GORILLA TREKKING!!!!

(In case you can't read it the title says GORILLA TREKKING!)We hopped back in our car and then drove another 30 minutes to the edge of the Volcanoes National Park where we met up with the rest of our group. (Us three, the two guides and then about 6 people from a primate tour group, who were gorilla trekking for professional development. ) When we got there, they handed out walking sticks to everyone and suggested that we pay porters to carry our backpacks, because it often takes hours of walking through the jungle to come across the gorillas. Some of the primate tour people did, and suggested we do as well, but we decided against it because we’re badass (and the porters cost 10usd).

The primate tour group was a bit snobby about us. They kept suggesting that we were not equipped properly and they were overly concerned about us carrying our bags and being able to handle the trek. They were super pissing me off. Sorry we weren’t dressed in utilitarian khakis and sasquatch hiking boots, but my jewel tone jacket and running shoes worked just fine, thank you very much.

So we set off on our hike. We walk about 20 minutes past a little village and some cows and into some farmers fields. At the edge of the field is the entrance to the jungley part. As we walked, our guide did his imitation of the silverback, which was pretty spot on. He also showed up how and what the gorillas eat, by eating some himself. We get over there, all geared up for our multiple hour hike, when out of the jungle pops a gorilla! The family group we were tracking, the Agashya group, had decided to come down the mountain that day. We stayed back a safe distance and watched as they all came tumbling out of the woods.

There were females and babies all over. They were yanking down small trees and eating all kinds of leaves. They completely ignored us and everynow and then bounced a little too close. After about 20 minutes, we went into the bamboo jungle in search of the silverback. We found him sitting against a tree right inside the forest. He absolutely emanates arrogance and control. As we came up, he decided to move. The guides herded us back some, but he literally walked by me so close that there was just inches between his arms and my legs. Later, we caught up with him again as he munched on some tree. He was really calmly sitting as we took pictures until (I kid you not, this actually happened) a female came up to him and whispered something in his ear that really pissed him off. He stood up with a growly whuff sound and moved really quickly straight in our direction. Luckily he wasn’t interested in us and moved along.

The gorillas stayed mostly in the same area. They generally stuck close to the silverback though a few females ventured off a bit farther. We had an hour with the gorillas and we spent the majority of that just inside the jungle. We stood in a clearing for awhile watching the gorillas climb up and swing off the bamboo. A few times one of the them would get really close as they were walking by or settle into a spot a little closer than they should. The whole while we were with the gorillas, the guides were making gorilla noises to keep them from touching us or being alarmed by our presence. After a bit the gorillas were pretty amusing because eating the bamboo gets them a little drunk so they were stumbling about and became a bit more friendly and comical.

Right before we left, I was kneeling down in front of the silverback whole the guide took a picture of me, when one of the playful females came basically barreling at me. She didn’t seem to be aggressive or angry, just jumpy and excited. She got within a few feet of me really quickly before the guide leaned over me and made some kind of “gorilla go away noise” in gorilla-ese. No harm, no foul. 

 

We trekked back to the car and hopped in for our two hour drive back to Kigali. Rwanda has beautiful scenery and I got sucked into watching the countryside go by; it was gorgeous.