July 25, 2007 –
The trip to Volcanoes National Park occurred on July 22.
Call it a wild African adventure weekend but after spending 14 hours in a bus for Akagera, the next morning I was up at 3:30 AM to go to Volcanoes National Park to visit the gorillas.
4:15 AM – Departure. Alphonse was here ready to take us through the pitch black roads to the volcanoes in the northwest of Rwanda.
6:30a.m. – Arrival at the park headquarters and time to check in. Without us knowing, Alphonse got the sign up sheet for the Susa group, the most challenging hike of them all but also the most famed.
7:00 AM – Meeting our guides, Eugene and Oliver. They told us a bit about the group. Thirty-five gorillas with three or four silverbacks, the oldest and earliest found group. This group also features a pair of twin and it’s rare for both to survive birth.
7:30 AM – Got back in our cars and had a really bumpy drive through the village to the parking and starting base of our hike. We had heard that the drive would be hell but it wasn’t as bad as we thought. Doing that same kind of drive the day before at Akagera prepared me for it.
8:30 AM – Arrived at the base of the hike with a nice welcoming committee of about 20 Rwandans staring at us. We received some walking sticks and some nervous news. “We have a problem,” Eugene said. “There are no gorillas today.” He was kidding… good one.
9:00 AM – The hike to the entrance of the forest began. It was a straight uphill through actual farmland. Amazing how the farmers are able to farm all the way up at the tops of these hills, about 2500m above sea level.
10:00 AM – Reached the entrance. What an exhausting hike. It was nice to see some children and say hello to them along the way. We got a briefing about how to act in the forest and in front of the gorillas. Peeing is easy: avoid sting nettles! Pooing is different. We have to dig a hole 30 centimeters deep before going (I didn’t have to do either). The girls made a bathroom break before going deeper into the woods. Through the bamboo forest we went. Dark and muddy. It was still pretty easy and we hadn’t encountered any sting nettles yet.
The forest gave way to the bushes where things got tougher. The ground was wetter, the path narrower being overcome with the trees and leaves. And some sting nettles. I still don’t really remember what they look like but I avoided them for the most part.
11:00 AM – I stopped paying attention to the time here. Eugene stopped us and said the army guys who cam with us spotted some poachers. Crazy how they still try it. There was some rustling in the bushes. And then I saw one. A black furry mass. A mountain gorilla! We dropped our bags and sticks and ventured deeper into the brush. We came upon a couple gorillas playing together, rolling around fighting and then stopping. They just sat around like they were bored of it. Then they started it again. We were just a few minutes from them! And suddenly gorillas were everywhere! A tree would crackle and fall over… meant a gorilla just brought down some food.
For the next hour and 15 we watched the gorillas do their thing. Run around, climb trees, eat, sit around, roll down hills and scratch. I even caught a glimpse of a couple mating but then the big chief came by and broke that up. See the pictures. We got so close to them and they came so close to us. They walked by me, close enough so I could touch them. It was incredible. (One also pulled a tree down and almost came crashing down on us).
1:30 PM – We had trekked out of the bushes, through the forest and were back at the forest entrance. We sat there for lunch with an amazing view before us. Some kids stood and stared the whole time. I wonder what they think about because they don’t say anything.
2:00 PM – We were back at the parking lot and with a crowd of kids watching, we received our gorilla certificates. What a great day.
My body took a beating doing it and by bedtime, I was sore all over. Not even a burger at La Fiesta made me feel better. Sleep was great that night but I was up again at 6:00 AM for a whole new adventure –
The first day at Rwanda Television.
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