Dec 11, 2016

Gorillas without the Mist

One could be forgiven for thinking that meandering from Cape Town up to Kampala in Uganda and back over a period of nine months is a fairly random thing to do. There certainly were times when it was exactly that, random, but amongst all the exploring, sight-seeing and said ‘randomness’ there actually were a few goals kept in mind; like … heading off the beaten track as often as possible … experiencing places on foot were suitable … interacting with the local folk … avoiding punctures.

And right at the top of that all-important, neural list sat an experience with the mountain gorillas in Rwanda - come to think of it, while doing that one got to tick off all the items on the ‘list’.

It was off the beaten track, we had to walk to find the gorillas, were looked after by very knowledgeable local guides and of course there was no chance of a puncture (not counting blisters) while we were hacking about on foot.

Rwanda is densely populated and the government clearly encourages self-sufficiency and agriculture so it’s comforting to know that they also take their wildlife and conservation policy very seriously.

As such their Parc National des Volcans – launched into the word wide public eye in 1988 with the release of a film called ‘Gorillas in the Mist’. Directed by Michael Apted and starring Sigourney Weaver as naturalist Dian Fossey, it tells the true story of her work in Rwanda with mountain gorillas - is one of the few remaining sanctuaries left in Africa where one can purchase the privilege of getting to spend time with the peaceful mountain gorilla in its natural state.

On the morning of the 17 July 2009 (we finally made it) there were eight family groups in the park habituated to the presence of humans and it was the hope of finding one of these families that inspired our group of eight plus two guides to gather early at park headquarters for a quick briefing followed by a steep and jungle-entangled trek up the mountainside.

If memory serves we were actually only on the trail for a little over an hour when our guides motioned for us to gather around so they could whisper that the gorillas were very close, and to please be really quiet from now on. What we subsequently discovered was that a few trackers had headed out long before we had, found our family for the day and then radioed directions to our guides. Had it not been this way I reckon we’d still all be tramping around

that mountainside searching for signs of our fury friends - or more likely long ago decomposed scavenger faeces!

The undergrowth is seriously thick in these regions and as I’ve come to learn over time animals have a rather annoying trait of being able to be invisible when they choose – regardless of their large size and dark colour!

You get to spend exactly one hour with your selected family, not a minute more, usually not a minute less, just one hour. This is in keeping with a minimum disturbance policy which I’m sure is a good thing; however, I don’t believe we were the only ones doing the observing.

Watching you Shy? Yup, still watching you!

Judging by the odd humoured look on a few of their faces I got the distinct feeling that this gorilla family looked forward to their daily hour of entertainment - brought about by a bunch of bedraggled, strange-smelling, weird-sounding animals that emanated the odd bright flash of light from the side of their heads – and may, as did all of us, have wished for it to last a little longer.

Oh yes, in the initial briefing received you are told: “to please maintain a five metre minimum distance between yourself and any gorilla you may encounter.”

What wasn’t mentioned is as at that point in time they had yet to get the gorillas to comply with this rule.

All too soon our time was up and we needed to say goodbye to our newfound friends, leaving them to their foraging and peaceful existence as we stumbled our way, engulfed in a blissful trance, back down the hillside.