Mzungus in the Mist...

Sorry it’s been so long…I would say I have the excuse of being extremely busy with work and I was writing and editing the FCYF newsletter all last week and then I had tonnes of exams to type up for the deaf school…But that was all last week, so I guess I’ve just gotten lazy with the blogging! Lots to tell though…

Finally went to see the gorillas…the famous endangered mountain gorilla is the main tourist attraction of Rwanda and there are only about 800 left. To be honest I was not sure what all the hype was about. I have never been particularly interested in gorillas, and didn’t want to pay $500 just to hike up a hill and hang out with them for an hour. However everyone told me I was insane to be going to Rwanda and not see them…once in a life time experience etc. (and mum offered to pay!) so I thought why not. It somehow seemed like we were getting a good deal as well, since the price of permits just went up to $750! We were told when booking that the Susa group were “the group to see”, since they are the biggest (35 gorillas!), have the most babies (including a rare set of twins) and there are 3 Silverbacks (the big daddy in charge), including a “visitor” from a Congolese group! HOWEVER we were also warned that tracking this group involved the most arduous hike! I was not too keen on this as my fitness level is not great. But Selina and Matt were extremely keen, so I was not going to be the spoilsport…so we specially requested this group from our tour guide.

We (Selina, Matt, me and Matt’s host brother, Vincent, who he was treating as a birthday present-its much cheaper for Rwandans!) were picked up bright and early at 6am at a local hotel and driven to the National Park base where they had a big touristy welcoming ceremony with tea, coffee and a performance of the Intore traditional singing and dancing. They only sell 80 permits per day and I think there are 10 groups that you can track, so people are divided into groups of 8 and assigned (supposedly at random) to one of the groups. I guess most people don’t make special requests as we got assigned the Susa group as we had hoped. We were with a really nice group of young couples, none of them tourists, all living and working in Africa for a longer period of time. After an introduction from our guide, who thought he was really funny making jokes about how he was not strong enough for the intense hike to see the Susa group…and suggesting we just go see the golden monkeys instead! The Susa group is also the furthest away from the National Park base so we had to drive for over an hour in the jeep, before we actually got to the starting point. Half of this was on an very bumpy dirt track through a village, with street children running alongside the vehicle demanding “amafaranga” (money) and “agachulpa” (bottles). This made me wonder if some tourists actually throw money/bottles at them from the car windows!

We finally got there, with headaches and feeling rather queasy, were given our walking sticks, which we joked about at the time, as being completely useless…but soon found out they were actually very necessary! I was a bit confused as I couldn’t see any forest anywhere and we were just surrounded by mountainous farmland. There were children running around, locals farming the land, and lots of cows and goats. This didn’t really look like the kind of place you would expect find a gorilla! And it wasn’t! So we started walking (at quite a fast pace) up the hill through the crops and farmland. I was already starting to lose my breath after about 20 minutes…but I told myself it wouldn’t be much further. I could immediately see the usefulness of the stick though, and I was using it to take some of the weight off my legs with every step! After about half an hour I was exhausted and we didn’t seem to be advancing anywhere as we were still surrounded by crops with no jungle in sight. I started to question my decision to come on the trek and wondered if I was going to make it. I asked the guide, how much further and he replied with his version of humor again, “oh maybe 2 hours, maybe 6” (!) I was not amused. With no end in sight, I started thinking I can’t believe I’m paying $500 for this! I wasn’t the only one who was suffering…there was an Italian girl and an American, who were both just as exhausted but still seemed in high spirits…so I tried to keep a smile on my face even though inside I was swearing, and cursing myself for going along with Selina and Matt’s idea of a “fun hike” to see the “best group”. They of course were way up ahead and Matt’s host brother Vincent, the only Rwandan of the group, was wearing a winter coat and had not even broke a sweat! After about an hour and half I felt like I was going to collapse at any moment, and was just staring at my feet, willing them to keep going. There was an absolutely beautiful view from where we were halfway up a volcano, but unfortunately I was in absolutely no mood to appreciate it!

So finally after about 2 hours we stop and I finally see some trees and heavy vegetation a few meters away. Our hilarious guide, had a huge cheesy grin on his face as he says, “Welcome to the national park, this is where we begin” We hadn’t even begun yet!? I could only really laugh hopelessly at this at this stage…He said something into his radio, got a response in Kinyarwanda and then we were ready to enter. He told us this part would be much easier, since the land was pretty flat. I don’t know what he considers easy, but for me it just brought a whole new set of challenges! They had clearly made efforts (or not) to avoid destroying the gorillas’ natural habitat as there was no sign of path, the tracker at the front hacked away some branches of the vegetation so that we could get through the thickest parts but for me it felt like I was being swallowed up! Most of the plants were taller than me and with every step, I thought I might fall in and not be able to dig myself out! There was also the joy of abundant particularly powerful stinging nettles that manage to sting you through your clothes! I had stopped feeling sorry for myself at this stage and was finding the whole thing vaguely amusing. After about half an hour (I don’t think we had gotten very far!) we came to a small opening and the guide tells us we must leave our stuff there, and can only take our cameras. He says it will be about 2 more hours. This, I know is a lie as I had read that they only make you leave your stuff when you are close to the gorillas and he is talking constantly on the radio now.

So we continued through the forest for maybe five minutes, I had made sure I was near the front of the group this time as I didn’t want to get left behind! Selina and the guide are the only ones ahead of me. We turn a corner and all of a sudden there is a HUGE gorilla about 2 meters away from us! It was kind of shocking/scary and really exciting all at the same time. I was also pretty relieved. The whole group stopped and as we looked around and came to our senses, there seemed to be gorillas everywhere! The guide pointed out a mother feeding a baby, young ones playing, and two of the Silverbacks. They could clearly see were there, but didn’t seem to care. As if to prove the point, after about 5 minutes of us standing and staring in awe, one of the Silverbacks jumped on a female and started mating! A few minutes of very loud screaming and action ensued, which we all caught on camera of course! It was crazy. The other gorillas just went about their business eating, playing and sleeping. It was amazing being so close to them in their natural environment. A few minutes after the mating another Silverback decided to start a fight! (He wasn’t happy that the “lower” male had mated with one of “his” females, according to the guide) This meant more screeching and action! I couldn’t believe we had such a clear view of the whole thing! We watched them for about an hour, following them if they would move around a corner or into another area, the guide instructed us the whole time, telling us the best paths to take to get the best view. I was never particularly scared but there was one point when one of the Silverbacks eyed us suspiciously and looked angry, then started to approach us. The guide just told us to move slowly out of the way…apparently we were just in his path! I wondered how they see us! We must look completely ridiculous and pointless to them, white, skinny, hairless versions of them, holding black objects, making strange noises and moving around to accommodate them! During the time we were there we also saw some of them climbing trees to get to the best bamboo. And a pair of twins (very rare apparently) riding on their mother’s back!

up close and personal!

baby

mummy and baby

The whole experience was amazing and don’t think I can really do it justice, trying to put it into words. All I can say is that I quickly forgot about the hellish hike! The hour felt like a lot less and I think we could have stood there all day. We were sad to go, but were all on a high all the way back down the hill! I felt rather proud of myself as well and bought myself a stupid “Mzungu in the Mist” t-shirt as a reward…a joke based on the Diane Fossey movie. Its definitely was not easy, but I can say now (in hindsight!) that I’m definitely glad I did it and I don’t know if the other groups would have been as amazing an experience but I can proudly say I saw the “biggest and the best gorilla group in Rwanda” : ) 

The easy part...
(I was not in the mood to take pictures on the way up!)