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One of the expected highlights of our visit to Africa was the Gorilla Tracking in Uganda's Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park. At USD600 per person for a day trip and no guarantees of seeing the endangered species during the hike, it was going out on a limb a bit. But we both agreed that seeing even one of the remaining 880 mountain gorillas in their natural habitat before possible extinction was an opportunity we couldn't miss. Besides, the money from buying permits apparently went toward financing conservation efforts, so... a good cause regardless.
The day started the same way many others do on an overland safari: bumbling around in the pre-dawn dark trying to get some coffee and food into the system. After lumping ourselves into the 4wd, our overly-enthusiastic driver belted off into the fog. This fog would be a feature for the next 2 and a half hours as its density slowed our progress toward the NP to a crawl: we could barely see two metres in front of us and the windy mountain roads made me completely certain we were going to fall to our deaths at any moment. Surprisingly though, we emerged out of the fog at some point and were greeted by some incredible vistas of mountain tops cloaked in mist. The sun had only just broken past the horizon and lent a surreal aura to the moment. Some local kids ran out to sieze the opportunity to see the white people, and after a few photos we were back on the road. The clear view of the roads encouraged our suicidal driver, and he continued accelerating into hairpin corners, crossing on to the wrong side of the road and nearly running countless others off the dirt track and into the abyss. Not a relaxing drive.
Once actually at the National Park we were briefed on some safety and security measures, as well as allocated our Ranger / Guide and gorilla family to track. We were to be finding the Busingye Family (meaning "peaceful" - a good sign!). The rangers estimated our hiking time between 1 and 8 hours - a fair margin for error if you ask me - but regardless we eagerly hit the trails. An advance tracking party had headed out earlier that morning and located the family in question and were relaying their position to us, so were were fairly sure of a viewing at some point. This was fortunate because these mountain gorillas lived in a mountainous region (who woulda thought?) and the going got pretty tough at times.
Leaving the well-worn trail and entering the scrub we realised the reason it was named "Impenetrable". This tropical rainforest was the definition of wild. The trackers had to constantly use machetes to open up spaces for us to squeeze through, and before long everyone had twigs in their hair, scratches on exposed skin and bites from fire ants, bush wasps and everything in between. Not me though! I strutted through there looking like a flashy Indiana Jones with my permethrin-imbued (?) clothes. I presume that's the reason I avoided all the bites and stings. $20 well spent I think! Anyway, some serious bush bashing eventually allowed us to penetrate the impenetrable and lay eyes on the gorillas. My first sight was of a baby's head bobbling around, followed soon by the shiny expanse of the silverback's famous namesake. This thing was astounding. 250kg of raw animalistic muscle, with a family of 10 to protect. It stood tall, growled and roared -scaring a couple of the girls half to death - before smashing off into the jungle. The trackers were in quick pursuit, hurrying us along in their wake to see him again. I couldn't believe it: we were literally chasing a silverback gorilla through the jungle!
The pattern for the next hour or so was thus: the trackers would find the silverback and hack down as much foilage as possible to open up a better line of sight for us, we would shuffle quietly into position and watch or take photos for a few minutes before he decided he didn't want to be around us anymore. Another almighty roar and challenge, before crashing once more through the undergrowth disappearing out of sight. Seriously intimidating! He moved so quickly and with such force that left us dumbfounded. His sheer size made him easy to follow though - he made a huge amount of noise crashing through trees and branches, and his bulk produced a track for us to follow. After around an hour or so we followed him down the edge of a small cliff (most of us falling with differing degrees of grace) and the rangers announced final photos. The view opened up to an overgrown hill face, and there they were! His family were scattered amongst the trees: eating, climbing or taking their ease amongst the foilage. The hill looked alive with the rustle and cracks of branches and vines being moved everywhere, and we stood in silent awe for another 15 minutes or so; admiring these magnificent creatures in their natural habitat.
After a short lunch and story exchange, the slow hike back was relatively uneventful - fortunately it was mostly downhill. We were presented with Gorilla Tracker Certificates (put that on the CV!) and farewelled by our tracking crew. The day ended the way it started: all of us getting whiplash and hanging on for dear life in the kamikaze 4wd. I can't understand how but I felt a lot safer in the presence of a wild 250kg gorilla.
The Ugandan Wildlife Authority (UWA) are responsible for protecting the national parks, as well as organising responsible tourism, research and preservation of these endangered animals (and many others of course). It was a privilege to trek alongside them today and has left us with memories we will cherish forever.
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