Gorilla Habituation experience, Uganda
Let's go, time for our first Gorilla track and this time it was the habituation experience! We ate breakfast at 06.00 and then drove to Rushaga sector in Bwindi around 07.00. When we got there a whole team was waiting for us - 1 guide, 2 trackers, 2 rangers, 1 scientist and 2 porters that we had asked for on the night before. Faruk drove us as far up as he could and we were a 2400 meters above sea level to start. There were no office or introduction just the guide telling us some basics about the trekking and what we should be thinking of. There where one more guest with us and when i looked at him I started to think I was waaaay over my head, he had just be to Congo and climbed volcanos and looked really fit and all set up with a hydration pack on his back. The porters were two women from the local village and I felt a awful when we handed over our backpacks, mine was quite light but Christians was filled with cameras and lenses, but I was soon to find out that these ladies was stronger than any superhero around!
Okey, the walking stared with a steep climb up a the mountain on a small dirt track. When we had reached 1/3 of the climb i felt like i was going to faint, my head was spinning, my eyes was dizzy and I felt like I was breathing air without any oxygen. The guide saw I was struggling and we took a pause and I was placed in the front to set the pace. I don't know if it was the height now being at 2500 meters or just bad physical shape (and I trained my best for this trip!) but i felt really dizzy. I think it could have been smart to stay a extra day in the area to get acclimated to the hight a bit more, we just arrived the day before and maybe it was a chock for me..
I felt better walking slower and stopping for water few times and finally we were at the top. We took a straight right turn in to the forest, and when they call it Bwindi Impenetrable forest, it really is impenetrable! It was so cool walking behind the trackers when the cut their way through the vegetation with machetes, but most of the time we climbed over and under so we wouldn't damage the forest. Ones we were in the thickets I was doing much better, the pace was slower and you were totally focused on were to put your feet.
This is also when the madness started. We followed the tracks of the gorillas and they hade been particularly perky this day and had decided to climb up and down the mountain. When the guide and the trackers pointed down the mountain side and said:
- "okey guys they went down this slope, and we are going after them. Try to hold on to things if you start to glide down the mountain, hold on to branches all the time"
I thought he was kidding because it felt like we were about to throw ourself down the mountain... Even now the volcano climber laughed a bit nervous. But down we went and at several times i was sliding on by back grasping for roots to stop the rollercoaster. Since I'm much lighter than Christian I could most of the time walk on top of the thickets but him being 1.94m and over 95kg he went through all the time, it was like walking in thick snow, and the snow got stuck to your feet. At one time he said -
- "it dosen't matter that i brought my PLB, now helicopter or rescue team could ever get here"
Haha, I'm laughing about it all now, but there is a reason we don't have any photos or videos of the trek, we were to busy getting out alive ;) (a bit drama queen but you get the picture)
When we had gone down a bit the trackers looked at us and said - "they went up again" and then the climbed up the mountain started. It was crazy, all of us was crawling on all four and pulling us up with thick roots. This was when I learn that our porter ladies were superheroes, at one time I got stuck in a hole and had trouble getting up and she reached out her hand an literally pulled me up, with ONE hand! Amazing!
After a long time in the bushes about 4-5 hours we finally came close to the gorillas, the tracks were super fresh and in the distance we could see them up in a tree! We were lucky that they had decided to stop for lunch. We left our bags with the porters and one ranger and carried on with the rest of the group.
We first saw the silverback up in the tree, breaking branches and feeding on small fruits. But when we looked close the whole tree was filled with black furry balls. We were standing close to the tree but not exactly under it as it was growing on the side of the mountain and the other side was facing the very steep and lush side. But we made ourself comfortable in the bushes and took a well deserved pause. Now the guide told us we had done a great job walking/climbing/falling so fast, he was a bit worried we would catch up with the gorillas and you could se on his face that he was very satisfied. We also found out that we were closer to were we hade started and the Gorillas hade walking in a U, jey ;)
The gorillas that you visit on a habituation experience is still being used to the presence of humans and we could tell they were a bit shy. The team that was with us had been with this group from the begining of 2012, when they started the habituation and there had been some accidens. One tracker had been bitten in the leg and others pushed over several times buy the silverback. The Silverback was a real beauty, he was just enormous and when he reached ut to break a branch you could see all the muscles and how big he really was. The guide told us they think his is above 200 kilos, and I'm the first to take his word for it.
We sat in the bushes, getting company from some wasps :/ and just enjoying the gorillas eating. Then the Silverback decided to come down, and he layed in the bushes below the tree, we could see him but when we tried to get closer he made a charge and we decided to keep our distance. When the silverback came down all the others did the same and we had a great time seeing them climbing down the big tree. Many of them stopped to pose for a while and looked at us very curious.
The family we visit is named Bikingi and had 26 members, we didn't see them all and the guide told us that the females and the infants had probably hid themselves further down and that was why the silverback didn't liked us coming closer. But we saw black backs and some younger ones.
We stayed about 1,5 hour with the gorillas and then it was time to head back again. This is something I have been thinking of a lot. We were not sure of the time exactly being "promised" with the gorillas but the habituation is supposed to be 4 hours. We had now been out in the forest for 6-7 hours and maybe that was the limit. The guide sounded like he gave us extra time when we finally found them and had stayed 45 minutes, and we wanted to stay longer. If you have been on a gorilla habituation, how was your experience?
Anyhow, it was a very exciting day with the trekking, the forest, the gorillas and we were quite worn out, so we didn't debate the time. We didn't stop for lunch, and to be honest all I could eat was a few raisins and dextrose.
Since the gorillas had walk in a U-shape, we had a quite easy walk back to the cars, and it didn't take much more than 1 hour.
When we got back the women from the village had put up a whole display of souvenirs for us to buy and I always like to buy something so two gorillas figures is now doing a great job of reminding me of the experience everyday from our bedroom window.
Back at the camp we washed up and celebrated the day with a gin and tonic on the veranda at the restaurant, we were in ecstasy about the whole experience, what a day!
Before bed the lodge got a visit from a local organisation that was selling some handcrafts and preforming with singing and dancing. The organization supports orphans and children in very poor families so that they can go to school. All the guests danced together with the children and all of us bought all kinds of stuff, I have a lovely basket at home reminding me of this evening.
To sum the whole day - CRAZY day! Terrible hard trek, amazing gorillas, lovely people and just a great start to this trip.
Tomorrow we are going to search for the golden monkeys! (if we make it out of bed ;) )