Mountain Gorillas!

The day began very early at 5.30 am, and didn't get off to a good start! We were to drive to the headquarters of the Parc National des Volcans in Kinigi from Musanze - a drive of 20 minutes. After driving for nearly 30 minutes we realised that we were lost! After some frantic telephone calls and new directions we finally got on the right road and arrived - 30 minutes late. Luckily we met up with a guide who knew Jocke - and who very quickly assigned us to one of the groups about to leave to track the gorillas.

After a short drive we reached the edge of the park and met with our trackers. They led us through eucalyptus and then bamboo forest before reaching the edge of thick undergrowth and vegetation (mainly stinging nettles!) and there they were - the mountain gorilla group Hirwa!

The first thing I felt was shock and surprise at suddenly finding these huge creatures sitting calmly eating leaves, quite unperturbed by our visit, but this was quickly followed by awe at their size and strength. The family consists of 17 individuals: juveniles (including twins), females and a huge dominant silverback - Munyinya. We saw only saw 5-6 individuals, but the other members of the group were nearby, hidden in the undergrowth but occasionally making the trees shake as they climbed and broke off branches.

The baby in the picture is the youngest member of the group - Aheza. She was very curious about the strange visitors, but got well and truly hauled off by her mother when she tried to come closer...

All to soon our hour with the gorilla family was over and we had to wander back to the headquarters. A fantastic meeting that I'm glad to have had the priveledge to experience