Walking with Gorillas, a moment of beauty and pure joy

Prior to departing for Africa a very good friend said to me “romanticise every single moment”, the one experience that I knew there would be no challenge in idealising was the trek to see the mountain gorillas in the Virunga mountains of Uganda.

When I decided to take this sabbatical, one of the reasons for travelling to East Africa was to allow me to see these beautiful creatures in their natural surroundings as it has long been a dream of mine. It was touch and go for a little while as to whether I would be able to undertake the trek required to find them but anyone who knows me knows I am a stubborn mule, and an acute disc prolapse three months prior to departure was not going to hold me back from achieving anything. The overwhelming relief of realising this dream, may explain some of the emotion experienced when I first laid eyes on them but let’s go back and start from the beginning of the day.  

The day started early, we met for breakfast at 5am so that we could set off at 5.30am, no real hardship I barely slept with excitement. We stayed on the shores of Lake Mwanga with views of 4 of the 8 volcanoes that make up this mountainous area (only two are still active). Arranging ourselves into groups we jumped in the van to get going, it was a bumpy, winding route up the mountain to the meeting points. Mostly we journeyed in the dark and so we couldn’t see the countryside around us but as the sun started to rise the misty mountains became clearer to us and the sight of deep ravines, farmland carved into the hillside and the winding road ahead of us became visible. It still amazes me how much life clings to these hillsides.

We were first to arrive at the park entrance, but it wasn’t long before all the other tour groups appeared. There can be up to 80 permits issued a day in the high season and it seemed to be that many people in attendance. We were settled onto benches whilst a group of local woman performed cultural dance and welcome songs for us. We then had our briefing, no flash photography, no eating or drinking when around the gorillas and no perfume or insect repellent because it attracts the bees that the local farmers breed to keep the elephants away from their crops (elephants are afraid of bees). One of those clever sustainable practices to help man and beast live in better harmony together.

After the briefing and dance were directed to our guide, Gladys, who would be leading us to find the Bikingi group. I opted for a porter and was very glad I did as he was on hand to help me up the steeper parts and through the deep mud, not that we ended up trekking that far. We were last to set off to our start point, there are ten different gorilla families in the park and each group of 8 visits a different family. The trackers had been out since 7am, picking up from where the gorilla family had been seen the day before. The gorillas are constantly moving and so the trackers are extremely skilled in their ability to find their location. We had only walked for 20 mins into the forest when Gladys told us to stop and stay put because the gorilla family we were tracking were up the mountain ahead but, the trackers were hoping to track them down the mountain towards us. It was an opportunity to learn a little more about Galdys and about the marvellous creatures we were about to see. Much like our guide in the Queen Elizabeth Park, Gladys was a force of nature. She is a mother to two young children, trained for a year before starting her career in Queen Elizbeth Park then moved to Bwindi spending 4 years as a tracker. Now she is considered one of the most knowledgeable and experienced guides in the park. She also works with local woman helping those who have not been to school to get into some form of training to help improve their options. She told us that the day before she had been out until 4pm trekking before they found the family, this made us a little nervous that there are occasions that the gorillas are not seen.

We need not have worried though, after 45mins of sitting and waiting we were advised to move on again. Ten minutes later we met our trackers, resting on the ground, we were told to have our last drink of water and put our face mask on, confused we thought it was early as we were expecting to trek uphill. As the slowest in the group I was at the front, the tracker pulled back a bush, pointed and there they were! My hands flew to my mouth and tears started flowing, not 15 metres away was a silverback lounging on the banks of a small stream. Soon we took in the rest of the scene around us, a small female was under a bush on the side of the river we were stood whilst another four were spotted on the other shore along with two small babies. Unbelievable, we couldn’t take in how close they were, but they were going to get a lot closer. As the gorillas moved forward, we too moved through the bush, our trackers cutting a way forward for us. As we stood on the banks of the river the silverback moved to cross, brushing my ankles as he ascended the bank on our side.

Unreal, a serious wow moment to be so close to such power and beauty. The females then followed, some with babies clinging to their back and finally followed by the oldest of the group who had a bent hand and so gingerly crossed, more slowly than the others. Gladys informed us that it was rare to see them crossing the river like this and that she herself had only witnessed it a handful of times. There were three infants, two quite small and a slightly older one. They wrestled and tumbled, climbed and played in the trees as the silverback watched on, grunting “are you okay” to his family as these humans snapped away, gasped and in my case cried!

There are 1063 forest gorillas globally, and over half are found in Bwindi park, the conservation efforts and the way in which they are habituating the gorilla families to humans is commendable. They spend a year getting close to a new gorilla family, staying 20 metres away allowing them to get used to them before reducing the distance to 10 metres. Silverbacks can grow up to 200kg and the females anywhere between 160-80kg. We were so close to the silverback that we could see the power and comprehend the size of them well. They are such incredible and gentle creatures though, just living life, eating away, playing and interacting with each other. I can say with all honestly that it was the most wonderful, beautiful and magical hour of my life. I can’t quite believe it’s over but the memories will be with me forever, and I hope these beautiful, gentle creatures will be with us forever too.

Additional Info:

If you are interested in a visit to see the Gorillas in Uganda please note that the trek is not always as straight forward and easy as ours. The other groups in our tour trekked for considerably longer, in one case they were 2 hours on a continuous incline until they came across their family. Sturdy footwear with good grip is required and a general level of fitness. Porters are a great way to support the local community, it’s only $20 plus a tip, they don’t just carry your bag but will push, pull and support you throughout. You can stay closer to the park than we did but I expect it to be a considerably more expensive option. A permit needs to be purchased in advance and they do sell out, however, if you go through a tour operator this will generally be organised on your behalf. If you are arranging a self-visit then booking a permit up to three months in advance is advisable, at time of writing it costs $1500 for a foreign non-resident.

If you’re interested in more of my travel stories then I post a longer blog here weekly but you can also follow along on Instagram @katsworldwander for more regular updates and content.