Gorillas In The Rather Lush Greenery

There are certain experiences that, as soon as you're lucky enough to have had them, you know will be with you for the rest of your life. Such was the hour (and a bit) that Jennie and I spent with the Mountain Gorillas of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. I'm not sure I'll be able to do full justice to how it felt actually sharing a small patch of jungle with these wonderful creatures,but as I've signed on to write this blog I guess I have to give it a shot.

Having already enjoyed a day at beautiful Lake Bunyoni, we were well in the mood to go on the adventure that many people consider to be the highlight of a trip to Africa. Permits to track the gorillas are expensive and heavily regulated, with only one group of eight people per gorilla family per day allowed into the park - and then only one hour actually allowed with the primates - so as to preserve both the animals' habitat and the magic of the experience. The creatures move around from day to day and so the length of trekking time required to reach them can vary - we'd heard stories of five hours or more each way - meaning that an early start was required. I mean, really early. Like before the sun early. Which I don't deal well with - the looks on the faces of Dave and I when we arrived at the entrance to Bwindi sum it up pretty well.

The permit to track the gorillas cost us US$500. Each. It's one of the more pricey adventures one can undertake in this part of the world, and so we hoped to God it was going to be worth it. Our guide briefed us before we set off, explaining that if we didn't see gorillas we would only get $250 back, because we would still have had the pleasure of a trek in the mountains. My reaction to this news is not suitable for the contents of a family publication such as this one.

So off we went - the four of us from the truck, two British teachers who were volunteering at a nearby school, and two other women, one of whom had actually done it all before but loved it so much she was coming back for seconds. A good sign. The trek itself was indeed lovely, though hard work in parts - if Bwindi Impenetrable National Park doesn't quite live up to its name, it can at least take pride in the fact that calling it Bwindi Bloody-Difficult-To-Navigate-Through National Park would not be an exaggeration of the truth.

We didn't want a five hour trek each way, but by the same token we wanted to feel as though we'd earned the right to see the gorillas, and so would have been disappointed had they been hovering around the entrance to the park trying to sell us souvenirs. So when we got word from our guides that, about an hour-and-a-half in, the animals were nearby and it was showtime, we were both purring in anticipation and rather thankful that they'd not made it too difficult for us. Our intrepid octet was tracking the Bitukura family, which had once been a family of fourteen but - due to some internal power struggle or another between competing alpha males - had now split into a group of nine and a group of five, and it was the group of five that we came across. And by "came across" I mean there they were - these magnificent creatures, who share something like 98% of our DNA - sitting in their mountain kingdom just metres away from us. Looking like this.

It was, in the truest sense of the word, breathtaking. To begin with, it was so real that it almost felt too real to be true - if you take my meaning - like we were in a zoo, or that they were men in gorilla suits and that any moment one of them was about to beat the drum intro to In The Air Tonight whilst selling chocolate. But it was no zoo, and the dulcet tones of Phil Collins were nowhere to be heard, this was the real live thing in all its natural glory.

The rules for any people interacting with the gorillas is that we are to stay at least 7 metres away from them at all times. The gorillas have no such rule. We learnt this the exhilarating way, because several of them got up VERY close and personal with us and one in particular - a young male named Obia (translated meaning "trouble maker") decided that he wanted to personally welcome us to his domain by charging and flailing his mighty arms at whomever happened to be closest to him at the time. Which, in the first instance, were the two oldest women in our group, who both went tumbling to the floor with as little grace as they could muster under the force of his blows. He was just playing, of course - had he been serious then neither woman would ever have gotten up - but the action was enough to elicit a breathless gasp from the rest of us. Which was followed by a determination amongst all the boys in the group that we wanted to get hit by a gorilla too. Male pride and competitiveness rocks on sometimes.

Thankfully, Obia was only too happy to oblige as he cut a swathe of playful terror through the group for the ensuing few minutes. Jake got a nice firm shove straight after the ladies had hit the deck, and then Obia gave Dave a solid punch too. I was hoping desperately that he'd make one last pass and the big man didn't let me down, slamming his fist straight into my back and shoving me unceremoniously toward the ground. Thankfully, one of the women who'd been on the receiving end of Obia's first assault broke my fall. It really wasn't her day.

It wasn't all about Obia's brief reign of terror though. Just being there, so close, and observing all of the gorillas in their natural environment - eating, climbing, interacting (and I mean REALLY interacting, nudge nudge wink wink etc...) - was absolutely magical, and truly one for the books. The guides gave us a little more than our allocated hour with the animals, as even they said that they'd rarely seen the group so playful and extroverted. All I can say is that if you ever get the chance to trek with the gorillas in the mountains of Uganda (or Rwanda, or DR Congo for that matter), take it with both hands. It will be one of the experiences of your life. I got punched by a wild mountain gorilla. And it was awesome.

Things Jennie will Remember:

1) Jake's approach to 5am alarm clock - "FUCK OFF!" being shouted as what later appeared to be two dogs playfully "jumping up" at him (but in the dark that early was like he was being attacked by monsters from the lake).

2) Schnitzel's Revenge - the remains of our curry from last night that we had for lunch. It turns out Schnitzel didn't hate any one of us for he sought no revenge. ;)

3) That women need to talk less and watch more. Whilst on our '1 hour' with the gorillas is NOT the time to ask me where I bought my top.

4) Getting our lovely certificates at the end of the day and being told that the trackers had enjoyed today due to Obia's playfulness - all by the amusing Ben, our lead guide with a very dry sense of humour.

5) That I have never been so scared in my life as when a Black Back charges you. I most certainly did NOT want to have contact made.

Here are the photos:

BT48_Bwindi National Park 26 Feb 2011