Today was all about Gorillas. We woke up to the sound of drums in the village which I think is some kind of alarm call. An early start with a briefing from Benoît our ranger for the day. There are 10 habituated (used to being watched by humans) gorilla families in Virunga. 2 have only just been habituated, this process takes anything from one to five years and tourists are only allowed to visit once the rangers feel that it will not stress the gorillas or frighten the tourists. The original plan was to find the family called Baracka. This family were named after the ranger who was killed in May 2018 by a militia group. She was taking a party of tourists back to Goma when they were attacked and she was killed. The tourists were kidnapped but later released. The park was then closed until February, this is the reason why they now travel with an armed escort. This was a sobering reminder that this beautiful place is still a war zone where both people and animals alike face real threats to their existence. It makes the way these people welcome you all the more poignant, they genuinely appreciate that you have come here in spite of the risks, it means as much in terms of morale as it does in dollars.
We received news from the rangers inside the park that the Baracka family had moved up to 3000m and this would involve a 5hr trek to find them. Happily the other family (family A) were only an hour or so away. With masks in hand and a lovely walking stick purchased we started our trek.
We wandered along a narrow path which separated the forest from the fields with a high powered electric fence. After the Rwandan genocide and the subsequent RPF takeover, 1000’s of Tutsi and Hutis refugees fled here. They hid in the jungle and eventually began to settle, turning parts of the forest into fields. The fence line is the result of an agreement with the park authorities that they won’t encroach any further. In return the villagers get a share of the income from the gorilla permits and employment as rangers and guards.
After 30 mins of easy walking we turned into the forest and although there was a path of sorts, the going became more tricky as roots grabbed hold of your legs and thick wet leaves made it ski slope slippery. A little way in and you could see where the gorillas had been eating and definitely hear them crashing around. Gorillas are not subtle!!!
After an occasional glimpse of a black shape through the trees we stopped to leave behind our bags and put on our masks. The masks are designed to protect the gorillas from human diseases and vice versa. A little further on and we came across a small group of mothers, babies and adolescents. The babies were so curious, one brave one came within touching distance, he obviously hadn’t read the rules about staying 7 metres away. The video and photos explain better than I can.
All the time we sat watching we could here loud crashing above us, which turned out to be gorillas climbing trees and falling out of them. A little further on we saw the big silver back who is in charge of the family. We were lucky enough to see another of the younger silver backs close up. He was Huge!!!
We stayed with the Gorillas for an hour or so before walking back to the lodge. It was wonderful, I will be smiling inside for a very long time whenever I remember this.
Pirate Travels 