Bwindi

We just got back from Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, and I wanted to get some thoughts out while my memory is still fresh since it was such a memorable experience! So if you’ve ever heard of the movie Gorillas in the Mist, you know there is a subset of gorillas called mountain gorillas, and they are some of the most sociable animals in the world. They live in family-groups of about 8-30, on average, consisting usually of one silverback, the leader of the group, 4-5 females, a bunch of juveniles (up to age 14), a bunch of infants (less than 1-2 yrs old), and maybe one black back, who will grow up the be the next silverback. They have no predators where they live. They live in only 2 places in the world, which are adjacent to each other: The Virungas National Park, which is shared by Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, and Bwindi, in southwestern Uganda. They are an endangered species, and none have ever been successfully bred in captivity. So you can't see them anywhere else in the world.

In these three countries, there are habituated gorilla groups, meaning, they more or less have a defined area they call their permanent home and they are used to humans. The rangers told us it takes about 2 years to habituate a group. Now, language was a little bit of a problem but here’s what I gather happens, more or less. To do this, the rangers spend time tracking gorilla families; there’s about 30 families in total in Bwindi. Once the rangers find one that seems to more or less stay within one area so they are easily trackable, they assess them for potential of habituation. What they look for, I can’t tell you. But once they are deemed a potential, the rangers start to visit them every day for at least 1-2 hrs, just getting the gorillas used to their presence. Usually, gorillas won’t bother attacking anything as long as it isn’t too close. The silverback is about 200 kg, on average; they have no predators, and they are not carnivores. They only fight with other gorilla groups. Little by little, the rangers get closer and closer. At some point, the silverback decides the rangers are too close and charges. The rangers stand their ground; if they run, the silverback will jump them and attack; if they stand their ground, the silverback will growl and thump his chest and threaten but generally will not attack as long as he sees the rangers are doing nothing threatening. This goes on for about a year, until the gorilla group no longer charges the rangers even if they walk amongst the gorillas. You know how you sometimes see antelopes wandering around buffalo and neither of them particularly pay much attention to each other even if they’re right next to each other? Well, it’s something like that. The rangers then bring “mock visitors” as a trial. If this goes well, the group is habituated and it is deemed safe to bring tourists to visit them.

There are only 24 permits to go gorilla tracking in Bwindi a day; 8 for each of the 3 habituated groups. This is in part to limit the chance of the gorillas getting diseases from us and to make sure there isn’t careless trampling of the forest. We manage to get two and set off on Friday afternoon. It takes us 5 hrs to get there. The first 3 was spent basically driving straight west on a paved road with lots of potholes and speedbumps (I guess speedbumps are the equivalent of stop signs here), and then we hit this unpaved dirt road. It had even more potholes, lots of rocks, and it was dusty. It wound its way up and up and up into a lush hilly/mountainous area that was sparsely populated. We passed an infinite number of tea plantations, matoke (a kind of palm tree bearing bananas but not as we think of them), and fruit trees. Much of the scenery was looking out into a steeply terraced mountainside with goats and cows everywhere. It was misty and a little chilly, giving it an otherworldly, movie-like feel. Little dirty kids with only a long brown shirt one would run to the road and wave frantically at us, yelling “hello”, which I think is the only English many of them could say. If it weren’t for the endless jouncing about, it would’ve been a very pleasant drive. It took about 2 hrs, 5 villages, and a little bit of rain before we got there.

If it wasn’t for Bwindi, I can’t imagine any tourists would come to such a remote place. The town is called Buhoma and it’s just a tiny village that supports Bwindi. Everything revolves around the gorillas, but since there’s only 24 permits at a time, there aren’t more than 40 tourists at any given time there. Still, just within the park entrance there are about 5 guesthouses. We stayed at a modest one called Buhoma Community Rest Camp which was immaculately clean but not luxury. As with anywhere you go, we were served tea on arrival at their restaurant (an open air round hut about the size of our living room). You can actually pitch a tent there, stay in a 6-bed dormitory, or have your own “banda”, which is just a separate small enclosed “room”, anything from a small cement hut to what we ended up having. We have a “self contained” (has a private bathroom) structure, which consisted of a roofed shelter; under the shelter is a porch with a table and two chairs, a large room-sized tent with a queen bed, 3 tables, a pair of slippers and a mosquito net, and behind the tent is a cement bathroom with a shower, a table, a toilet, and a mirror. There is no sink and no divider between shower and toilet. Still, it was clean and had lots of toilet paper and constant hot water, yay! The hot water is from a firewood stove so it doesn’t depend on electricity but it smells like woodsmoke. The view is SPECTACULAR. Bwindi really is what looks like an impenetrable rain forest set on a bunch of steep mountains and our porch looked right onto one of the mountainsides. We could see monkeys in the trees from our porch. We did have to use kerosene lanterns at night but we didn’t stay awake much after dinner anyway so it wasn’t a big deal.

The next morning, at 7 sharp, we had a big breakfast, went through about 45 min of orientation, and off we went! It was fun to meet so many people from different countries even among the 12 of us who were there that day. We went with a young Australian couple, a guide, and two armed guards. Each of the three groups were in different areas. We ended up with the group with the hardest hike but the most spectacular view. We hiked for about 40 min up a steep old road, on a dirt path through a matoke forest, till we got to the top of one of the mountains. I felt a little bit like Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music as they struggled over the Austrian Alps except it was very sunny, humid, green, and buggy. We ascended about 1000 feet at this point. They had already sent rangers ahead to find the gorillas for us. We were in luck; the gorillas were in a glade in the forest that was pretty much free of trees and we were going to be able to see them quite clearly.

About 20 min later, we’re there. They were sitting right in a glade of tall grass, leaves and small trees about 5 feet tall, eating, about 200 feet away from some very tall forest trees. We just saw some rustling branches; then, all the sudden, we saw a gorilla not even 10 feet away from us! It was indescribable. They’re about human height but weigh closer to 150 kg, I’d guess. There were 9 of them, including 1 baby. They were just sitting there, munching on leaves and branches. As we stared at them and took picture after picture, they didn’t even look at us half the time. It’s like they really didnn’t care that we were right there. The silverback didn’t like us much, when we got too close he’d roar a little and beat his chest and walk away, but otherwise, he left us alone. The baby was so curious, it was just like a human baby. He had soft long silky fur and kept looking at us and inching closer until the mom got fed up with him crawling away and grabbed him and put him in her lap. Then the baby started sucking his thumb! It was amazing. The rest of the family just ate with clear enjoyment all around us and casually watched us watch them. We spent our allowed one hour with them, then trekked back.

I’ve been trying to think why we are so fascinated with them. In part, it’s the movie; in part, it’s what they represent: a species of animals who exist in a very small part of our world, and whose habitat is threatened by human expansion. We are becoming much more aware of these species and we cherish them; but there’s not many animals who will let us see them in their natural setting like these gorillas will so it’s a rare experience. I think it’s also that they live in this incredibly beautiful place which we’d love to see anyway (would I travel a crazy distance to walk through a boggy swamp or trek in -50 degree weather to see the gorillas? Honestly, no; I’m too wimpy for that). Finally, there’s something very human about the gorillas that I just can’t explain. They are very intelligent and seem to express emotions. They form very strong relationships and have loyalty. The mothers love their babies and keep a very close eye on them. The gorilla babies are very curious and toddle about as cutely as any human toddler. They use their hands to cram food in their mouths and chew with as much relish as any person eating a burger at a barbeque. And if you’re like me, you’re happy to see them in the wild. As much as I know zoos are a good thing, I often feel like some of the more intelligent animals just aren’t happy there. They’re not able to do what they were born and bred to do and somehow, they know it. In the wild, they’re in their element, literally. They’re healthy and peaceful and they belong there. I think it reminds us that there is a right place for everything, that we all on this world have our spot. Animals and humans alike are an equal part of this complex dance of life and when we respect that, it’s a beautiful thing. God had an order and purpose in mind when He made us and everything in this world, and there’s nothing like being reminded that everything on this earth is cherished by God, so we should too. Ugh, I'm cliche-ing. Let me stop.