Day 28 - Mountain Gorillas

Kerri had been building up for this day for months. The main reason she wanted to go to Africa was to see the mountain gorillas. I can't say I was as excited, but I was still amped up for the experience. A 5.30am start and early breakfast allowed us to get to the park HQ on time. Along the way we were able to get a better look at the row of five extinct volcanoes that form the boundary with the Rebublic of Congo (Mt. Sabyinyo above).At the park HQ we were given the run down about the lay of the land, how we are expected to behave around the gorillas & were introduced to the family we would visit (our family was the family called Sabyinyo).Robert followed the convoy carrying the other 6 members of our hiking party. We started hiking from the car across the farmland that was only recently inside the boundary of the national park. There's now a wall along to boundary to stop the farmers encroaching & to stop the buffalo destroying the farmland. When we'd asked for a short hike if posible, we didn't think a 10 minute wander across farmland before hopping over the wall into the jungle (above) was what they mean by a short hike. None the less, that was our hike & we weren't complaining. We've since heard horror stories about 3 hr hikes followed by an hour of hacking through stinging, thorny jungle. We had to bush bash for a couple of minutes to find the animals. We could hear the gorillas even from the wall & could see evidence of both buffalo & gorillas on the ground (and nearly stepped in it a few times). Then there he was, Guhonda (above & below), the big silverback. He's the biggest gorilla in the park & the guides said he weighs 250kg. I find it hard to believe (maybe they mean pounds), be he's a big boy for sure.

As we set ourselves & were quiet, we became aware of other members of the family rustling around in the vegetation. GiIhishamwotsi (or maybe it's Shirimpumu) was up in a tree eating leaves (below).

Ishejabben (nicknamed Big Ben) is an odd one. He is easy to spot thanks to his bald head.

Kampanga (above) has a new baby of only a few weeks. This family not only has the biggest gorilla in the park, but also the smallest (below). Cute little guy isn't he? Some say he looks like Elvis.
Most of the family settled down for a sleep with Guhonda the protector of the group with one eye open for trouble.

Meet Gukunda (above & below), the Prince. He's Guhonda's son & a silverback in training. Apparently Guhonda knows that he's getting old & his reign will be over soon. He lets Gukunda take some privileges with the females that in normal circumstances he would not. Gukunda's quite a big boy like his father. Apparently he eats a lot & chooses the plants that ferment in his stomach the most. Consequently he is drunk much of the time. We could see he was a bit grumpy & a bit unsteady.

The other members of the group were quite elusive. They were either in really dark places where the camera couldn't see them or in the thickets where we couldn't see them.

Unfortunately, we had to leave. In the best interest of the animals, the human interaction is kept to an hour per day. It felt like 5 minutes, but we'd been there over an hour!
Back at the park HQ, we were all given certificates to prove we were there (because the photos aren't proof enough).Robert drove us to a lodge on a ridge nestled between two nearby lakes. We had lunch and watched a storm cross the lake & past us. It was all very civilized.

The local birdlife wasn't too fussed even if one of the white necked ravens did look a bit bedraggled.

That night was more of the same as far as dinner & power failures. We turned in for the night still buzzing from the experience.