Having
the opportunity to watch mountain gorillas in their natural habitant, doing
their normal day to day activities is truly an amazing experience. I had no
idea we would get so close to the gorillas and see so many of them in just one
gorilla family. From our lodge early morning, we met at the ranger station for
a briefing on how to conduct and react when we meet the gorilla group.
Thereafter the rangers guide decides how to combine the groups to provide for
the 10 groups of 8 allowed in each day. They also decide which group will visit
which family based on the difficulty of the trek and the physical abilities of
the guests. Note: you have a choice to decide which gorilla group you want to
visit, depending on your physical ability.
Then you
drive to your chosen gorilla family access point, which varies depending on
which group you are visiting. After that you hike in to the park. The hikes can
vary from 45 minutes to 3 hours, so its advisable to carry snack and drinking
water as you may get hungry. Its also very much advisable to hire a porter – a local
Rwandan worth $10 to carry your bag and hold your hand through hard terrain and
bring your cameras into the jungle. When you get close to the family you leave
your bags a little bit behind so you’re free to observe and spend your 1 hour
with the gorillas attentively.
No gorilla family spends more than one hour a
day with the humans hence very much advisable to do two treks. Both experiences
are quite different and very rewarding. For our second day the hike was not too
strenuous as we chose the medium instead of hard. The gorillas were pretty laid
back and didn't move much. We moved from area to area to see the different
members of the group. The next day the hike was more strenuous hiking up hill
and the jungle was very thick. In addition the gorilla family was almost
constantly on the move so we had to keep following it up.
Our
guide had to move us from place to place, hacking at the vegetation with his
machete. It was very interesting how different the two families were. That is
why its very important if you choose to go to Africa for a gorilla tour, best
to trek gorilla twice since its most possible you won’t be going back a second
time. There are stinging nettles so it is important to wear good waterproof lightweight
hiking boots or Wellies which go over the ankle and waterproof pants and a rain
jacket as it often rains.
Avoid
long treks by going during the low/early rain season, during this period
the gorillas tend to be closer so you will have shorter and less strenuous
treks, a hat comes in handy to shield your face
from the sun.
Visit www.silverbackgorillatour.com for more information on gorilla tracking in Volcanoes national park.
