Penetrating the Imprentable

We arrived in Uganda to little fanfare.  It took us over an hour to get through customs and immigration and then another hour to get to the hotel. By the time we arrived, we both were hungry and in need of a shower.  After showering, Colleen and I met Holly and Dan in the lobby for a late lunch.  Soon thereafter, Colleen decided to nap but I was trying to stay awake until bedtime so I ordered a coffee and pulled out my book.  After an hour of shift position and trying to keep my eyes opem, I gave in and headed up to the room for a power nap before dinner.

Our next day consisted of 10+ hours in a Land Rover driving across Uganda to Kisoro.  To be honest, I spent most of the time sleeping but while awake I couldn’t help to notice the beauty.  I was surprised by how lush and green the country was.  This was striking, even when departing the airport, but more so the further away we travelled from the city.  Just after arriving at the Travellers Rest House (second home to Dian Fossey while she was living with the Gorillas) the rain began.  Not just a sprinkling but an outright downpour.  I wasn’t sure how this would impact our trek.

Gorilla day was finally upon us.  We woke up early so we could eat breakfast and be on the road by 6:00 AM for the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, home to 300+ mountain gorillas.  Although the drive was a mere 2 hours, the winding roads and rough conditions made it seem just as long as the previous day.  Shortly after arriving at the park we were greeted by our guide, Hobart, and guard, John and headed off into the jungle. 

Both Hobart and John were extremely friendly but being led by a man dressed in camouflage, rubber boots and a machete and being followed by another dressed the same and carrying an AK-47 kept me imagining how quickly this could turn from a tour to see the gorillas to something much worse.  It reminded me so much of the book that I read while travelling in Colombia about the presidential candidate being kidnapped by the FARC and required to trek all over the jungles. 

We had been hiking for a little over an hour when Hobart received word from the two gorilla trackers that had left much earlier in search of our gorilla family that we were close.  In fact, we just need to climb the hill to our right and we would be there.  Hobart asked us to wait a moment while he went in search of the best route but quickly returned with the news that we need to climb straight up.  Just to help you visualize, we had been walking a well-worn path up to the point with a practically wall of vegetation to our right.  Now we find out that we need to climb the 60 to 70 percent grade straight up to get to the gorillas.  We quickly learned what the machete was for as Hobart led the way.  For the next half hour or so, we climbed; walking stick in one hand, hand full of vegetation in the other as we worked our way up the hill.  The only things I could think of on the climb was 1) I needed some sugar to combat my rapidly falling blood sugar (thank you Santa Claus for the Tabasco Chocolate in my Christmas stocking) and 2) how would we ever get down? 

Once we reached the top we were greeted by two more men in camouflage pointing up into the trees were a handful of mountain gorillas were hanging out.  It was hard to make out any features, they were just large black blobs, but it didn’t matter at that point, they were the coolest black blobs I’d ever seen.  Quickly the climb was forgotten, cameras were retrieved and our hour with the gorillas had begun.  A few minutes after arriving, the gorillas were on the move heading to lunch.  As they swung tree-to-tree 20 feet above us, we quickly tried to keep up on the ground.  Fortunately, one female decided to head to the ground for her picnic lunch and we were able to really get some close ups.  The silverback (leader of the pack) made his way down to a lower branch to pose for pictures.  But as soon as our allotted hour was up, the silverback climbed out of the tree and exited stage left. 

Fortunately, the climb back down to the main path was easier (not easy) than expected.  The gorillas were nice enough to lead us to an area where the grade was closer to 45 degrees for the decent.  Once back on the main path, the route back to the trailhead was easy and fast.  About 5 minutes shy of the start, and a much needed lunch break, the rain began to fall.  Light at first but right after we made it to the covered enclosure, it really started to come down.  We felt very lucky that we were not still out in the jungle at this point tracking the gorillas like all of the other groups (about 30 people) that started at the same time as us but were assigned to other gorilla families.  Even after a leisurely lunch, none of the other groups returned.  Finally, we took the rainy path back to our Land Rover for the treacherous road back to the Rest House for a much need shower and, for me, a nap.

Although it was New Years Eve, we learned that we were once again to have an early morning departure to Entembe and after the work we all had put in, decided to head to bed prior to ringing in the New Year.  Fortunately, or unfortunately, the people of Kisora let us know when the time hit by driving the streets and honking horns, playing loud music.  Even the local dogs got into the spirit by barking out “Happy New Year” for an hour or so.  Needless to say, I didn’t sleep much, but who needs rest for a 10-hour drive. 

Next up… Safari in Tanzania.