Chris and mountain gorillas in Rwanda

 

Arriving in Rwanda was a incredibly exciting. Marg had tried to describe for me the colours, smells, cultural differences and Africa Time, but nothing could have prepared me for such a culture blast. Her stock phrase has been - is Chris ready for Africa and is Africa ready for Chris? 

 

Our decision to visit the mountain gorillas was, without doubt, one of those experiences which will be a lifelong memory. From the capital city Kigali, we took the Express bus for two hours (at £1.70 muchbetter value than our local home Bolly Bus) north towards the Ugandan border. The northern Rwandan town of Musanze was our base for two nights.  After an overnight stay at the Hotel Muhaburo, a 4X4 drive took us up to Virunga Volcanoes area.

 From the National Park base, where we watched local intore dancing, our guides took us on a further rougher 4X4 drive to the edge of the jungle. After an hour’s trek through bamboo and creeper vegetation with our guides using machettes to clear a path, and armed guards for protection, we came across a family of 15 wild mountain gorillas!

 

The gorilla population across the Uganda, Congo & Rwanda borders area has now grown to 700 since being protected after the 1994 genocide. In Rwanda, it has been 10 years since the last death of a gorilla by poachers.

 

 

 

 

The female adults were eating while the youngsters played tough and tumble. They seem comfortable with humans as close as 3 or 4 metres, providing you don’t touch the inquisitive young ones or stare directly into their eyes. Any untoward moves by the gorillas meant the guides quickly used their gorilla vocabulary to ward off approaching parents.

 

The Silverback male leader watched over his family with a protective pride. 

 

 

It is difficult to describe this truly awesome experience. But we hope the photos catch a flavour of an awesome hour we spent with this gorilla family.

 

 

Life can be tough with so much excitement in one day!

 

 

 

 

More experiences to follow……………