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Left Kampala at stupid o clock in the morning (4.30am start!) and, after picking up 6 people who were joining us just for the Gorilla Trek, we set off on a 13.5 hour drive to Kisoro! In two days we had spent 25.5 hours on the truck! The roads were shocking too, so it was not a good drive! However, we did drive into Ugandan countryside which was stunning, really lush and green and full of lakes and hills, and little hillside villages! We also passed 3 volcanoes which border Uganda, Rwanda and DRC! About 11 hours into the journey we had a massive thunderstorm, there were rivers gushing down the hills next to us and we only had a very thin road, it was a bit scary!
The next day we had planned a day trip to Rwanda to go and see the Genocide museum and some villages affected by the genocide. It was a bit scary as we had to cross the borders ourselves and we were on a really tight schedule, because if we missed the border crossings we would end up in Rwanda overnight and then miss the gorilla trek the next day! Finally managed to get into Uganda, with me having to be declared as a housewife to one of the guys! After a 3 hour drive we arrived in Kigali only to find the genocide museum was shut due to it being good friday! Was a bit gutted as I had really wanted to see it, but decided its another excuse to come back next year! Headed on down to Nyamata church. This church hadn't been touched since 10,000 people sheltered and lost their lives there during the genocide! Was definately a bit of an eye opener! Didnt have time to see anything else, except the hotel Des Milles Collines, where hotel Rwanda was set, before a mad rush back to the border! On the way back we passed a group of men dressed in pink, working on the side of the road. These turned out to be genocide suspects, they are allowed back into the community as they ask forgiveness at memorial services! I was surprised to see some of them were not much older than me!
I was planning on having an early night to be fresh for the gorilla trek the next day, but sunk a few vodkas and ended up with just 4 hours sleep! Still woke up feeling very fresh as I was so excited to be finally getting to the gorillas! We were to trek the Gorillas at Mgahinga National Park, right near the volcano which borders the DRC. We trekked for nearly two hours in the rainforest, up steep hills and lots of mud, and eventually found the gorillas. At first we just saw two in a tree and then the guide suggested we try to find the Silverback. He was just round the corner and did a lot of loud barking and charged at us, knocking one of the girls over! Once he had settled we stayed with him for about half an hour and watched him, his actions were amazing, and very human like! We were all mesmerised! He got up and left at one point so the guide suggested we follow him, we ended up going down a steep rivine and finding the whole family of 7 in a clearing! The guide was amazed as apparently this very rarely happens! I was nearly in tears! The time was over so quickly and we all marched off down the mountain, not caring how muddy we got, we were all on such a high! Had a bit of a party to celebrate our trek that night!
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