The day of trekking began at 8 a.m. at the Park Headquarters which was about 100 feet from my lodging. There was a general briefing which included direction to stay away at least 7 meters from the gorillas, not to touch them if they should happen to come closer, and not to go out on the trek if you're ill. With our DNA makeup so similar, we could pass on viruses to them against which they have no immunity.
There are seven families/groups of gorillas in Bwindi which have been habituated to humans. Three of the groups are tracked from the Buhoma location. Because a maximum of 8 people can be in a group, no more than 56 people per day can be issued permits (at $500 each); the maximum number from this location is 24.
I was assigned to the Habinyanja family which had 19 members but has been reduced because a defeated silverback took four of his ladies and left. All are given names and are recognized by the rangers working with them. Unfortunately, the Habinyanja family was located farthest from the park entrance so after the briefing was completed we had to get into our vehicles and drive, on those terrible roads, for an hour to get to the starting point. Our walking didn’t begin until 10 a.m.
While 8 is the maximum number, there were only 7 tourists in our group. I was the only American; there were 2 Germans, 2 Australians, and 2 French. Porters were available, at $15 a day, to carry one's pack and provide assistance as needed. I was the only one in my group who elected to hire a porter; I figured the money was well worth having someone carry my pack and it helps support the local economy. At this point I felt some “wimpiness” was a sensible approach. Each porter works only with one of the gorilla groups, depending on what part of the village he is from; the number of young people who want the opportunity is so large that frequently they work only one day a month. Also accompanying each group were two guards, armed with quite impressive-looking rifles. About 40 forest elephants live in Bwindi. They are seldom seen but could be dangerous if stumbled upon. The guards would fire over their heads to scare them away. We did not encounter any. . . .
After about 15 minutes of the uphill walk, I had to stop to catch my breath. I knew in my head that this would be physically difficult: Mountain or highland gorillas are going to live up in mountains which must be climbed to reach them. The name “Bwindi Impenetrable Forest” gave a good clue that the rain forest would be quite dense, making walking difficult. And I had a report from the friend of a friend who had done it, that it was quite difficult. Nevertheless, the reality was more difficult than my mental image.
Minnesota is flat, and a couple of months of setting the treadmill at an uphill pace did not fully prepare me for the mountains. So I was designated the "slow" person who must go right behind the ranger in order to set the pace and assure the group keeps together. I was the oldest in the group, perhaps by 10 to 15 years over the next oldest who is a German man who probably does "Volks marches" every weekend! A couple of our members just returned from jaunts up Kilimanjaro. Thus I didn't feel too bad about my designation. (Perhaps some rationalization to protect my ego at work here?)
The trail was quite difficult in parts, moderately so in others. While walking I kept being thankful that 1) I was 32 pounds lighter than at this time last year, 2) I had brought with me my walking sticks which I found to be essential, and 3) that I had had the good sense to hire Caleb, my porter, who not only carried my pack but pushed or pulled as needed to keep me moving. He was incredibly knowledgeable about the trail, could tell exactly what was coming up, and directed me as to the best place to put my feet to get around obstacles such as tree roots. While generally heading up, the path also had downs, resulting in more ups, making the whole trek even more challenging. These are not typical American trails which receive maintenance and being in a tropical rainforest, they are constantly overgrown.
Trackers had started out about 7 a.m., well in advance of the trekking groups, in order to locate the gorillas. They and the ranger (named Sunday) leading our group were in touch by walkie-talkie so the ranger knew where to take us to reach the gorilla family the fastest. We were fortunate that after only 2 hours of walking, we reached the gorillas. Most started out up in the trees but came down and fed in several locations around us. It was incredibly exciting to see them so close and not behind bars or glass. The silverback (the dominant male and leader of the group) tended to plant himself, not moving around much. Most of the members meandered a bit, looking for choice bits of greenery, and the kids tumbled and played. Because they were located in an area with lots of trees and were generally at least 30 to 40 feet away, photography was difficult (using a flash was not allowed). Here are a few pictures that would definitely not make National Geographic but do prove I was there. I'm hoping to get some better pictures e-mailed to me from two members of the group who had better cameras, but these are what I have now.
Coming down from the tree
The silverback (leader) in a contemplative mood
Female -- blurry because darkness required the shutter to be open a long time
The young play around the silverback who doesn't seem to notice/care
Because the photographic opportunities weren’t so great, I spent much of the hour we were allowed to observe watching various members with my binoculars. The most entertaining was a male “teenager” lying on his back on a tree limb, beating his hands on his chest in true Tarzan movie fashion. He may be small now but has big aspirations! The “babies,” of six months to a couple of years, were also quite entertaining as they tumbled around; the moms were quite tolerant.
At the end of our hour as the ranger was dragging us away, Maraya, known as the “bad boy” of the family, rushed at us doing a threat display. I had the feeling that he knew we were leaving and used the opportunity to show us and the other gorillas how big and brave he was. (Anthropomorphize much?) It was a great end to our gorilla experience.
After walking back down the trail for 20 minutes or so, we stopped to eat our packed lunches.
Then onward and, mostly, downward – with my hand on Caleb’s shoulder for balance and support much of the way. We arrived back where the cars were waiting at 3:30 p.m. Then we had the one hour car ride before arriving back at the camp. It was a long, but very successful, day. However, I desperately needed a shower. I was drenched through from the inside out – tropical rain forests are, indeed, hot and humid.
My wonderful porter Caleb. He has three children!
At dinner that evening I sat with three Australians, two of whom had been with my group. Delightful people, and I got some possibly useful information and material for the upcoming volunteer trip to Kayoro Village.
To bed, exhausted, at 10 p.m.
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