Gorillas in the Mist

The main reason for visiting Uganda was the chance to track apes – the chimpanzees and gorillas.

While we spent the majority of our time at Queen Elizabeth National Park on game drives or viewing the wildlife around the Kazinga Channel, we did spend one morning tracking chimps in the Kyambura Gorge.

The Kyambura Gorge is 16 km long and 100 meters deep, carved out of the landscape by the Kyambura River.  It is home to two dozen habituated chimpanzees, which means that the chimps have had contact with man and will carry on with their daily lives even in the presence of humans.  They are known as the lost apes, because this is the only area of QENP containing primates.  All other chimps have moved on to other areas of Uganda, like the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest or Kigale National Park.

We arrived at Kyambura at 8AM to be briefed by a ranger before beginning our descent into the gorge.  While we were on our way to the entrance, we just happened to stumble upon a chimp picking fruit from a tree along the top of the ridge!  And nearby, we spotted a group of Black and White Colobus monkeys.  Even though we knew that it would be difficult to find only a handful of chimps in the massive gorge, we were hopeful once we saw that one.  Little did we know that Kyambura translates to, 'I searched, but I could not find.'

Before starting the hike, we had been warned it would be tough, but feasible.  After meeting our ranger, scout, and protector (a woman named Dina carrying a very large gun), we made our way carefully to the edge of the gorge, where we were met with a set of very steep steps leading into the darkness below. 

Here, five people on the trek immediately gave up and got back inside their vehicles.  The hike down into the gorge was just too steep for them.  David, who I must remind you is afraid of heights, bravely led the charge and was the first down into the gorge.  I followed, with Karen behind me.  And honestly, that was one of the easiest parts of the day.

We spent three hours in the ravine, and the hike was treacherous.  We crawled over and under fallen trees, balanced precariously on tiny ledges overlooking a sheer drop to the rocky river below, and held on for dear life to roots as we climbed up out of the gorge.  Poor Karen thought she had her balance at one point, but lost it, and began to slide down the hill on hands and knees.  Luckily there was a sweet German woman behind her, who grabbed her bum, and pushed her up.  David, meanwhile, had been standing at the top laughing hysterically at her.  What a good son!  But no, he really did help her every other step of the way.  I had already made it to the top with the scout (I found running up easier than taking slow, unsure steps).  When Karen emerged covered in mud, I couldn’t help but exclaim, ‘Ohmygosh what happened to you?!’

Thank goodness we didn't need to cross this bridge!

And after all of that, we did not see a single chimp apart from the one before we started our hike.  But we looked on the bright side – 1) we were on vacation in Uganda, 2) we had just spent three hours hiking in beautiful terrain covered in lush greenery, and 3) we were lucky to see one chimp having its breakfast at the top of the rim.

We were not lucky on our last day in QENP as we drove from Ishasha to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, either.  We did not find any tree-climbing lions in Ishasha.  In fact, the lions hadn’t been spotted for days.  But again, we played the Glad Game – 1) we were on vacation in Uganda surrounded by stunning scenery, 2) we saw plenty of lions at QENP, including two males together (practically unheard of), 3) we saw lots of other animals at Ishasha like hippos, monkeys, and topi, and 4) we weren’t kidnapped or killed by any radicals from the DRC as we enjoyed our lunch at the border!

We knew that we would have better luck at the Impenetrable Forest.  Unlike the chimps, tourists are guaranteed to see the gorillas.  It may take fourteen hours, but the Uganda Wildlife Association has a fail-proof system in place.

First, there are specific families of gorillas in the forest that are habituated.  They can tolerate small groups of people (each trek has a max of 8 participants) around them for up to an hour each day.  Once a family is found, trackers mark the area with their handheld GPS devices.  The next morning, two hours before the group of tourists starts their trek, trackers are sent to the location marked on the GPS from the day before.  Once they reach the area, they use their amazing tracking skills and machetes to get through the forest to find the gorilla’s nest from the night before (as gorillas are stationary during the night).  And from the nest, they follow the current day’s track.  Meanwhile, the tourists are hours behind but catching up fast.  As gorillas can travel many, many miles in the course of one day, it’s hard to tell how long it will take to track them down – anywhere from a couple of hours to fourteen hours!

There are less than 1,000 mountain gorillas left in the wild, and they live only in central Africa, in the forests of Uganda, Rwanda, and the Congo.  A limited number of tracking permits are given out each year, and the prices are increasing.  Our one-day permit was $500/person but in Rwanda, they are currently $750/person, so we knew this was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

As we made the five-hour journey from Ishasha to Bwindi, we felt that the forest truly was impenetrable.  We drove for hours along dirt roads, swerving to avoid potholes, and literally hitting a cow to move it out of the way.

The scenery began to change from barren African savannah to rich, dark forests and hillsides dotted with tea and coffee plantations.  Finally, we arrived in Bwindi and the Buhoma Lodge.

Gorgeous views of the tea plantations bordering the forest

The lodge is located inside the Impenetrable Forest and prides itself in its sustainability.  The electricity is run off of solar panels, and there are no outlets in any of the rooms.  The food was excellent, and is sourced from the local area.  We felt like we were living a Swiss Family Robinson lifestyle in our very own treehouse!

After a tour of our digs, we walked through the village to meet the locals and purchase some homemade crafts.  We were accompanied on our stroll by the native vervet monkeys.

The generosity of the American people never fails to impress me.  During our first day in Uganda, we heard that Disney’s Animal Kingdom donated two rhinos to the Ziwa sanctuary.  Later, we learned that elephant trenches around Ishasha (to protect crops from elephants) had been sponsored by both Disney and Busch Gardens.  And while driving through larger cities like Kampala and Entebbe, we couldn’t help but notice the HIV / AIDS awareness billboards paid for by US-sponsored programs.

In Bwindi, we met workers at the local hospital that was started by a doctor from California.  Dr. Kellermann and his wife visited Uganda in 2000, and immediately realized that there was a huge need for a local community hospital.  So they returned home, sold their practice, and moved to Uganda to start the Bwindi Community Hospital.

One of the highlights of the trip was visiting the Bwindi Orphanage, which began much like the hospital – by a visiting couple from Sedona, Arizona who started the 501(c)(3) to aid the local children.

Every day after school, the children come together to sing and dance, and share their stories.  David, Karen, and I went to Thursday evening’s performance and met some very special children.  They were full of energy and joy, and so happy to meet a few Muzungu.

The children performed a welcome dance with a few solos, a traditional wedding dance where two boys fought over the bride (which included showing off for the camera), and a gorilla dance. 

After a really special evening in town and a wonderful dinner back at the lodge, it was early to bed because our gorilla trek was fast approaching!

The morning of the big day, we were all well awake before our wake-up calls at 6:30.  I don’t think the three of us slept at all on Thursday night because we were so excited! 

Because there are no phones or TVs in the rooms, we were gently woken up with coffee and tea in bed, delivered to us by the staff of the lodge.

The misty morning gave way to a clear day

From there, we had breakfast in the dining room and filled our backpacks with our lunch boxes and water bottles, also prepared by the attentive staff at Buhoma Lodge.

After an hour-long briefing with the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), we met our guide, Obed.  We learned that we would be tracking the Habinyanja gorilla family that day.  We were so excited when we learned that the Habinyanja have over 20 gorillas, including many young, and one baby.  We met the other hikers in our group – a couple from France, a couple of Iranian Canadians, and a girl from the UK that was in Uganda doing charity work but taking a day off to trek.

Finished with orientation and ready to begin our hike!

Some of the more interesting things learned during our overview with the UWA were:

-   The Habinyanja family has one silverback patriarch, Makara, and he is feisty.  He is a grumpy old gorilla (about 35 years old), and he loves to charge humans to show them who’s boss.  At this point, I got scared.

-   If Makara did charge us, we were to crouch down and remain absolutely still to show him his dominance.  Again, no running allowed.  We didn’t want to become moving targets.

-   No flash on cameras was allowed.  And if we had to sneeze or cough, we had to stifle it and turn our heads.  We were not allowed to make any loud noise while looking directly at a gorilla.

-   We had to remain 7 meters away from the gorillas, but that wasn’t really realistic as the gorillas approach the humans themselves.  Again, if this happened, we were to remain perfectly still.

-   The family would most likely know when our hour with them was up, and at this time, they would probably get up and walk away.  Those gorillas are mighty smart because that is exactly what happened.

So after scaring the hell out of us, it was time to meet our protection rangers, Ignatius and Robin.  Ignatius led the group upfront with his AK-47 while Robin took the back of the pack, also with an AK-47.  They were there to protect us from other humans, like the Congolese and poachers, not the gorillas.

And then there were the porters.  For $15, we were encouraged to hire a porter to carry our backpack and help us up and down the mountain.  At first, I didn’t think we’d need help, but after the chimp trek, we agreed to gladly pay for some extra assistance.  And our porter, a pygmy called Fred, earned every dollar (and then some, as he received a large tip from Karen).

Pygmies were driven out of the forest in the early 90’s when it became a National Park, so this is a way for Fred to return to his homeland each day.  The porters are amazing.  They wear huge wellies to get through the mud, across the rivers, and deep into the forest.  For $300, they will carry someone up the mountain and back down again to see the gorillas.  This gives literally everyone, from the disabled to the elderly, an opportunity to see the endangered gorillas.  I honestly don’t know how they do it because that hike was hard.

We started at a quick pace up the hill into a tea plantation.  From the plantation, we crossed a steep ledge (I also don’t know how the plantation workers pick all of that tea by hand without sliding down the mountain) into the forest.

Once in the forest, it was easier to grip onto trees and roots to get around, but there were definitely a few times when I was thankful that Fred was there to push me up a hill or hold my hand down another.  Some areas were so steep that I had to slide down on my backside.

After two hours, Obed got a call on his radio from the trackers.  They had found the Habinyanja’s nest from Thursday night and were on the current day’s trail.  After another hour, we got the call that the trackers had found the gorillas! 

So it was time to go off of the path and deeper into the woods.  This was by far the hardest part of the walk, so Ignatius and Robin got out their machetes to clear a path for us.  We all fell multiple times, getting snarled in vines, but Fred was always there to help us up and carry us forward.

After another hour, we began to hear the gorillas around us!  We kept climbing higher until a gorilla ran right in front of us!  It came up to Ignatius, got in his face, and then ran off.  I was too busy paying attention to the ground and my footing, so I missed it.  David remarked, ‘Be glad you didn’t see that because it was the scariest thing I’ve ever seen in my life!  That gorilla was huge!’

A few minutes later, we found the trackers.  They were resting in the bush, and pointed out the gorillas below us.  We were instructed to leave our packs and walking sticks with our porters.  We would be going the rest of the way on our own with just the rangers and trackers.

As we began to approach the family, Makara appeared and began to charge at us.  It was so hard to remain still when my body was screaming at me to run as fast as I could in the opposite direction.  The worst part was Makara whooping as he was running.  That sound was terrifying.

Holly, the Iranian Canadian, was so brave.  She kept getting closer and closer, aiming for the best photo possible.  After about 10 minutes of continuously charging us to exert his dominance, Makara finally gave up and took a nap under a tree.

I went all Blair Witch Project in this video (sorry for the f-bomb, Grandma)!

A female with her two young came to lie beside him, and the babies alternated between resting and rough-housing.  The youngest one, a male about 18 months, stayed awake during the entire hour and entertained us with his tree-climbing.  He was very young, so just beginning to learn to climb.  And he was so adorable.  He would fall and the silverback would look up and grunt, but then he’d get right back up again.  He climbed all over Makara and the female.  And meanwhile, there were multiple other gorillas in the trees around us.  We were completely surrounded.

At the 56-minute mark, Makara got up and began to walk away.  I was astonished that his internal clock was virtually on time with our allotted hour.  Obed said to us, ‘C’mon, we still have 4 minutes.  Let’s follow him a bit.’  The silverback was having none of that, so he charged us one last time.  I guess that was his way of saying goodbye, or, ‘Get the hell out of here, Obed.  I’ll see you again tomorrow!’

Even though I was nervous and afraid for much of the hour, I still really enjoyed meeting the Habinyanjas.  Our up-close and personal encounter with the gorillas was a remarkable experience.  It’s so important to continue to visit and study the mountain gorillas to ensure their survival. 

This trip to Africa was so much more than just a safari.  We spent much of the week on-foot, trekking through the forests to find primates and across the savannah hoping not to run into an angry buffalo.  Or on a boat or our Land Cruiser seeking out elephants and lions and Nile crocodiles, and driving through villages to meet outgoing, friendly Ugandans.  It was a true African adventure and something that we will never forget!