Tour Tag 50 - Muzungu im Nebel 1

Heute ging es früh um 5:00 Uhr los zum Gorilla Trekking in den Bwindi Nationalpark. Wir fahren durch unfassbar schöne Terrassen Landschaften zum Startpunkt. Dort gibt es ein Briefing und wirRead more
Heute ging es früh um 5:00 Uhr los zum Gorilla Trekking in den Bwindi Nationalpark. Wir fahren durch unfassbar schöne Terrassen Landschaften zum Startpunkt. Dort gibt es ein Briefing und wir bekommen einen Guide und zwei bewaffnete Guards zu Seite gestellt, die uns vor eventuell anderen wilden Tieren beschützen sollen. Wir werden die Nshongi Familie besuchen, eine von zwölf habituirten , also an Menschen gewöhnte Gorilla Familien im Park. Nach gut 1 Stunde Fußmarsch entlang eines Flusses biegen wir in den Regenwald ab. Der Guide bahnt sich und uns mit der Machete den Weg durchs Dickicht. Zwei Tracker haben die Familie bereits aufgespürt und so müssen wir gar nicht lange gehen. Was auch bei dem Gelände ziemlich anstrengend ist.
Wir haben 1 Stunde Zeit bei derFamilie bestehend aus circa 23 Mitgliedern aller Altersklassen.
Das ist natürlich ein unvergleichliches Erlebnis.
Am Ende bekommen wir noch feierlich, eine Urkunde überreicht .
What a day!Read more
Gorilla trek part 3 xxx
More gorilla spam ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ xxx
Traveler And the guide was lovely as he gave us our certificates about thankyou so much for choosing to do this trek, you are ambassadors u tell people how wonderful it was, checking we were pleased with how the day went etc etc. it was the most amazing experience I've ever had, also it was not easy, it was tough but wow Xx
Zu beschreiben, wie es ist einen der letzten 1000 Berggorillas 🦍 aus unmittelbarer Nähe zu erleben, ist nicht einfach. Die wohl am ehesten zutreffenden Worte sind Demut, Faszination und Respekt.
Bereits 05:15 Uhr klingelte unser Wecker ⏰ und wir fuhren nach dem Frühstück zu einer Einweisung am Eingang zum Nationalpark 🌳🌿🏞️🌴. Gegen 08:45 begannen wir schließlich in einer kleinen Gruppe von sechs Personen und drei Rangern die Wanderung zu den Berggorillas. Die Tiere wurden über mehrere Jahre an die Begegnung mit Menschen gewöhnt. Wichtigster Faktor bei Kontakt ist Ruhe zu bewahren 🤫🙏, also insbesondere leise zu reden und keine Hektik oder Angst auszustrahlen.
Nach bereits etwa 45 Minuten Wanderung begegneten wir der 10 Tiere umfassenden Gruppe, die sich tief im Unterholz des Regenwaldes aufhielt. Mehr als 60 Minuten durften wir in zeitweise weniger als zwei Meter Entfernung zu den Tieren verbringen.
Gorilla Trekking ist ein zweischneidiges Schwert. Zum einen wünscht man sich, dass diese Tiere ungestört in ihrem natürlichen Umfeld 🌳🦍🌿 leben können. Bekommt diese Spezies allerdings nicht die nötige Beachtung einer größeren Öffentlichkeit und werden die hier lebenden Menschen durch sanften Tourismus nicht finanziell unterstützt 💸 wird der hohe Bevölkerungsdruck den Lebensraum der Berggorillas weiter verkleinern. Die weitere Rodung des Regenwaldes und damit verbundene Erschließung von Plantagen 🥑🍅🍌🍍🌽 zur Sicherstellung der Versorgung der Menschen wären früher oder später das Ende der Berggorillas.
Auch wird durch die finanzielle Unterstützung des Nationalparks dafür gesorgt, dass Ranger die in der Vergangenheit stattgefundene Wilderrei unterbinden. Es bleibt zu hoffen, dass die einheimische Bevölkerung zunehmend ein Bewusstsein zum Schutz des Regenwaldes entwickelt und im Einklang mit diesem sensiblen Ökosystem leben kann.
Wir sind sehr dankbar 🙏 für die heutige Begegnung mit den Berggorillas. Es war für uns ein sehr prägender Moment, der uns noch lange in Erinnerung bleiben. 😊Read more
The alarm goes off at 6 am. It's the start of the new day it's pitch black outside and a little bit cold. I get out of my warm bed and then jumping to the cold shower with some reluctance. As I pull back the tent door, the Sun is just coming up and the mist is hovering over the valley of the jungle.
We go up the stone path for breakfast, the two boys greet us and they have cooked poached egg on toast.
They season food so well here.!
We leave the Bwindi camp and travel to an out post where we are going to start our days trakking to the Gorillas 🦍. William drops us of at the out post where we are met with two mean carrying AK47 machine guns. (for our protection I might add)
We meet the local ladies who preformed a travel well and good luck dance that we see the gorillas.
We move off in the 4 by 4's, then park on the roadside. Maureen appears from no where a tiny lady she is going to be our guide for the day. She gives us the instructions.
We have to wear masks.
We must stay together.
We mustn't let the gorillas dead in the eye if they come to waters.
And she has some sticks for us to help to balances on the way down.
We start to descend down the mountainside, but before we do, we catch a beautiful view of where the farmland ends and where the voice starts. There are 351 square kilometres of Bwindi forest with 459 Gorillas 🦍 50 families
22 are habituation. The government has ordered that no more land should be cleared for farmland in order to try and protect the gorillas.
It's to the same the world over for wildlife. There are too many human beings on our planet, squeezing the wildlife out, but what do you do? Humans have got to eat..! In the Uganda
The people worked incredibly hard to maintain a living out of the land..
we descend down the mountainside. God, it's steep…!
For 30 minutes we descending trying not to grab the trees with spikes on and the nettles, then suddenly a little our ranger Maureen put her hand up, which means we have to stop. Silence comes over us all and then there's a huge crack on the branches above us in a tree. We all look up there in front of us is a mother gorilla with her little baby.
There are times when in the presents of Wild life that you can only be in oar. We hear a loud grunt behind us and has we turn there he is the make silver back. If you thought the mother was big then you now understood that you were in the presents of a beast that at an moment could choose to end your days......
Maureen have the sign not to move....lol has if anyone was going to go. We all knelt down taking a submissive position. The Silver back also sat down and with one gentle motion took the branch of a tree and stripped it from the leafs and then started to much on them. Maureen gave the sign that we could all get a little close. So very slowly we all edge forward on our bums. He looked up grunted and we all froze, that was far enough.
We spent the next hour observing this family of 7 them foraging arguing over mushrooms 🍄 they had found and swing up In the trees above us.
Maureen then said we had 5 mins to go. Truly I could of stayed there all day.
What you then remember is the steep climb that you have to take to get back to the road. 1hr of almost a vertical climb. Flip I'm unfit..!
We eventually pop out on to the road there stood little Maureen not a bead of sweet on her and breathing normally. There I was breathing like a stream train and sweating like a pig.
The guy next to me was polish and he was in a right state. He asked me how old o was. 53 I said your fit...lol
How old are you I said 33. I didn't feel that bad.
Maureen gave us our certificates and we posed for photos.Read more
Along our way we stop off for breakfast with an extra treat at * town. We are now on the line of the equator. In the middle of all the shake houses and businesses the Equator restaurant has popped up run by a local man who saw an opportunity and has made a thriving business from the tourist.
*picks a flower from his little garden and takes us to a bowl. With a well rehearsed demonstration he fills the first bowl up with water and then waits till it settles and then pulls the plug. We are standing in the southern hemisphere and has we watch the the water drains away clockwise has he drops his petal in you can see it clearly going clock wise. Nkosie looks decisively unimpressed. We then step over a white line in the ground and *announces we are now in the Northern hemisphere. He once again fills the bowl up and the. Let's the water out this time it goes anti-clockwise. Nkosie Jaw hits the floor. "How come.?"
*moves to the middle of the white line and announces that we are now standing in the centre of the equator. Once again the bowl is filled up and the what is released the petal is through in and boom....
it's sucked straight down the plug hole. Nkosie says is it black magic.
It's a first for me to be on the equator line.
It's only 7:30am and it feels like we have been awake forever. Time for breakfast Williams says. Popping over to a little souvenir shop which also doubles up has a restaurant they make us very welcome and Nkosie orders Burger and chips, William Rice, cooked Banana and Irish potato. "I thought this was breakfast....lol
A cheese omelette for me, with avocado and tomatoes. Then after a long chat about the local religion (mainly Catholic's) we are back on the road.
Uganda is full of hills the land is rich and fertile and everywhere you look there is something growing.
Coffee ☕️, Bananas 🍌, Beans 🫘, Potatoes 🥔, Peanuts 🥜, Mangoes 🥭 and with all that growing of food everyone where ever where is growing it, transporting it and selling it. The bananas taste like bananas I have never tasted before, they pack a punch.
Why are the Ugandas so proactive.?
Why are they so self sufficient.?
Has we chat to William slow we manage to join the dots up and get answers.
1. Their government does not look after them. You have a baby you don't get paid out for that baby it's your responsibility. Unlike in South Africa where you get paid every month for child support.
2. In fairness the Ugandas land is so rich and fertile everyone is grown something but they can. In South Africa this is not the case in the area that the CoCos Foundation works it is mainly sand.
Has we drive up into the mountains with it raining hard the water running down the banana leafs this day Is one experience not to be forgotten. Fortunately Nkosie is sitting on the cliff side......lol. As we speed along a narrow single dirt track the 4x4 I think William thinks he is a formula one driver...😂 not for the faint hearted.
1hr later we arrive at our camp where we are staying the nigh. It is basic but has everything we need a bed a shower. Dinner is served at 7:30pm what amazes me is here we are in the jungle and jet the service and the food is amazing. When I asked Lindani what's the thing he misses the most about africa he always said the sun and the service. I get it buddy.!
After dinner we sit around the camp firer always the best thing about been here. An old boy place a tune on a local harp and we reminisce about the day and Williams driving..lol
We retire to our tent ⛺️ for the night and the boys have prepare our beds with a hot water bottle and mosquito nets. Has I close my eyes I hear the sounds of the jungle and the Gorillas 🦍 in the distance.Read more
Traveler Die Landschaft ist ja unglaublich grün!
Traveler Ja, Urwald halt