Gorillas at Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National

The day dawn’s with glorious sunshine…I feel like it’s Christmas except with gorillas instead of Santa. It is rather chilly out.

I’m still worried about how I will do on the gorilla  trek. We could find the gorillas quickly or some people report it taking five hours through difficult, uphill, densly vegetated terràin. I’ve been religiously goiñg to the gym since November but my cardio leaves much to be desired. What have I done? But it’s too late to back out now. We’ve paid the money.

Gorilla trekking is expensive, really, really expensive. A permit costs $1200 US per person, per day in Rwanda and $800 US per person per day in Uganda. There is also gorilla trekking in the Democratic Republic of Congo but currently the political situation there is so bad that you would be putting your life at risk (from people, not the gorillas). 

Even when you pay that price, there is no guarantee that you will see gorillas. But your chances of seeing them are 95%. Once a gorilla is spotted, you officially have one hour with them before heading back.

Gorilla Preservation Measures

The park has gorilla trackers that go out early in the morning to find the gorilla troop and are in constant contact with the guides. Gorilla families move around a lot in certain areas.

The trackers also keep an eye on the health and welfare of the families. They are gorilla doctors.

There are also park rangers who protect the gorillas from poachers. Diane Fossey a had a lot to do with the beginnings of the protection. Tourist dollars make this possible while the high price of permits and limited spots keep the gorillas from becoming stressed and overwhelmed.

Mountain Gorilla Facts

Mountain Gorillas are very gentle, intelligent creatures with great memories. They are one of the strongest primates with a bite force double that of a lion. 

There are 1,063 Mountain Gorillas worldwide. Over half of those are in Uganda. In 2017 there were 459 gorillas in Uganda. Today there are over 600. Numbers are increasing.

There are a total of 50 gorilla troops in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park. Twenty two of the troops are habituated. Habituated means that they are used to seeing people.

Each habituated troop has a one hour visit from a tourist group only a few times a week. Each group consists of eight tourists, a guide, two trackers ( already with the gorillas) and two rangers armed with rifles.  The park is also inhabited by mountain elephants. The rangers are there in case an encounter with an elephant requires intervention. Any porters that are hired by the the tourists. Tourists can also hire a porter to carry their daypack and assist them through the terrain. Porters stay back once gorillas are spotted.

Meeting Up for the Trek

We have an early breakfast and Bosco takes us to the visitor reception in the Ruhija sector of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park.  Ruhija Sector  has four habituated gorilla troops and is one of several sectors from which the gorilla treks start. On the ten minute drive I remind Bosco for the umpteenth time, “Please request that they put us in the closest family group.”

We are dressed in hiking boots, hiking pants with hiking socks, layered tops (tank top, t-shirt, long sleeve t-shirt, long sleeve shirt and fleece zip up) and Tilly hat.

Upon arrival they send us to the briefing room. We watch some people doing local dances before they give us our briefing. Click here for a short video. No touching the gorillas, stay 10 metres away from gorillas, do NOT wear insect repellent, wear a mask as soon as you are in the gorilla area, wear gloves when trekking to save your hands from prickly plants and stinging nettles and last but not least, wear your socks over your pants to protect from biting ants and viper bites. Viper bites! Now I know why some people wear gators between their hiking boots and knees.

John and I notice that we are the oldest people in the room. There are about 24 people and we are broken up into three groups of eight. John and I are in the Bitukura Family group. 

John and I are the token Canadians, there is a couple from Dubai and individuals from France, England, Romania and Jordan.

We are told that there are thirteen gorillas in the Bitukura family; three silverbacks, females, mothers and youngsters.

The Porters

There are between twenty-five and thirty porters waiting in the sidelines. They are there to carry your bags, pick ants and other insects off you and help you with your footing for the whole hike. All for the price of $20 US plus tip.  John told me earlier that he didn’t need one but I said he should. 

The porters come from villages all around the park. A small portion of these people are from families that used to poach the gorillas. This is a more positive way for them to bring in extra money. The villagers are given an opportunity to be a porter only once a month. Sadly only John and I choose a porter in our group. Bosco asks if I want a man or a woman. It doesn’t matter. He asks me what kind of porter I want. I only half jokingly reply, “One that can throw me over their shoulders if I can’t walk up the jungle slopes”.

We get a couple; me a woman named Advantage and John a man named Bruce. I asked Advantage if she lived nearby and she said “very, very far”.

I asked how long it took for them to get to the park and she replied “seven hours”.

“How did you both get here?”

“We walked.”

I’m humbled. It’s hard for us to imagine that $20 US could mean so much to these families that they would do a 14 hour round trip walk. 

Trekking to the Gorillas

We are told that the Bitukura group is about fourty minutes from where we will park the vehicles. “Hallelujah! There is a God.

From the reception centre our group piles into  vans and jeeps with our guide, porters and rangers. We drive on windy, bumpy dirt roads for about 20 minutes and park on the side. 

We are in a higher altitude at 2,300-2,500 metres (7,500- 8,200 feet) so the air is a bit thinner. 

I can see why they call it the Impenetrable Forest. Trackers with their machetes meet us at the road. We enter the dense jungle and immediately the trackers start chopping a pathway with their machetes. Despite their best efforts, we still have to climb over logs and vines that seem to wrap themselves around our feet in order to trip us. Branches and picky plants grab our clothes and places that are covered in vegetation that you think are flat often hide holes or drops.

Advantage stops a few times to pick ants off my socks and pants.

Ten minutes into the walk and I am already tired. Oh no, how am I going to do this? The British girl behind me says, ” I am winded,”. 

Thank goodness. It’s not just me. Fifteen minutes into the trek, the trackers say, “Gorillas spotted.”.

We all think they are joking with us. Then they tell us to put our masks on.  I know it’s real when they have our porters hold everyone’s walking sticks. Hallelujah. I’m saved.

Time with the Gorillas

At first I can hear the gorillas snapping vegetation and grunting but I can’t see anything. Then I see parts of gorillas in the vegetation but not much. 

I see some gorillas in the trees and watch one slide down.

Finally I get some great views. At one point a silverback walks so close that he almost brushes me. He has a strong, musky, smell.

The group splits up with different guides, trackers and patrollers. At one point John is very close to a young gorilla. I’m equally close but my back is turned looking at another gorilla. John tries to get my attention with a loud whisper but to no avail.

Another silverback passes me while emitting loud sounds. “He just farted”, the nearest tracker says.

I almost trip on some vines, I reach to grab a patroller’s arm but inadvertently grab his bottom. I quickly move my hand. How embarrassing.

John sees two young gorillas playfully rolling around with each other. Just like children.

They all spend lots of time eating. Gorillas are 99% vegetarian. The other 1% is a certain type of insect. A male gorilla eats up to 35 kg (usually about 25 kg) per day and a female 14-18 kg.Males weigh up to 220 kg  and females 91 kg. Click here for a short video.

A couple females are sitting together. One is a bit of a drama queen and lies down with her face leaning back. Such a ham. Click here for a short video.

Sadly our time with the gorillas comes to an end. We’ve been there about an hour and fifteen minutes.

Trekking Back

The trek back is equally as challenging. Advantage holds my hand to help me along. I am so glad I didn’t have to do this trek with the added challenge of a backpack getting caught in hanging vines.

Once we get to the road, we are presented with our gorilla trekking certificates.

We give our porters (Advantage and Bruce) a ride back to our accomodations. From there they continue their long walk home.

Relaxing at the Camp

After lunch it starts to pour. Boy does it pour. We were very fortunate to find our gorilla troop so quickly and to have good weather. I spend the rest of the afternoon working on my blog.

Accommodations around Bwindi are very expensive. We upgraded our accomodations here and they are still the most rudimentary of the trip. We have our own bathroom and shower. Electricity is solar powered during the day, generator at night. Water needs to be brought in by jerry cans. It needs to be boiled for drinking. Our shower water is heated by a wood fire. Understandably only a thin stream of water comes out. Despite all that, things are very clean.

You see the yellow jerry cans used for water everywhere…being carried by people, bicycles and motorcycles. We take for granted the ease of turning a tap and getting clean hot & cold water.

The rain stops and we get a bit of a sunset.

*please note that the first shot of the nursing gorilla was taken by a Dutch gentleman who was in one of the other groups