January 11, 2015 - The Gorilla Trek in Bwindi Forest

It was evident from the very beginning of this trek that the Ugandan people are very fond and protective of their silver back gorillas. The trekking at this particular site began back in 1992 and has been the economic mainstay for the surrounding region.  The fee per person is hefty ($600 per person per day) but when you see how much of it goes back into the local economy and the welfare of these magnificent beasts, it is an awfully good deal. They allow four parties of approximately 5 to 8 people per party to trek gorillas per day and they limit your "direct" exposure to the gorillas to about 1 to 2 hours since humans and gorillas share 98.5% of the same DNA (99.5% in the case of "Dad" Atkinson) which makes them very susceptible to human diseases.

The trek is literally on the side of a mountain in a rainforest so proper clothing for the trek was important.  Long sleeve shirts, long sleeve pants, trekking shoes with your pants tucked in your socks protect you from the flora and ants that have a nasty bite. We also had to spray for mosquitos but they proved to not be a non-issue given the elevation of 1,600 metres (about 5,000 ft.) above sea level. Trekking at that elevation can be exhausting but at least it allows for a pretty comfortable climate for being on the equator which I would suggest was about 25C degrees.

So the trek started around 8:30 a.m. and we were introduced to our lead guide who provided us some historical information and the rules of engagement.  Gorilla trekkers were sent out pre-dawn to locate the various gorilla families and they communicate with the lead guide on their locations. He first confirms with the trekking party (us) that none of us are ill and if you are, you can get your money refunded.  If you show signs of illness during the trek (coughing, diarrhea, vomiting) they pull you from the trek but you lose your money.  They take their trekking very seriously. We also have paramilitary spotters with, yes...."AK 47's" for whose protection, I don't know.  We are also  encouraged to use porters if our back packs are more than 2 kgs. so we hired two.  Again, you are helping the local economy by hiring these porters.

The first half hour was very uneventful in terms of active wildlife and the climbing is not challenging but when the lead guide got the call from the spotters, the game was on!  Stage left right into a thick forest with machetes chopping our pathway up a steep incline. This never stopped prior to coming up on the gorillas and continued when we would follow their journey. To say the least, hearts were pounding and our clothes was getting moist from the inside out.  In less than an hour from the start, we met up with the family of gorillas.  They were way up in the trees eating branches and leaves, much like chimpanzees but a lot, lot bigger. There huge and while they were from about 30 to 90 feet above us in the forest canopy we were excited.  We thought, can it get better than this? It was fantastic and from our vantage point certainly lived up to its billing.  We could see at least 4 gorillas rummaging from one tree to another and our guide was very calm about what we were seeing but assured us confidentially that the best was yet to come.

The gorillas finally came down from the trees and the first one came straight down beside Diane and I and walked by us, maybe a foot away as if we were not even there.  We had been told not to look them  in the eye and look timid and they will walk on by.  (I caught the little frenchman peaking!).  The "She" gorilla was soon joined by several others including two baby gorillas clinging to their mothers. These big animals were never agitated with us and we stayed with them and followed them a good hour with the guide macheting paths for us to follow.  In all, we saw 12 gorillas which is way beyond anything that we could have imagine.  The piece-de-resistance was the male silverback who was the head of the family.  He was huge compared to the rest at 16 years of age and had a very distinct odour which I would put at a strong but moderately unpleasant stink.  This obviously warns other males to stay away.  Apparently he replaced his father who died 2 years ago at the ripe age of 52.  And the big guy put on a helluva show for us.  Sat about 10 feet away eating tons of leaves and branches and you are going to see him not only in lots of pictures but a video as well.

 At no time did we feel in danger from them and we were very persistent in following them.  The lead guide did an incredible job at getting us close to them and two more times gorillas would pass by us feet away.  I don't think Di, Louise or I ever expected to get so close and intimate with them and we all felt that was absolutely one of the highlights of our life.  We really feel humbled to have the life we have  to get to have experience this day.

Okay I'm getting sappy so back to the trek.  After this encounter with the family directly for 1 1/2 hours, it was time to go. We went back to the base camp and were presented certificates for our treks and we thank once agin by the lead guide for caring about the gorillas and contributing to their economy.  As is custom, the three of us tipped the lead guide $30 US and each of the porters $15 each.

I would say a bargain for the experience of a life time.