I think it was January when my sister informed me we were going to Africa. How casual. She had found a sweet deal online with On The Go Tours (buy one get one free) and the affordability, among a few other details, sold us. The tour company was reputable, good online reviews, doable time frame/ trip length. It was good timing. Departure was at the end of May, back in 2 weeks. It would be a stretch for my employer, (as I had already had my allotted 4weeks of vacation) but I was pleasantly surprised in the end. I offered to drop my posting and go casual (basically my only option) and they offered to code it as LOA (leave of absence). Thank you Jesus (aka Michelle).

I can’t recall exactly when the idea of seeing gorillas really started to appeal to me. It’s always been something simmering on the back burner. A crazy trip I never really thought I would take. Like North Korea. The thought of traveling in Africa became a lot less daunting when we knew we would have a tour guide. Safety in numbers right? Someone hired to make sure we don’t die.

After we booked the trip I figured I should educate myself and watched Virunga on Netflix. Spoiler alert, it’s a bit of a downer. Gorillas are murdered. There’s oil money to be had. Oil = money > critically endangered species. We wouldn’t really be going to the DRC/Virunga. We would be trekking in Uganda, to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. The same mountainous region, but over a border. A stable country in comparison. Bwindi was declared a UNESCO Natural World Heritage Site in 1994. The relatively small area (321km2) seems to be well protected, (although heavily deforested right to the park boundary in some places) well run and only moderately commercial. A necessary evil to obtain the funds (/publicity) required to help protect the mountain gorillas before they disappear completely. The park also has a research institute for monitoring and studying, there is one family group strictly for research and 9 habituated groups that the guides track and bring tourists to observe for 1 hour allotments. Almost half of the population of mountain gorillas, 340 out of 700, are located in Bwindi.

The morning of our departure:

We were up incredibly early. I can’t remember precisely when, it’s been blocked. The driver arrived and whisked us away. We were at quite a high elevation so the mornings were rather cool at Bunyoni. We were told to prepare for any weather condition so I had a light waterproof rain jacket over a light sweater, tights and hiking shoes. We were transported in a mid 90’s van, maybe older. Plenty of room though, with just 4 of us. We reached the end of the paved section of our journey in an hour or so, winding up mountain sides. The sun was starting to rise, the fog was thick and obstructing any view we might have had. Probably close to 2 hours on the gravel road, we reach the parking area where our driver will nap and wait for us. There’s a short walk up a hill to the registration area and where they’ll give you the briefing. They went over what to do in an emergency (obv don’t fight back, just let them kill you, ha) and some basic history and information about the park and how it works. The trackers had left hours earlier to find the gorilla groups and were reporting back to the guides via radios.

I was mentally preparing for a 5-6 hour challenging hike up a slippery mountain side. But, I would personally compare my experience with a walk in a literal park, pun intended. The trails were very well maintained, even for my high standards; until the end bit. We had 3+ guides with our group (of 12+) armed with automatic weapons, just in case. And, if you felt it was necessary, you could hire a porter to carry your things – or hold your hand. My porters name was Nadine (sis). I laugh at my own jokes.

The jungle was insanely beautiful. The rains were holding off, everything was lush and green and all the flora seemed like it was on steroids. Or like you’d been shrunk and were lost in a nursery full of house plants. It wasn’t terribly muddy, and they had given everyone walking sticks to help steady yourself when your footing was questionable. It was so nice to get some exercise. It felt like minutes, likely 1.5h until our guide stopped us to listen for the trackers. They bushwhacked a fresh trail and before you knew what was happening the green walls of the jungle were opened up to a family of gorillas sprawled around munching leaves and sleeping. From our perspective we could see one silverback, two females, three juveniles and two curious little babies. The rest of the Nshongi gorilla family (30+ members) was further into the forest and was not visible, but we could sometimes hear them or see the brush moving. Once we were all positioned they started the clock and an hour flew by. An annoying girl from California was climbing trees and getting too close to try to take a good pic from her iPhone. So I’ve got some of her pink phone case in a few of my pictures, but that’s life. The experience was amazing, it felt like we were closer than we should’ve been, one of the babies was very alert and playful; climbing vines and ogling us. The adults sometimes stirred or glared at us, but in general everyone was pretty chill. My memory card filled up, of course. Had to delete some safari pics.

Habituation of the Nshongi family began in 2007 and they were available for viewing in late 2009; they’re very accustomed to human conact. The Nshongi family gets its name from the Nshongi river where they were first spotted close to, which gets its name from the local word for honey (which is Omushongi Gwoboki) because they say it has a deep rich colour similar to honey. Which was coincidentally the English name of our guide, Honey.

The rest of the day fails in comparison. We returned to camp exhausted from all the excitement. The wifi was miraculously working so we were able to check in with family. We actually had time to relax and prepare for the following days activities; a day trip to Rwanda, which will be my next post.