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Today we were to see the gorillas!! So we of course got up early again to get there in time. It was an hour and a half drive away and even though it was so early, Luke and I discussed many deep things that supprised us at such an early our! When we got there, we realised how much younger we were than everyone else there! Most of the people there seemed to be in their 60s! We got split into groups of 6 or 7 then some of the older people opted for people to carry their bags for them and help them along the way. So we set off! Our group was the farthest gorrilla group from the parking site (or so they told us when we got back hours after everyon else). As we got off the road and into the jungle, we realised our pace was going to have to be very slow to accomodate for everyone. In our group was; an elderly dutch couple, a middle aged Israli couple (the man was hillarious!) and a wife to a very senior Ugandan offical. The further we go into the forest, the more we realised why it was called impenitrable! A path through the notted undergrowth had to be cut through with machetes. A group of trackers had set out early in the morning to find out were the gorillas were (they usually moved about 1 km a day) and then radioed in when they had found them. After 3 hours of trekking up steep gorges, through thick undergrowth and round mountainous trees we managed to find them!
It was a group of 12, containing 3 silverbacks! We sneaked up on them, only allowed to be 7 meters away from them unless they approached you. Straight away on of the silverbacks and a female with a baby walked right past luke and off into the jungle. They're such amazing animals! They seem so so powerful and also so quiet and gentle. Their eyes have an inteligence to them that is so intriguing. Sadly we were only allowed to stay with them for an hour so that they didn't become stressed. This hour passed so quickly as we managed to find another silverback and a female lying down, chewing on leaves and generally lazing around, almost posing for photos! On the way back out, we managed to see a blackback and a female making a nest. The blackback decided to walk so so close to us! It was about 30 cm from the Israli man and a meter away from me! It was so so amazing!!! Even though it was expensive, it was so worth it. I would definately see them again.
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