More African Adventures, Part 2 - First Gorilla Trek

 January 8, 2019

The Gorillas of Bwindi - First Gorilla Trek

The long-awaited day was finally here!  Rob and I were up and dressed at 5:00 a.m. After a quick breakfast in the lodge dining room, we walked the short distance to the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest Visitors Center where we joined about 46 other visitors from around the world.  As we approached, we could hear the drums and songs of the young women from the "Bike4Women" neighborhood project.  The women, dressed in green with colorful raffia skirts, danced energetically, with wild gyrations and leaps into the air.  A line of singers accompanied them with wonderful African harmonies.  One of the dances had one of the women dressed as a young man about to go through the circumcision ceremony, which is done when boys are about 10 to 12 years old...OUCH!)

Coffee at dawn

Bike4Women dancers

Representing a circumcision ceremony

After the dancing, a park ranger talked about the local projects that benefit the local communities, the history of the Batwa people of this region, and information about the gorillas themselves.  There are now about 1,000 mountain gorillas, all living in the volcanic mountains at the juncture of Uganda, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  About 400 of these gorillas live here in the Bwindi Forest.  These live in several family groups.  The large group of visitors was divided into groups of eight - the largest number of visitors allowed to visit each gorilla family per day.  Our little group would be tracking the Rushegura family.  Our guide, Solomon, gave us a lesson on gorilla etiquette and some rules for our behavior, and we set off on the narrow jungle trails up the mountain.

The Rushegura Family - by the time we saw them in 2019, it had grown.

Young men and women from the local villages work as porters for the visitors, and they were invaluable, doing everything from carrying our water to helping us across streams and up the muddy slopes of the damp forest.  We hiked for about two hours, enjoying the sights of the jungle - a pair of giant snails mating, the lattice of a strangler fig tree, and vines strong enough to swing on!  Our new acquaintances, Marc and Gillie, were part of our group.  They would use this trip to learn more about gorillas for use on a future sculpture project.

Rob with our wonderful porters

Crossing a jungle stream

Giant snails mating

Interesting growth on a jungle tree - a fungus?

Strangler figs send their vines up a tree, eventually killing it and leaving
an open lattice of thick vines

The jungle of my Tarzan dreams - vines strong enough to swing on!

Rob talks with one of the park rangers during a rest stop.

Eureka!  Our chances of finding the Rushegura Family was good, but not 100%, so I was very excited when Solomon suddenly got a call on his walkie-talkie from the trackers who had gone out early to scout the locations of the gorilla groups. We turned off the trail and plunged right into the brush, with our guide and porters hacking away at the thick vegetation with machetes.  And suddenly, there they were - a family of 16 beautiful gorillas.  The huge silverback, Kabukojo, kept watch over his family of several females, juveniles, and babies.

Our first glimpse of a gorilla

Our porters withdrew into the woods while we visitors lined the edge of the clearing where the gorillas were resting, eating, and playing.  

Kabukojo, the Silverback

Kabukojo spent most of our visit lying on his belly quietly watching over the activities of his family.  Toward the end of our one hour with the family, he rose and gave a grunt, and the family followed him into the jungle.

The Mothers

The mothers in the group spent most of their time sitting and eating the abundant vegetation all around them.  A white flower on the bushes seemed to be a favorite treat.  They ignored us completely but kept a watchful eye on their lively children who climbed all over them.

The Youngsters

The youngsters were the most fun.  Unlike their passive parents, they were on the move constantly, wrestling together, leaping into the trees, jumping all over their patient mothers, thumping their little chests with rapid drumbeats.  We had been instructed not to approach them, but there was nothing to stop them from approaching us, and some of the curious youngsters ran right through out group - one of the ambushing us from behind and attempting to snatch one woman's camera bag right off of her shoulder!  

Rob visits with a curious young friend.

It was hard to get photos of the active youngsters!  They were always on the go!

All too soon, Solomon gave us a two-minute warning, and after exactly one hour with the gorillas, we trekked back to our lodge...muddy, hot, exhausted, but completely exhilarated by our fantastic adventure!  

More African Adventures, Part 1 - Entebbe to Bwindi, Uganda

 January 6 - 7, 2019

Arrival in Entebbe, Uganda

There is something magical about Africa that keeps calling us back.  This was our third trip to the continent and this trip offered a brand-new adventure, a visit to the Mountain Gorillas of the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, as well as repeat visits to the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater. 

When I wrote the notes for this post while sitting in the airport in Dubai, Rob and I were exactly halfway around the world from our home in California.  My watch said 10:34 and my clock at home said the same...but California was 12 hours in the past.  Being so completely opposite in time zones is confusing to one's body clock! Since we slept on the plane during our normal nighttime, it was difficult to sleep again during our long layover in Dubai, and we still had one more full day of travel ahead of us!  The huge Emirates Business Lounge was spectacular - filled from end to end with a variety of restaurants and food stations offering everything from sushi to fresh fruit smoothies.  We each enjoyed a great shower and the sleeping nook where we stretched out on comfy, curved lounge chairs to rest.

The Sleeping Hall in the Emirates Airline Business Lounge, Dubai

The morning flight arrived in Entebbe in the late afternoon.  We settled into our room at the Boma Hotel and completely collapsed.  I love to visit far-off places, but I must admit that I don't always love the process of getting to them!

Here at last!

 January 8, 2019

Entebbe to the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest

We were awake at 5 a.m. and used the morning to explore the tropical grounds of the Boma Hotel and have a dip in the pool before our afternoon flight to Bwindi.  

The gardens of the Boma Hotel, Entebbe, Uganda

Pool at the Boma Hotel

Our charter flight took us over Lake Victoria.  The lake is enormous, stretching as far as the eye could see - almost an inland sea.  We landed at the Kihihi Airstrip where our driver met us and drove us past farms and tea plantations to the highlands of the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park.  (I kept asking myself, "If it's impenetrable, how are we going to penetrate it?")

Our pilots on our small plane to Kihihi

A town on the shores of Lake Victoria

The entry to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, Uganda

The Sanctuary Gorilla Forest Camp would be our lodging for the next four nights.  Our "tent" was really a cabin with canvas walls, but a sturdy thatched roof and a large stone bathroom - with tub! It was located at the highest spot in the resort with views from the deck of the jungle-covered mountains where we would soon meet our gorilla cousins.  

The main lodge and reception office at Sanctuary Gorilla Forest Camp

Our mountaintop tent cabin

Most accommodations in Africa come with mosquito netting - 
but we have rarely encountered a mosquito!

Our stone lined shower - and in the adjoining room was a bathtub.
This was the first time our accommodations in Africa included a tub,
but it wouldn't be the last on this trip!

A deck with a view.  

One of the pleasures of travel is meeting fellow vagabonds from around the world.  At dinner, we chatted with some remarkably interesting people.  Gillie and Marc are an Australian couple who are renowned world-wide for their bronze statues of animals which are displayed in several countries.  You can read about their work in both art and conservation at Gillie and Marc.  We also enjoyed speaking with Jim Moore, the author of "Clinton: Young Man in a Hurry," a biography of Bill Clinton's early years in politics.  

The dining room in our lodge.

Rob and I headed for our cabin immediately after dinner as we would wake up very early for the next day's amazing adventure!