Seeing mountain gorillas was a reason for me to visit Uganda. I couldn’t wait for the day when we would start trekking to their habitats. I don’t particularly like mountain climbing, so I was nervous about whether I could manage in my condition. A few years on the back of my neck and the condition straight from behind the office desk …
Trekking takes place in the Bwindi National Park. The full English name of the park is Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. It immediately works on the imagination…
The Bwindi Forest is a humid tropical forest growing on mountains with a height of 1600 to 2600 meters. The mountains are part of the Virunga range stretching from Congo through Uganda to Rwanda. The forest is located on the edge of the Great Rift Valley and is considered one of the richest ecosystems in all of Africa. Therefore, the national park, which was created in this area in 1991, was inscribed on the UNESCO World List.
The world population of mountain gorillas is estimated at 750 individuals, of which about 400 live in Uganda.
Trekking starts quite early in the morning. First of all, it is worth setting off before it gets very hot (although in the mountains the temperature is pleasant, at night you can even get cold – we got hot water bottles for beds!), secondly, gorillas have their own plans and it can take a few hours to chase them through the forest.
It is worth preparing for trekking – have shoe protectors on you – creepers and weeds of various types tangle around the ankles and calves, leave green traces when we forcibly pick them during the march, often the thickets are spiky, not to mention various types of insects. Long pants and long sleeves must be. It’s good to have a hat on your head – what tangles around your legs also hangs above your heads. It is also good to have gloves on your hands, you go cross-country, there are trips and falls. Water necessarily, a lot of water. And bars or other snacks that provide quick energy – the march can be intense, fainting happened in our group.
At the head of the group, of course, are the rangers and they give direction and with machetes grub the passage. They are in constant contact with trackers who set off much earlier in front of the group and follow the herd they meet. Each participant gets a stick in his hand – do not refuse, take it. It is useful for support, the ground is uneven and from under lush plants you can not see too much where you stand. On the way back, it is very useful to support yourself on it when you lack strength.
One of the best pieces of advice I got before trekking was to pay the porter to carry my backpack. At first I was outraged – how is it, I will bear it myself, in the end it is only 3 liters of water. I was convinced by the argument that for these young guys it is a chance to earn money and it is better than leaving them money in the villages. And it’s good that I let myself be convinced, on the way back “my” porter turned into a guardian angel and towed me uphill. Sweat, wheezing and sliding on plants…
But it was worth it. The gorilla family we saw numbered about 7 pieces – from babies to a large alpha male to the illusion reminiscent of King Kong. You could observe them really closely – two meters, maybe a bit less. They were not afraid of people at all and this is unfortunately a huge threat to them. Therefore, tourists are usually allowed to associate with one or two gorilla families, neither tourists nor rangers kill the gorillas, but the locals do. The rapidly growing population in Uganda means that land for new crops is needed and these areas are occupied by national parks. So animals are killed hence that there is no need to expand the boundaries of parks or maintain them at all.
Gorillas are herbivorous, gentle, very rarely aggressive. The herd consists of about 10-30 individuals, among males there is a hierarchy according to their age. The oldest leads the herd, it is called silverbacked because of the gray mane on the back. Such a mane is reached by males after the age of 10 years and reaching reproductive age. Females reach a height of 130-150 cm and a weight of 60- 98 kg, while males are much larger 159-196 cm and weight 120-209 kg.
With gorillas, we had to wear masks – both for them and for us, contact with viruses is not safe, we have a close genotype, so viruses pass easily. In addition, gorillas do not have vaccinations, COVID is as dangerous for them as it is for humans.
As with any contact with a wild animal, you also need to be careful when observing gorillas. I accidentally had direct contact with a gorilla. Female wanted to walk just where I was standing, so she hit me several times on the back and pushed me. Ranger did not have time to react, the action was instantaneous. Fortunately, she didn’t want to hurt me, just to get me out of her way.
Very interesting what the gorillas did when they had enough of us and wanted to get rid of us. They climbed on saplings, which bent under their weight and broke. We would jump away and they would go in and go on and go farther and farther away from the herd. Finally it reached us and we left them alone, although it was very sad to go…
