Bwindi Impenetrable Forest

Uganda Mountain Gorilla

My favourite picture of the day

It started with a dream - or shall I say it started with reading about how someone else fulfilled their dream on a traveller's blog: trekking and finding the silverback gorilla in Bwindi's Impenetrable Forest in Uganda.

At the time (4 years ago), my main thoughts on the subject were limited to "wow" followed by "I wonder where Uganda is" and finally "gorillas, do you mean like Sigourney Weaver and the film Gorillas in the Mist?.

Fast forward 4 years - 25 countries and an opportunity to work in Uganda.

Coming to the end of my project in Uganda working with BiD Network, I remembered the blog, the story and the dream. The opportunity was being presented to me. Fulfillung a dream that was to become mine, and spend 60 minutes with the almighty silverback gorilla in his habitat.

Mountain gorillas can only be found in the central regions of Africa (DRC, Rwanda and Uganda) and due to aggressive poaching, there are now only approx 800 mountain gorillas left. In an effort to limit tourism and increase conservation, there are only 24 permits available per day to visit one of the 4 families in Uganda. The privilege will set you back $500 for the permit alone. Add at least $400 to hire a car/driver/accommodation and a gruelling 12 hour drive each way from Kampala over 3 days.

But it was worth it!

I set off early in an old landrover, having met my travel companion just minutes before leaving. I was going to spend the next 3 days with Alexia, a bright and cheerful english girl who had taken a break from "the normality of london life to spend time in Africa". The drive West started at 8 am and took us past the Equator, through Masaka and Mbarara to a dirt and rocky road in the West country. The breath-taking scenery was the only thing to keep us going as we drove through the painful 4 hour route through isolated villages on a bumpy, un-tarmacked road.

Witnessing the Switzerland of Africa kept the eyes entertained and the bum numb. The only other source of entertainment was to wave to the children along the way.

As the day was setting into night, and we slowly approached our Banda Community Camp (a banda is a traditional hut-like enclosure), our land rover decided to cave in. We were left stranded in the middle of a tiny village in semi-darkness.

Our broken range rover

As I stepped out the car, I saw a swarm of little, barely clothed children run towards the car. They quickly formed a circle around me. I gave them my biggest smile and greeted them in Luganda " oli otya" I said. They laughed. Encouraged my their response I decided to proudly tell them the 15 words I had learned in their language. This kept them entertained for a while - until they decided to say in unison " Give me money" ! To which I cheekily replied " Neda mpa sente" (= no you give me money!). Surprised looks quickly gave way to laughs (phew!)

So instead of money, I suggested I sing them a song. Undeterred my their sceptical looks, I started to sing them the world famous " Frere Jacques". The let me finish but soon after shouted that it was not a french song but an english song called " Baby Jesus" and they sang me their version (a biblical version of Frere Jacques!) .

As we were still stuck by the car and I was running out of songs to sing, I tried to teach them to click fingers (remember that scene in the 1990s series "Who's the Boss"), click - click - slap faster and faster. Well, that impressed them a lot more than my singing and they all gave it a go.

They soon got bored of all this and started asking me for pencils, books, clothes ... while slowly closing the circle on me (they were over 30 over them by now). Luckily for me it was at that point that the driver had secured some bodas (motorcycle) to take us the remaining 10 Km to the camp.

After 12 hours in a car, I now had to sit, butt clenched on the back of a motorcycle, without a helmet, zooming up the mountain on unpaved, uneven, rocky roads in darkness with my big backpack. Needless to say that I was relieved one we got there in one piece.

After a quick candlelight diner (no electricity in these parts!), we were off to bed.

Bwindi = no electricity!

During the day

The next day we set off at 7.30 am for the debriefing. I looked around me and saw a rather old crowd of grey-haired hikers. We were divided into our groups and told the basic safety guidelines.

Being briefed before setting off

We didn't really know where our family was, they could be 30 mins away or 5 hours away ( I was secretly hoping for the former).

Looking for the gorilla!

We started off with a guide and we were soon joined by two uniformed men with AK47 (supposedly to scare off unwanted gorillas).

Trying to get through the jungle

The terrain was steep, uneven and extremely dense but absolutely breath taking.

45 minutes later we were asked to stop. Leave our bags and our walking sticks. The gorillas were there.

Excitment over took us.

Alexia getting excited!!

Crouching down, walking slowly down the hill - we started to hear movement in the trees, shuffling, grunting noises. And then they appeared. We were surrounded. A family. The silverback lying down resting, children play fighting around him, females eating further away.

Mama Gorilla

Having a snack

Deep in thought

And me....

All smiles :)

All that was left was to aborb the next 60 minutes to the full.

Look. Listen. Enjoy the moment.

It was truly majestic.

The Silverback in all its glory.

On the journey home, we were joined by a spanish couple who had been working in Ethiopia for 3 months and were setting off to South East Asia. We had fun getting to know each other and comparing stories and relating them to our very different experiences of Africa.

Eating corn along the way :)


Thank you to Alexia, Paola, Borja and the incredible mountain gorillas of Uganda for making these past 3 days unforgettable.