took taxi to hotel where we were told they had a private party and didn't have a room. Rachel had reserved the family room over a month ago but the lady acted like she didn't know what we were talking about. Anyway, she called another place for us so we had a couple of nice rooms.