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.
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment