The whole group woke up with a sense of excitement, ready to do some gorilla trekking. We had an early breakfast and were transported to the Virunga National Park for the briefing and allocation of guides. The day started with energetic dances and drums.
Janis: “We picked up our lunch boxes and I was really surprised: no plastic bags allowed in Ruanda. That explains why Ruanda is such a clean country.”
Janis looking forward to some Gorilla sightings
Short drive to the mountains and we are ready for gorilla trekking. The area where we went for the trekking is located at the borders of Uganda, Congo and Rwanda.
Just the beginning of the climb
Janis: “Local guides helped us find a group of gorillas. After brief instructions we learned some “gorilla language” before we went into the bush. That was not a joke: I was surprised that those few sounds we learned were really useful when meeting gorillas.”
We walked through the bamboo forest. In some areas we took elephant trails, in others our guides used machetes to clear the path.
We found a group of gorillas in about an hour of nice trekking through the bamboo forest and we were able to get to them really close. More than an hour of watching them felt like a second.
The Mountain Gorilla is highly endangered and very well looked after in Rwanda. Only about 700 are left in the wild.
They allowed us to come close and a few curious individuals came closer for a look. The sight of the dominant male, the silverback, is just an amazing sight. Such power.
What an amazing experience to see these human-like animals ( 97% of DNA shared with humans).
Hitching a ride. Only 4 months old.
The great ape and the Gorillas
Don looking for that perfect shot. The gorilla visit certainly exceeded all expectations especially so for the amateur photographers in our merry group.
220kg Silverback
Tomorrow we travel to Kigali, capital of Rwanda. We will visit the genocide museum and just reflect again on humanity.
Jason and Janis
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