Kampala, Uganda - We invaded their jungle world, sporting walking sticks and wearing hiking boots. They didn’t seem perturbed.
Then we cut down their greenery – their bread and butter – for better access. They took little notice. They stopped and stared for ages. It didn’t appear to bother them.
We took scores of photographs at close range. No problem.
The mountain gorillas of the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in Uganda are inscrutable. They are jewels of the jungle that envelopes parts of the country as well as neighbouring Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Sadly, the central African jungles are threatened – as are the world’s last remaining mountain gorillas that inhabit them – by man’s encroachment in all its invasive forms. To rescue the gorillas, the jungles must be saved and the tsunami of poachers plugged.
The challenges are distressing, disturbing.
A venture into Bwindi had been planned as the highlight of our three-week east African escapade. It exceeded that billing, leaving my wife and I once again touched by the spirit of Africa that at times is so strong it sucks one into a whirlwind of emotions, spiralling higher and higher, eventually letting you down breathless – body, mind and soul overwhelmed.
We used the Serena Hotel in Kampala as our springboard for the gorilla tracking adventure. The hotel has a strong African theme with distinctive murals, sculptures and figurines adorning the premises.
Tastefully furnished rooms have comfy king-size beds, free internet access and large balconies that overlook the splendid gardens and water fountains below and give a spectacular view of downtown Kampala and surrounds.
There are three reasonably priced restaurants to choose from, a health centre, a fully equipped gym and an unusual pool area, all supported by efficient staff.
The 500km-plus drive from Kampala to Bwindi took a long, hard, bone-crunching 11 hours. There were hectic roadworks and a surfeit of speed humps to disrupt the trip. Jungle Safaris Africa took us there in a robust 4x4, which eased the pain substantially.
When the drive along the main route ended, it was sudden. We turned on to a dirt road and almost immediately were in another world.
Up hills and into valleys, the journey perched us about 1 800m above sea level, looking down on sheer drops into mist-filled jungle-type vegetation. It was exciting, attention-grabbing stuff – but the best of times lay ahead.
After a good night’s sleep at the Wagtail Eco Cottages, we were up at sparrow’s dart for a short drive to one of Bwindi’s gorilla tracking launch pads.
Armed with some local knowledge, thanks to a presentation by a forest officer, our party of eight – us and a six-strong German tour group – went down into the jungle accompanied by armed rangers and porters (who doubled as trail assistants) bearing our bags. In my now fantasy-filled mind, I imagined us as a sort of modern exploration expedition following in the footsteps of those great 19th century adventurers, Henry Morton Stanley and David Livingstone.
I resisted beating my wobbly chest and letting out a Tarzan-type yell as I manoeuvred myself rather clumsily along a narrow path into the “unknown”.
The steep hike down – and back up – was testing. Long walking sticks gave support and there were enough rest stops to assist those taking strain.
As we descended eventually to the floor of the jungle, my exhaustion evaporated in the mist and amazing vegetation. It was, as I had hoped, proving to be an experience of a lifetime.
Without warning, the rangers told us to stop and arm ourselves with cameras, extra lenses, binoculars – whatever we needed to capture the moment.
Then we saw our first gorilla parked against a tree. As we excitedly gathered around, the young silverback rolled over on to his stomach, munching jungle juice delights.
We stood, stared, edged closer as rangers cut away view-obstructing vegetation for us with their pangas. We fired at almost point blank range, the clicks from our cameras deafening in the still of the jungle morning.
The gorilla appeared oblivious to our presence, yawning, eating, rolling around and occasionally scratching his bottom.
He looked in excellent physical shape, apart from battle scars which rangers said were from a series of fights with others of his ilk.
Further into the forest, we came across two females with three youngsters who entertained us with their playful antics. The human characteristics they displayed at times were amazing, almost unnerving.
Again we clambered all over the place without having any noticeable impact on the animals’ behaviour or mood – it was almost as if we weren’t there.
But the best was waiting in the wings.
Without out any fuss, bother or theatrics, the dominant silverback appeared alongside us, a big guy with a powerful back and chest plus scars to prove he had fought and won his crown as the main ape in the family of 14 we were with.
We watched as he ate choice selections from the vegetation around him, every now and then letting out a deep throaty rumble, apparently their method of communication. Whenever he moved off, the others followed… and so did we.
Often he would fix his beady eyes on one of us. The missing communication link was speech.
It was transfixing stuff, more than I had hoped for.
Our time was soon up and the rangers moved us away from the area. We trudged back to the top filled with a satisfying realisation that we had been privileged to enter the gorillas’ world.
Within days we would be back at our work duties in Durban, but memories of the experience of being in the jungle among a family of mountain gorillas will remain with us forever.
l For more information on the Kampala Serena Hotel telephone 011 021 2607, visit www.serenahotels.com or e-mail: reservations@ serenahotels.co.za.
l Tour company Jungle Safaris Africa is available at e-mail:[email protected] or visit the website at www.junglesafarisuganda.com - Sunday Tribune
Mountain Gorilla facts:
Gorillas in the wild are naturally afraid of humans and will flee or aggressively charge if people get too close.
But gorillas visited in the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in Uganda have become habituated which is a process whereby through daily peaceful contact with humans, the animals have slowly lost their fear of people and learned to accept them as neutral beings in the environment.
Habituating a group of gorillas takes between two and three years. The guidelines established for tourist visits have been developed to respect the special relationship created through habituation whereby gorillas briefly allow people into their world.
A typical group of gorillas contains about 10 members including dominant male silverbacks, several females and youngsters. Groups range in size from between two and 30 or more and may contain two or more silverbacks which are usually brothers, half brothers or father and son combination.
All male gorillas become silverbacks at about 14 years of age but not all males become group leaders. Females have their first babies at about 10 year’s old and the gestation period is about eight-and-a-half months. About one in three babies do not survive beyond the age of three.
Gorillas may live into their early 40s while silverbacks may be dominant for 10 or more years and sire 10 or more offspring. Mountain gorillas are critically endangered, their main threats being habitat destruction, poaching and disease. There are only about 700 of the species left in the world, spread between Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Ugandan Wildlife authorities estimate there are about 300 gorillas in Bwindi which is an Unesco World Heritage Site of about 335km2 surrounded by some of the most densely populated rural districts in the world – between 200 and 400 people, whose main source of income is subsistence farming, live on each square kilometre.
The forest is vulnerable for denuding through the illegal harvest of trees or other forest vegetation and while people around Bwindi do not eat primates as bush meat, poachers set snares for forest antelope which may instead trap gorillas. However, Ugandan authorities report an increase in recent years in poaching for the pet trade.
Disease increases significantly during close contact with humans. A limited number of permits, $500 each (R4 178) are offered each day for tourists to track the gorillas, while tour groups are restricted to eight members with just over an hour allowed in close proximity with the primates.
Gorillas are vegetarians with their diet consisting mainly of leaves, fruit and stems. Bwindi gorillas travel about a kilometre a day depending on the availability of food.
Ugandan Wildlife rangers protect the forest through regular patrols, anti-poaching campaigns and the destruction of snares.