gorilla tracking, bwindi impenetrable forest

gorilla tracking, bwindi impenetrable forest, originally uploaded by suddenly.

the distance from kampala to bwindi isn’t far but when you’re traveling on a two-lane “highway” ridden with satellite dish-sized potholes then driving over dirt paths, what should’ve been a 5-hour journey spins itself into an 11-hour bumpy ride.

our entire reason for the trip was to see the endangered mountain gorillas in bwindi. you might know them from the movie gorillas in the mist starring sigourney weaver as diane fossey.

there’s a reason why they call it the “impenetrable forest.” the entire mountain is covered in dense thickets of trees, vines, and stinging nettles. we had no path to walk on; the trackers chop down the vegetation with machetes as they go and try to point out the big drops underfoot so we don’t sprain an ankle. and even with a hired porter to carry my backpack and drag me up the 70-degree inclines, the trek is kicking my citified urbanista butt. oh, and did mention that the air is like a warm vat of mayonnaise? my newly-purchased safari shirt is drench from collar to tail.

our group of 8 trekkers endure nearly two hours of this before we sight the gorillas. (we were the “lucky” ones because the other group took 10 hours.) there’s the big papa silverback, the mama and her bebe, along with the crazy uncles swinging in the trees and lounging beneath the ferns. they are relaxed, having a family moment while we can barely contain our excitement. the gorillas are oblivious to us except for the baby who is curious. she (i think it was a she) turns and turns her head to look at each of us snapping pictures wildly.

we got to have an hour viewing the gorillas but is the quickest hour i’ve ever spent. yay! we saw the gorillas in the mist!! and then we had to make the trek back down the mountain.