June 13, 2014
Our closest relatives. I can see the resemblance.
That moment when you lock eyes with a 400kg giant furry beast, and in slow motion your brain reminds you there is nothing but air and grass between you and the beast. You realize that fact-the unencumbered beast right in front of you- is what you've dreamed of experiencing for yourself, in person, in your lifetime. Because you know all too well, that these gorgeous beasts won't be around forever, and that this rare experience is a precious present that will forever stay with you. That these are the moments that pause everything that was, and everything that will be, and all that exists is the here and now.
I first visited east Africa back in 2005. Until I had a chance to go back though, I forgot how much I love it, and how much I miss it. There is something so engaging and captivating about eastern Africa. It is so drastically different from southern or northern Africa (which, as one might guess, are also very different from each other). Yes, there is the obvious difference that South Africa is much more developed than any of the east Africa countries, but I mean more the cultural differences and the overall feel.
With a public holiday in June (Youth Day), it gave M and I an excuse to take an extra-extra-long long weekend, and M suggested we travel a little further outside of South Africa's borders and head for the gorillas. I could think of nothing better. As much as I wanted to see the gorillas back in 2005, with that stone unturned it was always something in the back of my mind I wanted to return to do, and this way it allowed M and I the chance to do it together.
Uganda and Rwanda are both roughly the same flying distance from Joburg, so we decided to fly into Entebee, Uganda, and then travel over land and fly back from Kigali, Rwanda. This allowed us to trek the gorillas in both countries, and to see a good portion of the countryside along the way, with no back-tracking. While this trip was really all about the gorillas, it was M's first time seeing this part of the world, and we wanted to make the most of the time we had.
The drive from Entebbe, Uganda to our first destination of the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest took us through many different regions and many different types of production along the way. For example, we saw the banana plantation area where plantains were tied to rows and rows of bicycles for transportation to nearby towns, the potato region where ladies were gathered with giant bags of potatoes for sale on the side of the road, and the "basket-seat" region where reeds are grown and dried and made into little basket stools to carry around and sits on when there's a break from working and travelling.
Given the density of the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, it is not possible to have everyone meet in one spot and disperse out to start their gorilla treks (which is how it works in Rwanda) as it would take hours just to get to the various starting points. The park rangers tell the guides beforehand which group they will be trekking and which of the three entrances to the park to use, and then they organize for the trekkers (that's us) to stay at a lodge near that entrance. Once we got to our starting point, the trek itself was actually fairly tame. We were less than an hour on a nicely defined path before we reached the edge of the jungle, and then only five or ten minutes in the true jungle before we reached our gorilla family. We were told this was lucky, as sometimes it can take up to six hours of trekking to reach the gorilla family.
The moment we saw our first gorilla my heart stopped. It's such a privilege to actually be in their presence that it almost doesn't feel real. Our guides told us there are only approximately 700 gorillas left in the world, and they all live in this region where the the three countries of Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo intersect. While most people think you're not supposed to make eye contact with the gorillas, this is actually a misnomer. How else would you look at them while they are looking at you? This only really applies if the gorilla is agitated and you need to show submission so they do not feel threatened. While the gorillas are 100% wild, the gorilla families that tourists visit are "habituated", in that they are used to having humans observe them. The park rangers, conservationists and researchers spend at least two years with the family, slowly getting them used to having humans around, before they bring tourists in to see them. And to set the record straight, they do not feed them, touch them, or interfere with them in any way. If the tourists stopped coming tomorrow, the gorillas would continue living as though nothing changed. Well, given that they share 97% of our DNA, they might miss making fun of the silly-looking tourists clad in khaki taking millions of photos of them picking their nose, but aside from that, there would be little impact on their lives.
Given the density of the forest (or where we were in it, hard to say), and the fact that our gorilla family was hanging out in the bushes on the side of a cliff, we had to move around quite a bit to see the different gorillas, as they were often in awkward locations or hidden in trees. We managed to see five or six of the ten gorillas in our family, including the one silverback in the family and the youngest member of the family (an adolescent of about five years old). The viewing time is restricted to one hour per day, to help protect the gorillas and allow them to carry on with their daily activities. Our one hour felt like five minutes.
Anticipating that once is never enough, we worked our way from Uganda over to Rwanda, towards our second trek location. The Rwanda border is only a couple of hours from Bwindi, so we were able to take our time and make stops along the way as we travelled towards the Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda. I really wanted to spend some time in one of the towns and walk around, so we stopped in a little Ugandan town about 20km from the border where they were having their twice-weekly market. Kisoro is a hub between Uganda, Congo, Tanzania and Rwanda since it is the closest major town to all of their borders. We wandered around the town and the market for a couple of hours. I always enjoy being on foot more than driving, as I can take my time seeing everything (and I find it easier to take a few pictures as I can ask permission and be a bit more discreet than if I tried to take pictures out of the window of the safari van).
Immediately upon crossing the border into Rwanda we noticed how much more populated Rwanda is. There were people all over the streets, everywhere. The landscape in the southern part of Uganda though is very similar to Rwanda, so that part didn't feel drastically different, but it was gorgeous to see the volcanoes up close.
The gorilla trek process in Rwanda was much more established and formal than Uganda. Definitely the more popular tourist spot of the two treks, if the infrastructure is any indication (or the traditionally dressed drummers and dancers who greeted the tourists...). That being said, this time our trek was significantly tougher. Given that we were catching our flight back to Joburg later that night, our guide made sure we were in a "closer" group, meaning that we wouldn't have to trek for hours and hours to reach our gorilla family. The trek was only about two hours each way, but it was straight up the entire way, and the path was more akin to a mudslide than a "path". All of that didn't matter in the end though, because once we reached the gorilla family, the experience was out of this world. We were much closer and had much better visibility than we had in Uganda. This gorilla family had seventeen members, and we saw ten or eleven of them, including seeing all three of the silverbacks and a six-month old baby. The best sighting was of the six-month old baby hanging out with a silverback, the mom and her sister. It was incredible. We were even mock-charged by the silverback a few times...the baby would try and test the limits to see how close he could get to us, and then panic so his Dad would come to the rescue. It was actually really funny, once I got over the fact that there was a 400kg silverback gorilla growling and barrelling towards me...
The time we spent in both Uganda and Rwanda is very high on our list of all-time favourite experiences. As was the case when I first visited in 2005, spending time in this part of the world is something that just sticks with you, and makes you itch to experience it again and again.
Early morning in Kampala.
Blurry yes, but I like that it gives a sense of how busy and chaotic it was, and how much movement there was.
Basket-stools. I really wanted to buy one, but knew it would be an irrational purchase since I would struggle to fit it into by backpack, but more importantly since I'm pretty sure I'm not allowed to import raw wood into South Africa (the stool "legs" are tree branches). I settled for taking a photo instead.
Uganda is basically in the centre of the world, in terms of latitude, and is one of a handful of spots in the world where the equator cuts through land versus water. And so, we made the obligatory stop as we crossed the equator from the northern hemisphere into southern hemisphere.
M in the north, me in the south// switching hemispheres// hanging out somewhere in the middle.
Standing at the centre of the earth, latitude-speaking.
Ankole-Watusi cattle (giant-horned cows) are indigenous to Uganda.
Banana plantation sorting region.
Attempting to capture the beauty of the Ugandan landscape.
(Treacherous) Hillside road across the valley.
Starting off into the Impenetrable Forest.
Serious Beauty. Our first wild gorilla sighting.
This was the main silverback in this family; he was calling to the other gorillas (probably warning them about the crazy tourists taking his picture).
The intensity in his eyes was insane.
Notice the swarm of flies all around this guy? Welcome to the jungle.
The Mama gorilla was grooming the adolescent.
Just hanging out with a silverback. No big deal.
Hello there, friend.
One of the "teenagers" climbed the tree in front of this guy, so he was on look-out duty.
Rural community in southern Uganda.
Uganda hillside.
Market Day in Kisoro: All in a day's work.
Market-day hustle and bustle around town.
No matter how long I live in Africa, I don't think I'll ever get over how adept African women are at carrying things on their heads. Oh, and how colourful and bright their clothing and bags are.
Moto-taxis are a popular form of transportation in eastern Africa since they are more fuel efficient and more affordable than cars.
Ladies sorting sorghum (stuff used to make local African home-brewed beer).
Crossing the Uganda-Rwanda border.
The Rwanda welcoming committee was very different than in Uganda (because, well, there wasn't one in Uganda).
At the entrance to the Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda ready for our Rwandan trek.
Starting our trek: the pathway through the community and into the forest.
It is very common in both Rwanda and Uganda for farming to occur high up into the hills, as there is limited surface areas in these tiny countries and they need to maximize the area that is available.
Rwanda Gorilla sighting #1. Wow.
Now that is what I call a silverback.
The Silverback "Dad" was on babysitting duty with this little guy as he explored and played in the forest.
Oh, hello there.
Cuteness overload.
Family photo. As with most family photos, the baby was not super cooperative.
I loved this guy. I wanted to take him home. I resisted for fear of certain death from Papa-silverback beating me to a pulp.
Gorilla selfie.
Sinking in up-hill mud, losing my balance, burning from stinging nettles, and grinning from ear to ear. What an epic hang-out session with a gorilla family can do to a person.
Beautiful land.
Rwanda's capital city, Kigali.
