Gorilla Trekking

The other claim to fame that Rwanda holds, after the genocide, is that it is the home to the famous mountain gorilla families, situated in the magnificent Virunga Mountains in the northern province of Rwanda, on the border of Rwanda, Congo and Uganda. These mountains consist of six volcanoes and 125km2 of mountain forest. They form the Volcanoes National Park, which was established specifically to protect the gorillas from poaching and was the very first National Park to be set up in Africa in 1925. Most of the volcanoes are now dormant, apart from Mount Nyiragongo at 3462m in Rwanda and Mount Nyamuragira at 3063m in the DRC with eruptions in 2006 and 2010.The oldest volcano is Mount Sabyinyo, which lies at 3634m, and it was to this particular area that I was going to see my gorilla family. The Sabyinyo gorilla family frequently inhabits the closest territory to the park’s edge between Mount Sabyinyo and Mount Gahinga and can generally be found within a two hour trek. The group is lead by Gahonda, the largest silverback measured to date in Rwanda, and weighs in at 220kg.

I had not originally planned to visit the gorillas until nearer the end of my placement but I was invited to carry out training in Musanze district, situated at the foot of the volcanoes, for 3 days and it seemed too good an opportunity to pass up to try and organize a trek at the same time. As there are only a limited number of passes allocated to see the gorillas each day, I was lucky enough to get my pass at short notice. I was also able to obtain a concessionary rate of a $250 pass as a resident of the country, rather than the $500 visitor’s rate and this is to increase to $750 on 1st June- not prices for the humble backpacker or VSO volunteer!

On the Saturday evening before my trek, the heavens opened and we had torrential rain for the entire night. I was unable to sleep, thinking that this expedition was not going to happen, however by 5.30am the rain had reduced to more of a normal rainfall rather than a torrent and I was ready to be picked up at 6.15am as arranged, armed with my golf waterproofs, boots and poles. Francis, my cool driver, dressed in his city gear and cap took me and another couple, that we had met in the guest house in Kigali the day before, to the gorilla trekking reception centre, ready for a 7am start.

We were greeted with coffee and tea and some entertainment from a troupe of Intore dancers set off by the magnificent background of the Virunga Mountain Volcanoes, a view Jane - the volunteer I was staying with, looks out at every day from her house. This mingling time is obviously where the trekking guides divide us up into groups according to some sort of ability criteria depending on how far they think we can walk.  I was put in a group with 6 others who could all have been my children or grandchildren so I was mightily relieved that I had not been put in the geriatric group, since I’m told the treks can vary greatly in lengths of time.

And so we set off in our vehicles for about 45 minutes to get the closest access point to the start of our trek and our gorilla family. Wooden poles were issued to the group but I was happy to stick with my own walking poles brought purely for this purpose and so we set off with our two guides, one at the front and one at the rear until they had established our walking speed and the knowledge that we would be able to manage the trek ahead. As we walked above the cultivated fields and entered the start of more serious vegetation, we were joined by an armed guard carrying a rifle which we were told was to protect us from any other wild animals which might happen to be roaming around but being so close to the Congo border (which we are expressly not allowed to visit!) I was not so sure. We were, however, glad of the guide who went ahead and cut a path with his machete as we made our way through the mud, the bamboo and the vines. And so our journey continued steadily upwards through dense vegetation accompanied by all the sounds you associate with a jungle, until we eventually managed to rise above the rain and emerge into drier territory. At this point we were asked to leave all our belongings behind with an armed guard, except for our cameras, as we were now getting close to the gorillas and there can be no risk of infection by taking outside objects too close to the gorilla families.

Clambering to keep your feet on the slippery, sloping ground was hard without the help of our poles but eventually we emerged into a clearing and found 4 of the family going about their business, mum and 3 month old baby were happily feeding in a small nest of vegetation, number two silverback was lying out comfortably scratching and picking out the fleas and eating them as the mood took him and 4 year old junior was performing his yoga exercises in the trees. We observed them for some time and were told by the guide that since it was cold and damp, the rest of the family was still resting up in trees. We were then instructed to follow our guide and we came upon another part of the family, one of the blackbacks (a less senior male) and his entourage, a mother and her two babies, another mother and baby and one youngster who clearly enjoyed making faces at us.

Having taken all the photos we wanted, we were then directed back to our original spot where No1 silverback, Gahondo aged 43, was now holding court and munching away at bamboo leaves as if they were going out of fashion.

We were allocated one hour to observe and take all the photos we wanted and then it was time to make our descent as we slipped and slid our way down the muddy paths that we had created on our way up. One of the guides, who was only wearing a pair of “wellies”, obviously considered the downward path too difficult an experience for the “granny” in the group and insisted on holding my hand for all the steepest parts of the journey and we finally returned back to our vehicles a lot muckier then we set off.

Fortunately we were not too dirty to stop in at the craft centre, where we were handed our certificates to say that we had seen our family of gorillas and had the opportunity to buy the tee shirt!!! All in all an amazing day but personally I would have liked more explanation on how the whole conservation programme for the gorillas was operating and some information about the gorilla movement in general, rather than information only about the family which we were visiting.

It was without doubt a privileged experience and one which I will always remember but I find it hard to equate with the costs involved and realize that this event is so special because I am one of the few people in the world who has been able to access this unique experience.