Mountain Gorillas

After a very early start we set off in 4X4’s towards Bwindi Impenetrable Forest where the mountain gorillas of Uganda live. We drove down bumpy roads above green, valleys full of thick white cloud. Once at the headquarters for the gorilla treks, we met our guide who looked quite funny carrying a bright pink bag and a massive machete.

We set off on foot along a track running through little villages dotted in between the tiered fielded hills until we got to the forest. From here we followed a path made by elephants and when we needed to turn off, our path was made using the machete our guide had bought along. There were lots of pretty flowers along the way and also lots of nasty biting ants.

After two hours we found the group of gorillas we had been looking for. They were all sat with their backs to us and for quite a while refused to face us. The forest was on very steep slopes and was so thick that we couldn’t go around to the other side of them. They kept slowly moving away with us following behind.

This was quite a different experience to my chimpanzee encounter. Then there were just two of us and it was a very personal experience. Here though there were eight of us and unfortunately quite a few of the people in my group weren’t the most selfless of people. This meant that they always had to be first and so often it was rather tricky to see the gorillas.

Towards the end of our time with them though, the three of us at the back were able to follow a few of the gorillas who’d split off from the rest and we got to spend some time watching them relax and eat as they sat and faced us. This was really amazing, and they looked so gentle and content with life.