We woke up at 5:30 to the sound of rain, and after a hurried breakfast of coffee and toast, packed up quickly and headed to the Park Gate to start my gorilla trek.
Many people say it is a once in a lifetime experience, being with mountain gorillas in their natural environment, and I have to agree.
I was placed in a group of 7 (4 Germans, 1 Swiss, 1 Brit and me) and after a brief introduction about gorillas and the specific family we were going to see, I said goodbye to Matt and Foxy and off we went.
You never know how long your trek will be since the gorillas move everyday to a new area and only stop to build a nest and sleep at night. You are only allowed to spend one hour with the gorillas, but finding them in the first place can take from 1 hour up to several days. That is why there are 2 trackers who follow each family all day, leaving them only at night when they sleep. They return in the morning and wait for the group of tourists who will arrive with the guide. This eliminates hours and hours of walking in the bush for us.
We were pretty lucky today. After trudging uphill in the dense jungle for about an hour, our guide finally managed to locate the trackers using his radio and soon we were face to face with these gorgeous creatures.
The rule is you are not allowed to get closer than 7 metres from the gorillas, but it was obvious that the guides and rangers themselves don't follow that regulation. At one point I was literally a couple of metres away from one, staring at him directly in the eyes. It is incredible, you really feel like they are looking right back at you, trying to figure out who you are and maybe why you're so pale and hairless. While I was locked in a staring competition with this one gorilla, I could feel tears of amazement welling up.
Our group watched, completely mesmerized, for about 20 minutes while the two babies were play-fighting with each other, stopping only to munch on nearby plants and to beat their chest (a gesture of playfulness).
In addition, we saw 3 females (one carrying a tiny baby), 2 adolescents, 1 blackback, and of course, the majestic Silverback gorilla.
Our hour was up very quickly and we had to turn around and hike back down to the village, some of us sliding most of the way on the slippery mud.
After being reunited with Matt (probably the longest time we've been apart since the beginning of our trip, how strange), we drove to a local restaurant called "Modern Restaurant" for a heavy carb lunch of rice, fries, pasta, beans and meat (all for $2.40 US), and then carried on to the Ugandan border at Kisoro.
We had a short wait at the border while the officials were finishing their lunch. After paying $50 US each for a visa and 20,000 Ugandan Shillings for road tax, we were on our way. Again, very easy.
Having to readjust to driving on the left side again, we passed some stunning scenery as we drove towards Bunyonyi Overland Camp.
The hills are covered in fields and huts, the roads twist and wind their way down to Lake Bunyonyi, and huge container trucks struggle their way uphill in first gear spewing black smoke, it was all incredible.
At the campsite, there was a UN Convoy of about 20 Indian Peacekeepers on their way to Goma who had set up camp and were cooking dinner. They offered us a steaming cup of chai tea, but due to some language difficulties, we were unable to converse much.
Start: Kinigi Guest House, Kinigi, RW. 06:30
End: Bunyonyi Overland Camp, UG. 18:44
Distance Traveled: 96 km
Road Conditions: mostly twisty dirt roads around Lake Bunyonyi
Temperature: cloudy
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