Rwanda - Gorillas in the mist

The Mountain Gorillas are one of the world's most intriguing endangered animals. They only live in the mountain range between Rwanda, Uganda and the DRC. I booked the permit to make the trek up to see them over a year ago at the hefty cost of 500.00. Turns out I'm lucky and the price has since soared to over 700.00! However, all of the money raised from these permits goes to support conservation efforts and to help local communities fund education initiatives and other essential services. Many former poachers are now members of carving cooperatives. They earn a better living providing tourists with souvenirs than they did poaching and are proud of their role in the conservation efforts. The last Gorilla poached in Rwanda was in 2002. At that time, there were an estimated 300 gorillas left in the world. Now, they estimate that number has grown to approximately 700.

We woke up early and headed off to the Gorilla conservation headquarters and were split into small groups to go visit the various Gorilla families living in the Mountains at Volcanoes national park. We were told the hikes would vary from 40 minutes to six hours depending on where the Gorillas were. Each family has park rangers that stay with them 24/7 to ensure their safety. This also makes finding them rather easy!

I went to see the Umubano group. The names means "unity" or "good relationship" because this silverback does not fight with the other family in his area. The rangers assume the two dominant males are brothers and respect each other. There were 13 members in the family but we only saw nine of them. The average silverback weighs 440 pounds and eat 60 pounds of vegetation per day!

At first we wandered through spectacular farmland until we reached the park wall. Then the terrain started to go straight uphill through dense dense bush. A ranger lead the way slashing the stinging nettles and vines out of the way with his machete. We climbed over and under fallen trees through the jungle forest for about 30 minutes. Then the guide told us we would have to leave our bags and continue past a barrier where we weren't allowed to take them. He also asked us to stay 7 meters away from the animals. Suddenly to my left I noticed the bush rustling and there amidst the branches was a huge Gorilla! As we approached the silverback came boding toward us to show his dominance. He passed within 2 feet of me! Very quickly we were surrounded by animals and 7 meters turned into 7 centimeters! One baby gorilla even brushed my arm as she passed! We were only allowed to spend one hour with these majestic creatures, but it was an hour I'll never forget! This was a moment that really let's you know just how spectacular nature can be! At the end, we all stopped filming and just watched the huge silverback as he ate!