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  • Day 113

    Ruhija, Bwindi Impenetrable Forest NP

    August 27, 2017 in Uganda ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    We were sure that nothing could be better than our gorilla experience in Rwanda – we were wrong! Seeing the gorillas for the second time in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in Uganda (BEST name for a park, ever) was even more incredible…we feel beyond lucky.
    The weather was clear and it was a short hike to where the gorilla family we were tracking had decided to hang out for the day. It took the forward trackers some time to find them as they kept changing direction and we had to wait for about an hour before they knew for sure where they were settling in for breakfast. Again, like Rwanda, we knew we were close when the forward trackers appeared out of the dense undergrowth and our guide told us to leave everything with a couple of the porters, except cameras.
    We approached the family, with a female and young baby appearing first. Next, the massive alpha silverback appeared and sat on the edge of a small clearing. This silverback was huge, but calm, which somehow made him more imposing than the silverbacks we encountered in Rwanda. The group was made up of 3 silverbacks (2 did not appear as they are older and tend hang out on the outskirts of the group), several females and juveniles, and a few little ones -including a 6-month old. Slowly, most of the group appeared in the small clearing and started to feed, climb and play fight. The silverback quietly sat in the background observing and occasionally trying to nap, but also making periodic, low pitched rumbles to make sure we knew he was there and to communicate with the family. From the photos and video you get a sense of how close we got to the gorillas. Officially, you are supposed to only get within 7 meters of them, but it is impossible to maintain that distance because of the tight, dense undergrowth, but also because the gorillas often approach you, sometimes quickly, and decide to sit and do their thing just a few feet from you. After a quick hour, we started to reluctantly retreat back up the mountain and leave the gorillas behind.
    No one leaves this experience unhappy. When you are with the gorillas you occasionally look around at your fellow trekkers to observe their reactions and everyone has smiles, sometimes tears. What we also noticed with this encounter was the reaction of the porters, guide, trackers and researcher that was present. They were as excited as the paying guests even though they probably see gorillas most days. They were all taking pictures, laughing at the young gorilla antics and talking excitedly with each other about the behavior. What an amazing job!!
    When we returned from trekking, we were told by our guide that a chameleon had been located in the nearby village (we’d mentioned wanting to see one), so off we went in our LR with one of the porters to see a chameleon. We climbed through the village into a back garden and were able to see 3 (a male, female and young one) in a tree. What an incredible day!
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