27 July--Gorilla Trek in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest (by Linda)

Bwindi (translated “Dark”) Impenetrable Forest
Habinyanga Gorilla Group – “H” for short

Gorilla trekking was the main event today and was at the top of our list for this trip. We had breakfast, gathered our packed lunches and water and walked down the road to the gorilla center for an 8am trekking orientation. There were three groups of people going out to see three groups of habituated gorillas – one gorilla group has 8 gorillas, one has 13 and ours had 23. The groups of people are restricted to six per group in order to conserve the gorillas environment. It is therefore, difficult to get a permit and we were lucky to get them during the busiest tourist time of the year.

The H group has two silverback males, several adult females, several adolescents and several babies. We were the only people in our group and were driven to the beginning of our trail leading to the National Park, Bwindi Impenetrable Forrest. We were all advised to have a porter carry our bags because of the altitude (10,000 feet) and the steep slope of the trail – we did as we were told and appreciated the advice. It is the dry season here so the dust is just wicked on the road. The morning was cool but again, we were told that it would warm up, may rain, we might hike 15 minutes or hours to see the gorillas in Group H. In other words, be prepared for anything.

Armed guards lead us as we began trekking up a steep trail that went through a small village. Some tourists had been killed about ten years ago, hence the heavy security. Their presence was not so obvious to us which was great. We were in open spaces hiking for about one hour. It was really interesting to see the houses, the few people that we encountered and the plants and flowers. There seems to be quite a bit of controlled burning throughout the mountains and then we learned that the burning area that we saw would be planted in millet. It was very obvious when we got to the Forrest –it seemed truly impenetrable!

Trackers go out early in the morning to the last place that the gorillas were sited the day before and then they follow their trail until the gorillas are located. The trackers then radio our guide and tell them where to lead us to the gorillas. We hiked about an hour into the Forrest and were radioed by the trackers that they were with the gorillas. The porters stayed behind and we went with two guides towards the gorillas – another 15 minutes into the jungle which at this point was really thick.

The gorillas were not so clear to us at first but they were feeding which they do a lot of the time. About 5-6 of them climbed a really tall tree to eat leaves including the major silver back. Other females, babies and adolescents were below resting and grooming each other. We moved very close to them- about 10 feet, sometimes closer. A one hour visit is allowed, again to conserve their environment. Some of us spent the majority of the time photographing (guess who??) and others observed. They were just fascinating, very calm and relaxed except when the second Silver Back charged Roger because he obviously represented a challenge as Roger was the largest male in our group. As a result, Roger earned the name, Silver Back. I was also standing by Roger as the gorilla ran by us grunting. He grabbed a small tree, creating quite a flurry of leaves. Surprisingly it was not scary. The gorillas began climbing out of the tree and wandering off in search of more food. The hour passed quickly but we were allowed ten more minutes of our allotted time, so we watched them lumber off and began hiking back to the porters for lunch. At lunch, we talked with a third year university undergraduate from Kampala who had gone out with the trackers in the morning. He told us a lot more about the National Park system, what it was like to track the gorillas, and other experiences that he would have as a student at Bwindi. The hike back to the truck was uneventful and of course, we were all very pleased with our experiences in the forrest with the gorillas. The guide told us that he had seen all twenty-three gorillas as he is required to keep a daily gorilla count.

We arrived back at the gorilla center at about 2pm and were presented with certificates – a testament to our gorilla visit. We relaxed at the lodge for about two hours and then visited a center with internet access and a health clinic. David, Caroline and I met the physician who runs the clinic while Roger sought out an internet connection without success (the system was “down”). Those of us at the clinic learned a lot about the local people and diseases and health care issues. Dr. Scott also took us on walking rounds of the hospitalized clients, most were children. Malaria, dysentery, and maternal deaths during childbirth are the major issues. Life expectancy of the local village people is in the mid-thirties while pygmies (a nomadic culture that is close by) has a life expectancy in the twenties. HIV is not a huge problem in this area. In fact, the MD reported a major decrease in the HIV rates in Uganda (from 30% to 6%). Of course, we were astounded and very impacted by our health clinic and hospital visit.