Gorilla trekking in Rwanda

On Sunday, January 16, 2011, Shell, Anna, Georgia, Walter and I headed off on our Gorilla adventure.  We spent Sunday night in Gisenyi on the Rwanda/Congo boarder where we took in the views of the lake and surrounding hills.

Another lunch of fish and goat brochettes

The view from our room

The boats have arrived

Fishing boat heading out

Local children out collecting water

My little mate

Baby sitting Rwanda style

On Monday we traveled an hour back to Musanze where we spent the night before our gorilla trekking adventure.  On Tuesday morning we were picked up early by our driver and headed to the Volcano National Park to find out which gorilla group we would be visiting.  After a brief introduction to the guide he provide some information on our gorilla group, the Amahoro (peaceful) group, which is made up of 17 individuals: 1 silverback, 2 black backs, 5 adult females; 2 sub adult males; 2 juveniles and 5 babies.

Our journey started with a 45 minute drive up the bumpy mountain road to the start of our walk.  Everyone was provided with walking sticks before we set off. The walk to the gorillas took just over two hours through muddy trails and thick forest.  We finally made it to the awaiting trekkers who informed us that the gorillas were very close.  You could hear the gorilla’s communicating with each other, yet they could not be seen. 

Car ride to start of walk

And we are off

Still fairly easy

Time for a worm lunch

A little muddier and harder

Into the stinging nettles

Working through the forest

 It was amazing when we finally moved a few meters through the forest and the gorillas came into view.  They were all spread out and busy eating.  For the next hour we made our way through the forest, cutting paths through the thick bush and stinging nettles so that we could see different members of the group.

One of the first gorilla’s we came across was the dominant male Silver Back who was busy munching on bamboo.  As expected, he stood and prepared to charge us, which scared everyone who was in his line of sight.  Fortunately this was just a show of superiority and he quickly settled back down to his bamboo meal.

We had another close encounter with ‘Mr Lucky’ (he’s known to have fathered many children without being the dominant male) a large adult male.  He walked passed our group and then bumped against myself and the man in front of me.  It felt like a horse was nudging me, he was so strong.  Trying to get out of the way, I slipped on Walters muddy foot and hit the ground.  The passing gorilla grabbed my foot but quickly let me go.  I almost needed a change of undies and the heart was beating quickly for a short while!

Big Daddy, the Silver back

Munching on bamboo

We survived

Just a little muddy

After the one hour visit was complete we made our way back down to our vehicle for the return trip to Musanze and a visit to the local basket weaving ladies.  The girls all tried their hand at making baskets and then spent their money purchasing some.  It was a nice way to finish up the day before heading back to Kigali.

The girls learning to weave

Shell and Anna hard at work