Gorillas in the Mist

Still in Rwanda, we headed north from Kigali (capital city) to Ruhengeri and stayed the night in a dioceses run campground. We had an early night given the next day (Thurs) we were going GORILLA TREKKING. We had an early start, being picked up at 6am (I (Grant) was on breakfast duty so was up at 5am) by a couple of landcrusiers and driven to the tour company headquarters. We were met by two local guides who introduced us to the gorilla family we would be trekking. The family comprised eight members led by Charles, the silverback, and a couple of females (one of which was recently acquired from another family) and a couple of baby gorilla's. After the briefing we drove for an hour to the Parc National Des Volcans (where Dian Fossey did her work with the gorillas) which is a huge national park split across Rwanda, Uganda and the Congo. The drive was the bumpyest to date and took us through villages with kids chasing the truck. Once we were at the national park boundary we were greeted by three armed soldiers (with AK47's) who would escort us to the gorillas. They were there to protect us from poaches and any rebels (ex-Interhamwe soldiers who were the secret police during the Rwandan genocide) that still hang around the Congo-Rwanda border. The trek took almost two hours up steep terrain covered in stinging nettle and dense jungle. After two hours our guides got the call on the radio from spotters that we were close, only 200 vertical metres away which turns out to be a bloody long way. We then caught our first glimpse of a female gorilla. We left our packs in one spot and grabbed our cameras and started trying to find the rest of the family. The terrain was steep with long grass and stinging nettles everywhere. Baby gorillas were playing and hanging about in trees and one brushed right past Anna as it wandered down the path. We then found Charles, the silverback, who was only 4-5 metres away from us. Our guide started to pat down the grass so we could get a good photo when he turned around, roared and charged us to within a metre or two. It was the most terrifying experience having a 180 kg gorilla charge you and you're on the side of a steep volcano with no where to go. After spending an hour with Charles and Co we headed back down to the national park boundary for lunch with our guides and guards and drove back to camp. It was amazing seeing these animals in their natural habitant and everyone says the gorillas were the highlight of their trip and it is no different for us either. Sadly, there are only about 700 mountain gorillas left in the world - 380 in Rwanda and 320 in Uganda and the Congo. It is expected that future generations will never get to see them.