The main reason most tourists visit Uganda is to see the critically endangered mountain gorillas. Apparently, income from gorilla tourism now outweighs that from tea and coffee exports. Only one small group is allowed to visit each gorilla family per day, and you are at the mercy of the authorities regarding when you are assigned the permits. As a result our group's permits were spread over three days. We therefore set up camp at Lake Bunyoni, which makes a relaxed base for the the trek into the jungle.
Rich and I were in the first group of eight to visit the gorillas, so the next morning at 5am we bundled into a minibus for the bone jangling journey 2.5 hour journey to the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. The journey was in the dark so most of us managed to fit in some much needed sleep on the way.
Upon arrival at the park office we were greeted by our guide for the day and briefed on what to expect and the rules of gorilla viewing. Needless to say we were somewhat nervous about the prospect of penetrating an impenetrable forest. In order to reduce the impact on the gorillas, the rules are strict: you are not allowed to proceed if you are showing any signs of illness as this could be passed on to the gorillas, you are limited to one hour with them and you must stay more than 7 meters away, although if they approach you, you should stay still.
The trek to find them can ranged anywhere from 30 minutes to an arduous 4 hours. Given the terrain is very mountainous and rough, the heat and humidity can soar, and you are hacking your way through the undergrowth, it is recommended that you take a porter who can carry your day pack, support you down the steep slopes and even carry you if things get too tough. The $15 dollars you pay the porter also helps with conservation of the area as it provides employment to people who may otherwise be tempted to engage in poaching or other activities that damage the environment. I certainly didn't need any further encouragement to hire one.
The Bwindi park, which is in the southwest of Uganda very close to the Democratic Republic of Congo, covers 331 sq km, and is home to around half of the worlds remaining 700 mountain gorillas. The gorillas we were tracking were the Bitukura family. This is a group of 12, consisting of 4 silverbacks (apparently it is quite unusual to have this many), 2 blackbacks, 3 females, 1 juvenile, 2 infants. We started our trek with a steep scramble down into a valley. Already the porter was paying off as it was very difficult to keep your footing and not trip up on the matted vines that covered the ground. I was also grateful to be wearing long sleeves as the vegetation has a nasty habit of trying to attack you.
Actually locating the gorillas is made much easier by the fact the trackers are already out in the jungle and have radio contact with the guide. After around an hour and a half of slipping, sliding and fighting our way through the jungle, we met with the trackers. Unlike our guide, these guys are armed, although whether this is to protect us from the gorillas or the guerillas is not entirely clear. Back in 1999, a group of eight tourists were kidnapped and murdered in the park, and whilst there have been no subsequent incidents this is reportedly thanks to a large military presence.
We were very pleased that the trackers had found our gorilla familiarly and they were only 10 minutes away. Before long we had our first glimpse of back fur between the thick tangle of trees. Once our guide had manoeuvred us into a better position, we had a good view of the head of the family, an enormous silverback called Karamuzi. At around 200-250 kilos he was indeed an impressive sight. Our hour of viewing went incredibly quickly, but we were luck to see all of the family bar one of the females, who was hiding behind a tree. The highlight was when one of the younger silverbacks decided to take a run at us. Needless to say, we all completely forgot the advice of not running and turned to scarper, until the guide got us under control and instructed us to stay put. The gorilla was of course just having a bit of fun and no harm was done. Rich managed to catch it on film, although it does go a bit shaky as he attempts to jump behind a tree whilst keeping the camera still. Unfortunately, conditions weren't great for photographs, as the gorillas insisted on staying in the shade of the trees.
The walk back up out of the valley, felt like it took much longer than the trek in as the anticipation of meeting the gorillas had gone. However, thanks to my trusty porter, I actually found it much less arduous than I had feared. Saying that, doing this in the rain, particularly if the gorillas were four hours away, would be pretty tough. We arrived back at camp, tired (a constant state at the moment thanks to the repeated early morning starts), very dirty (another constant state), but also very satisfied.
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