OK...there were gorillas, but no mist. I took the opportunity on Sunday to join my friend James (SIS from UK/FH) and his father John to go see the gorillas at the Par National de Kahuzi-Biega an hour and a half outside Bukavu. Gorilla watching is something I have always wanted to do. You can see them in Uganda, Rwanda or Congo but it is cheaper in Congo and from what I have been told, much better.
Our day started at 7:20 when we picked up the FH driver, Fidel to drive us to the park. Funny thing, Fidel was dressed in his church clothes: black suit, white dress shirt, tie and dress shoes. The drive to the park was fun; the road not so fun. The biggest thing about Congo is it's lack of roads. The road we were on took us along the lake, past the Chinese MONUC base, past the nunnery where the nuns make/sell really good ice cream (I'm told). We branched off before the airport, but the road also leads
to the Bukavu airport. Along the way we say fishing boats, a rolled over bus and countless other incongruous sites.
We arrived at the park at 9:00 am and met with the park official. Unfortunately, as it is dry season, the gorillas have ventured quite far away and we had to wait for the guides to find the family before we could head out. Also waiting was a large group of Pakistani UN soldiers. They are funny. A couple of them wanted photos with James, his dad and I. What is that all about! After an hour and a half of waiting, we were off. Accompanying us was a group of four French nationals who lived in Burundi. The park is home to three family groups of gorillas. The group we were going to see had one male silverback, 17 females, 2 babies and one juvenille. The head guide gave us a brief introduction and instructions then we were off. The lead guide went ahead with a machete
to clear the path. It was unbelievable. I kept thinking, when is Indiana Jones going to appear. We truly were hiking through the jungle. At times, the underbrush we were working on was so thick you couldn't see the ground. The machete guide had to completely clear the path at times. It was so cool. What was not cool was stepping into the water in the marsh and having to climb over a watery mud hole. Nor was it cool that we had to walk for close to an hour.
But....... ...it was so worth it! We started to come across piles of gorilla dung so we new we were getting close. Then...GORILLAS! It was awesome. They were not afraid of us or the machete wielding guide who cleared the bush around them so
we could get a good view. The silver back was huge, bigger than anything I could imagine. And scary looking. Some of the young ones came up quite close. One of the gorillas was in a tree above our head. We watched for sometime, then the silver back got up, yawned, and ran off. It was amazing and scary at the same time. The rest of the family followed their leader and we followed as well. The viewing wasn't as good, so we headed back to the vehicles.
The problem with walking downhill for an hour? Having to walk back uphill. My legs were so tired; I could hardly lift them to
walk over the logs and debris. As we walked back I listened. There was the sound of my heart pounding from the exercise and the sounds of the forest: birds and bugs. I was so excited to reach the vehicles at the top of the hill, but sad the experience was over. This is definitely something I want to do again. So if you h
ave ever wanted to see gorillas...come and visit and I'll take you! (see the album on the left)
Our day started at 7:20 when we picked up the FH driver, Fidel to drive us to the park. Funny thing, Fidel was dressed in his church clothes: black suit, white dress shirt, tie and dress shoes. The drive to the park was fun; the road not so fun. The biggest thing about Congo is it's lack of roads. The road we were on took us along the lake, past the Chinese MONUC base, past the nunnery where the nuns make/sell really good ice cream (I'm told). We branched off before the airport, but the road also leads
to the Bukavu airport. Along the way we say fishing boats, a rolled over bus and countless other incongruous sites. We arrived at the park at 9:00 am and met with the park official. Unfortunately, as it is dry season, the gorillas have ventured quite far away and we had to wait for the guides to find the family before we could head out. Also waiting was a large group of Pakistani UN soldiers. They are funny. A couple of them wanted photos with James, his dad and I. What is that all about! After an hour and a half of waiting, we were off. Accompanying us was a group of four French nationals who lived in Burundi. The park is home to three family groups of gorillas. The group we were going to see had one male silverback, 17 females, 2 babies and one juvenille. The head guide gave us a brief introduction and instructions then we were off. The lead guide went ahead with a machete
to clear the path. It was unbelievable. I kept thinking, when is Indiana Jones going to appear. We truly were hiking through the jungle. At times, the underbrush we were working on was so thick you couldn't see the ground. The machete guide had to completely clear the path at times. It was so cool. What was not cool was stepping into the water in the marsh and having to climb over a watery mud hole. Nor was it cool that we had to walk for close to an hour.But....... ...it was so worth it! We started to come across piles of gorilla dung so we new we were getting close. Then...GORILLAS! It was awesome. They were not afraid of us or the machete wielding guide who cleared the bush around them so
we could get a good view. The silver back was huge, bigger than anything I could imagine. And scary looking. Some of the young ones came up quite close. One of the gorillas was in a tree above our head. We watched for sometime, then the silver back got up, yawned, and ran off. It was amazing and scary at the same time. The rest of the family followed their leader and we followed as well. The viewing wasn't as good, so we headed back to the vehicles. The problem with walking downhill for an hour? Having to walk back uphill. My legs were so tired; I could hardly lift them to
walk over the logs and debris. As we walked back I listened. There was the sound of my heart pounding from the exercise and the sounds of the forest: birds and bugs. I was so excited to reach the vehicles at the top of the hill, but sad the experience was over. This is definitely something I want to do again. So if you h
ave ever wanted to see gorillas...come and visit and I'll take you! (see the album on the left)
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