My Experience In The Virunga Mountain Gorillas

After a night at Mt Gorilla Nest lodge, it was ahad been there a few hours ago. He spoke on his
breaking day light on the 15th Saturday ofRadio Call and spoke to his colleagues.
December when a Led a Gorilla tour of 4 peopleFaster we moved only stopping to wait for those
from Abacus African Vacations. A cold gentlewe had been waiting for that had relaxed to
wind blew over Ruhengeri town, facing thecatch their breath. Closer the gorillas got as we
Virunga Volcanoes. It is here that the where maincould see a few of them sitting majestically and
Rwanda tourism offices are located so I handed inmotionless in tree branches watching us. This was
the Gorilla permits the group I led that wasa signal that our efforts and determinations were
supposed to track Gorillas in Perc Des Nationalabout to pay off. We crossed a small river in one
Volcans. In our itinerary we were to Visit bothlip. So exhausted and excited, we crouched down
Uganda and Rwanda Gorilla National Parks.and crowled closer to the gorillas in a total silence.
After putting on the right Gear and having takenFinally they came closer in a full view of Gorillas -
cups of coffee to engender more heat in yourover 20 of them -a mind-boggling sight! Two
body, our driver guide briefed us about how wesilver-backs sitting next to each other at the head
would move on to the starting point on this day...of the group while other huddled together closely
After interactions between the tourists, permitbehind in silent stares as our ranger grunted to
issuing officers, determining who is in the rightmake them move closer. The bigger silver backs
condition for the most difficult trek and briefingsuddenly stood on fours and stiffened as one of
about regulations from the ranger guides, the longthe gorillas named Africa refused to sit with the
awaited adventure commenced.group or even move with them. Eventually he left
A sudden cloudburst characterized the early partthe bush and sat in the path behind us. We
of tracking. Providentially for us, it was perfectmoved aside to let it join the others but all in vain.
for firing the many questions that we hadHe could move behind us and whenever we could
harbored for long, questioning Francis Bayingana,stop, he could stop as well so the rangers told us
our tour gUide of seven years' experience,that he was trying to show the Silver backs that
without interruptions - however, we were warnedhe too could lead and he wanted to make sure
against raising voices whilst trekking.that all was well. But later he joined his family.
Since we had opted to trek the Susa group whichFour one hour, we watched infants playing on this
is referred to as the furthest family in Perc desmothers' bellies as the juveniles were
National Volcans, which was referred to as thesomersaulting. Finally, it was time to retrace our
farthest and most difficult to find, we felt the rainpaths back as we had three hours of climbing
was doing us a favour by making them dormant.again.........
"At least we will locate them easily", we thoughtNot even the drenching rain that poured halfway
to ourselves.into our journey back could dampen our spirits. It
We trekked through the thick vegetation, whichwas a memory I would never forget!
the rain made rationally impassable. Several timesRwanda has eight groups of gorillas. Each group
the wet, slippery grass saw many of the trackershas a strict social structure based on age,
slipping and sliding, with some holding on to treesindicated by how a young one will check out of an
for support. After persevering for 6 hours, hikingeating point, playing space or sleeping area in. a
several metres over 3500, the ranger guidesparticular area for the elder. Five groups are the
advised that we had to sit only to find that weones typically seen during trekking. These are
were completely surrounded by the group. Theidentified differently according to the numbers
rangers grunted to guarantee that the silverbacksthat constitute a group. Sabinyo group has 11,
were friendly and as a sign of acknowledgementSussa has 39 after the death of a baby gorilla on
of friendliness, the silverbacks grunted in return. InJanuary 12th, Amahoro has 14, Umubano has 8
effect, the rangers were conversing with theand group number 13 includes 17 gorillas.
gorillas. With gorillas sitting all around and theThough most times tourists desire to track Susa
babies swinging playfully in' the low trees and onebecause of its large gorilla composition, Francis
playful baby holding on to a tourist's shoes, thesays numbers do not mean a thing.
one-hour view of the wider nasal cavity, broadEach family of gorillas is peculiar for instance; one
chest, black shaggy hair with silverback malesgroup may have most playful children or an easy
striking a contrast, we were amazed. It was ato interact with silverback, another biggest
truly exhilarating experience and something I willsilverback among other behaviors that make
remember for the rest of my life.tracking each group an exclusive experience.
Resting, as a major component of the gorillas'Nevertheless, seeing a particular group very much
social setting, involves playing - which varies withdepends on where it is that day as gorillas are
age groups. One activity, grooming, entails lookingalways on the move in search of food and
for and killing parasites from each others' furrysafety.
bodies. After a siesta, mating occurred between aBy high merit of their habitat, Francis added,
silverback and a mature female and we were ablegorillas do not ~ have many predators. Apart
to see the actual forming of nests in the evening,from the buffaloes, golden monkeys and
in an area identified by the dominant silverback.elephants that share and live in synchronization
The gorilla form nests mainly when they bendwith the gorillas in lower altitudes, gorillas live in
soft trees. They break mature bamboo stickscold conditions which other animals cannot stand,
and other tree species that have broad leaves toproviding them a monopoly of the mountain areas.
provide a blanket and shield against the cold.Francis explained that they are able to live in such
Mothers discover a cozy spot where their backscold conditions because of their black colour
will be sustained as they breastfeed and cuddlepigment. "The black colour helps to attract and
their babies for the night. "A mother gorilla willtrap heat in the high altitudes of the mountains
breastfeed her baby for three and half years andand at the same time makes gorillas less
will have a maximum of six babies with a spacingsusceptible to heat stroke as they love sun
of four years," Francis commented as he furtherbathing. Gorillas in this region can live up to 45
added that seeing nests is one of the indicatorsyears with the silverbacks weighing about 200kg
that guides use to tell how far trackers will goand females between 80 to 120kg."
before reaching the culmination of the adventure.The diet of mountain gorillas largely consists of
We later transferred to Gorilla resort Camp inshrubbery.
Bwindi where we experienced the Virungas inThe writers aim of getting involved in the gorilla
Uganda. Our tour guides briefed us about whattracking was also to study and analyse the diets
we had to do the next day. The next morning,of the Mountain gorilla and the constituents. She
we assembled at the starting point ready to gofound out that Gorilla food constitutes of over 50
and track the Habinyanja Group. We started thedifferent plants, whose leaves, shoots and stems
walks but as others followed Wildlife rangers ledare eaten. For shoots, the gorillas benefit from
the group as we began to file down the weathermainly the rainy season mountain bamboos, when
beaten path on a very steep hill that wasgreen and still tender, eaten with trocatea plants.
covered with thick bushes, tall trees, and a fewThe writer noticed that because the bamboo
banana plants. A heavy down pour the previousshoots are 84% water, the extra trocatea, tsile's
night had left the path so slippery and most ofleaves, celery's stem without the tree bark,
the ladies were screaming for help as we wereyoung bamboo leaves, stems, urela cameronesis'
sliding and rolling on our bottoms down the steepleaves and stem bark, flowers and roots, and dry
slopes though it wasn't smooth sailing for theseason black berries grown on high altitude,
guys either as one kept on falling when my hikingprovides a nutritious delicacy. Plus the bark of
boots failed to stick in the mud and sent meeucalyptus trees is also eaten especially by
sprawling down the hill. Sweating, swearing withSsusas of Rwanda, the largest gorilla group, for
groans of Fatigue, we continued given the cheermedicinal purposes. The male dominant gorilla also
of the anticipation of the now looming encounterknown as the silverback is particularly skilled in his
with the gorilla-Uganda's most popular attraction!knowledge of herbal plants and it is known that
An hour after the walk, we came across somewhen one of his group members fall sick, the
mud and wattle houses surrounded by Bananasilverback will often lead the group to another
gardens, pawpaw trees and passion fruits plants.sector of the park to find a particular herb and
Women and children abandoned their chores andhearten the sick member of the group to eat it.
starred at us. Some of us talked to them as aThe writer learnt that Eating also depends on the
few of them were yelling at the whites we wereprevailing situation in a group and the weather.
tracking with saying-Muzungu a Swahili word thatNormally gorillas have three intervals of rest
means the white man. We were given a fivebetween each feeding, which amounts to 40% of
minutes break before we proceeded which wetheir total time per day. However, if they have
used to take water and take off jackets.. One ofmigrated in an area that has plenty of food, they
the guides Chris informed us that the hard partwill feed and then rest for longer periods
was yet to begin from the point where we werecompared to times and movement into a sector
standing so he advised that we had to proceedof limited food availability. In addition, if it's raining
without out bags or any luggage we felt washeavily they become dormant; active again when
heavy to ensure the fact that we were light.it stops.
I could hardly believe my ears and wonderedAfter getting pleasure from the larking about of
what the previous hike had been because wethe young gorillas and the sheer size of the male,
were already tired and it already felt like I hadwith the one hour view apparent like 15 minutes,
hiked the Rwenzoris and back. We reached awe headed back down the mountain to a hot
certain point and the guide told us that the gorillascoffee and a well-earned rest.