Bwindi impenetrable forest: uganda
20 May
post by allana
It was a 5 hour drive from Mgahinga, the distance not that far but the roads absolutely terrible. On the way out of Kisoro, the main town in the region, we drove past a field of big white UNHCR tents with a few hundred people scattered around. “Refugee camp” explained William, “People from the Congo”. The road slowly wound its way up a few large switchbacks, climbing up and over one of the many valleys. We were stuck next to a large truck for most of it (and its cheeky hitchhiker).
The drive took us away from the mighty Virunga Volcanoes, through cultivated valleys and into one of our most sought after destinations yet… The Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park! An awesome name and the jungle certainly lives up to it. We were only a few hundred meters in when we caught sight of our first primate, the shy L’Hoests monkey. The dense greenery surrounded us and even formed a canopy over the road in some places, the old growth forest rose up from the mountains in every direction and the air was fresh, clean and earthy. I stuck my head out the window to breathe it all in more deeply, and a gigantic moth shot straight down my shirt.
Our next wildlife encounter was particularly exciting—a colobus monkey! I’ve always wanted to see one of these handsome guys since reading Gerald Durrell’s “Catch me a Colobus”. There was just one, hanging out with a troop of blue monkeys (a kind of guenon). He was absolutely gorgeous—long white hair curled down his glossy black back, big white beard and long fluffy tail. We only got a fuzzy photo as he crashed through the treetops, so here’s one I borrowed off google:
The drive took us away from the mighty Virunga Volcanoes, through cultivated valleys and into one of our most sought after destinations yet… The Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park! An awesome name and the jungle certainly lives up to it. We were only a few hundred meters in when we caught sight of our first primate, the shy L’Hoests monkey. The dense greenery surrounded us and even formed a canopy over the road in some places, the old growth forest rose up from the mountains in every direction and the air was fresh, clean and earthy. I stuck my head out the window to breathe it all in more deeply, and a gigantic moth shot straight down my shirt.
Our next wildlife encounter was particularly exciting—a colobus monkey! I’ve always wanted to see one of these handsome guys since reading Gerald Durrell’s “Catch me a Colobus”. There was just one, hanging out with a troop of blue monkeys (a kind of guenon). He was absolutely gorgeous—long white hair curled down his glossy black back, big white beard and long fluffy tail. We only got a fuzzy photo as he crashed through the treetops, so here’s one I borrowed off google:
bwindi lodge
After enjoying the scenery from the troopie for a few hours we arrived in the small village where our lodge and the park headquarters were situated. As soon as we stepped into the place we fell in love, Bwindi Lodge was perched magnificently overlooking the forest, with hornbills swooping past and even the call of chimps being heard in the distance. Our little chalet was called Bob, after one of the resident gorillas, who had been named after Bob Marley for his happy, chilled-out attitude. We sat down on our private veranda and enjoyed a gin and tonic, feeling mighty happy and chilled-out ourselves :)
Final gorilla trek
21 may - post by scott
Our final gorilla trek!! Of course we were excited to have yet another amazing opportunity to see the gorillas but we were also sad to know it would be our last.. for now anyway. We walked down the road to the ranger hq and starting point where we experienced another example of Ugandan seriousness. There were about twenty enthusiastic tourists there and we were corralled by the senior ranger into an orderly semicircle around him. He had the manner of an army officer drilling his troops, but giving us the rundown about what he thought was 'his' park. Everyone started to get fidgety and keen to get on with the hike, but our commander started to enjoy the sound of his own voice so kept us there a full half hour longer. We were put into a group of about 8 (not so lucky as to be by ourselves this time!) and given a further briefing by our young guide who had obviously been mentored by his senior in how to say a lot without saying anything at all. We were joined by a cheerful old pair of Italian doctors, a well dressed English couple and a few other Brits.
We had been previously warned about the ridiculous inclines of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest but thanks to our previous few day trekking were starting to feel moderately fit. We needed it today as the hike was longer (about 2hrs each way) and constantly going up a steep mountainside. The density of this primary rainforest was incredible - without trails you would need a lot of machete-work and a good strong arm to make any progress at all. As the slope started to decrease towards the mountains apex we stopped in a thicket of thick, intertwined shrubbery where the trackers had located our group. Similar to a patch of twisted lantana, the vegetation here was difficult to navigate through and required a bit of the aforementioned machete-work from our guide and trackers. Conversely, when we found the gorillas we observed their complete ease of movement through the thick lower layers - they could quickly leave us in their dust despite our advantage of foliage-hacking implements.
We had been previously warned about the ridiculous inclines of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest but thanks to our previous few day trekking were starting to feel moderately fit. We needed it today as the hike was longer (about 2hrs each way) and constantly going up a steep mountainside. The density of this primary rainforest was incredible - without trails you would need a lot of machete-work and a good strong arm to make any progress at all. As the slope started to decrease towards the mountains apex we stopped in a thicket of thick, intertwined shrubbery where the trackers had located our group. Similar to a patch of twisted lantana, the vegetation here was difficult to navigate through and required a bit of the aforementioned machete-work from our guide and trackers. Conversely, when we found the gorillas we observed their complete ease of movement through the thick lower layers - they could quickly leave us in their dust despite our advantage of foliage-hacking implements.
The vegetation was above our heads so from outside the thicket all we could see was the occasional rustling of leaves where there was some movement below. Crouching down we inched forward until spilling into a little clearing where there were a few adult gorillas munching green and watching over a pair of playing babies. The smaller of the two was incredibly acrobatic, climbing up small trees and dangling by on arm from the top branch while peering curiously down at the group of folded up humans on the ground. He would swing around and occasionally drop a few metres back to the leafy soil, quickly brushing off and returning to his high-wire act. From the heights of this tree the infant would also playfully attack his older sibling, tumbling around and down through the branches, entwined together like a cartoon rolling brawl. On one occasion the little fella even showed us his chest beat - just practicing for when he's a silverback in ten years!
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As the group slowly moved forward in search of fresh food we gave pursuit but it was difficult to see much through the dense bushes. We would be peering around trying to spot movement or a flash of black through the green, occasionally realising suddenly that a gorilla was within arms reach, quietly watching us from behind a green curtain! At one point Allana came face to face with a beautiful and serene adult female. They were separated by no more than a metre and sat staring meaningfully into each others' eyes for around a minute without flinching. It was a magical moment which I saw from a distance - wishing I had the camera with me to capture them together! Allana made good use of her proximity and took some great close up shots of her new friend.
The last member of the group discovered hiding away was the silverback himself. He was a really huge majestic looking fellow and we had a nice view of his posterior for a few minutes while he was munching away on some leaves. Unfortunately he was keen to get moving and right on the hour he started to lead his group away, as though knowing that our time was up and he no longer had to entertain us.
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We were filled with conflicting emotions leaving the gorillas for the last time on our 8 day trip. Although sad to be leaving we were both pleased to see the level of protection they now enjoy thanks to booming tourism dollars in both Rwanda and Uganda. It was great to hear that population numbers had increased by more than double since back when Dian Fossey was here in the late 60s, but the total number of eastern mountain gorillas is still well under 1000 and genetic diversity must be limited. Unfortunately the major problem to further population growth was all too apparent during our time here - habitat encroachment by an extremely dense and growing human population. Nevertheless we are confindent that the Rwandese and Ugandgans will strive to preserve the greatest of our great ape cousins so that we can one day return to see them again.
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