Hanging with Gorillas in Rwanda!

The mountain range of volcanoes that runs from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, through Rwanda, and into Uganda is home to the world’s endangered population of mountain gorillas. My wife Alice and I were visiting a friend in Rwanda and I knew my trip had to include the gorilla adventure. While not inexpensive, it was the trip of a lifetime and much of the money we spent went to conservation efforts to protect the gorillas and their habitat. (more on cost at the end)

We started from the capital city of Kigali and the gorillas were a somewhat arduous 3 1/2 hour drive into the mountains. There is only one road, and it is used by commercial vehicles, tourist busses, motorbikes, bicycles, pedestrians, livestock and folks like us. For the most part it is a two-lane winding mountain road and when stuck behind a truck your choice is to breathe the foul exhaust while moving at 15mph, or take life into your hands and pass on an inside turn.

My friend Jim did all the driving and he did a great job. Through no fault of his, there were close calls and a lot of drawing breath through one’s teeth as if to prepare for impact!

My travels to Africa are limited, but what appears ubiquitous is the presence of pedestrians walking along the highway laden with stuff, on their way to somewhere. Rwanda appears to be in motion at all times. Women in bright colored patterns carrying large bundles on their heads with a children tied to their back or walking alongside holding her hand.

It’s humbling coming from a country where we don’t even get out of our car to get coffee and lunch if there’s a drive-up window! Rwanda is not a wealthy nation, and maybe as a result, its people appear to have real hustle, and from what I could see, are hard-working and always busy.

We reached the Ingagi Lodge, one of the several upscale lodges situated at the entrance to Volcanoes National Park. These lodges cater to gorilla tourism trade, and our experience was remarkable. It did, however, all feel a bit colonial. The lodge exuded the rustic allure of a safari, while offering the indulgence of imported wine, exquisite European cuisine, and lavish service. I found myself conflicted, as I enjoyed such luxury with a healthy side-order of bourgeois guilt.

We had a relaxing afternoon to settle in, enjoy a drink and nice dinner and prepare for tomorrow’s adventure.

The next morning we rose early to a hearty breakfast and assistance from the staff in preparing for our hike. We met at a central meeting spot with other tourists, all of US/European descent.

There are about 12 different families of mountain gorillas in Rwanda, all in the Volcanoes National Park, a collection of 6 volcano/mountains. The families live at different locations and elevations and some are very difficult to reach and others easier. The groups are limited to 8 people per gorilla family so each day a maximum of 96 people get to see the gorillas. You get one hour to see them, and then the gorillas are left to themselves for the rest of the day.

Slowly the guides at the open air welcome center sorted people telling us to go to a certain kiosk and wait. It didn’t take a genius to see that we were sorted into the easy group! Other groups had young aggressive looking hikers who seemed prepared to hike several hours of challenging terrain to find their gorillas. Ours would be practically served up like a petting zoo!

It was ok with me because at that altitude it didn’t take long to be gasping for oxygen. We were instructed to drive a short distance to a small village where we met up with our group, guides and porters.

There were 3 different groups of people who got us through this adventure. There were guides, one of whom, Felicien, was our main guide. Then there were porters. This of course conjures up an image of sherpas, or strongmen carrying steamer trunks. Nobody needed their stuff carried as we only had small daypacks with water and snacks. They were, however, indispensable for getting up over steep mud walls, across ditches, and through sometimes knee-deep mud.

The third group was the trackers. We didn’t meet them until we got up to the gorillas.

The hike was not terribly challenging; but it was no walk in the park either. In all it was about 3 miles but the terrain was at times difficult. At other times we walked among the fields planted and worked by local residents. This was back-breaking manual labor, where the primary tool was a hoe!

Along the way a resident might pass you on the trail with a huge bundle on their head, and barefoot!

After about an hour, we reached the place. The gorilla families make a new nest each night and the trackers spend the early morning locating them. We got a quick briefing. There were certain ways to communicate with the gorillas. There was a series of grunts that could communicate, “Hey buddy, you cool with my being here?” Another was used if the gorilla communicated, “No!” It sort of said, “In that case I was just leaving!” We learned to get “small” and avoid eye contact if they approached and to avoid a few things that could be interpreted by a gorilla as aggression.

We were told not to show our teeth to the gorillas, (aggression) but then we were issued masks because their DNA is so close to ours that they are susceptible to covid. So not a problem with the teeth.

With that, we walked through a dense thicket, the trackers hacking a path with machetes and into a clearing and there they were! There in front of us was a family of gorillas playing, napping, climbing trees, eating, and living their lives. And the could not have cared less that we were there. A couple times I looked at our guide and said, “You sure it’s ok to be this close?” Each time he assured me it was fine. How close? we could smell each individual gorilla!

We had one hour, and it was timed to the minute. The guides and trackers helped us maneuver into better vantage points and pointed various things out to us.

This family had 2 silverbacks. These are the males. One was very clearly the leader of the family but we were told that it’s good to have two because one day when the leader dies, there is already another male to lead the family.

At first the leader was keeping to himself, sitting with his back to us in a private moment. But eventually he got up and ambled over our way. It’s hard not to panic, and even the trackers gently guided us a little farther away. He found a shady spot and stretched out to take a nap. This guy was so freaking huge! His head was the size of a 5-gallon bucket! His hand looked like a baseball glove!

At one point a mama gorilla needed to get by while we were standing on a narrow path. She just plowed through! I heard her coming behind me and immediately crouched and grunted as instructed. She just walked on by without a care in the world!!

We watched the mother breast-feeding her baby, and we watched young gorillas playing with each other high up in the trees.

60 minutes later Felicien said, “time to go” and like that, it was all over…like a dream!

We returned to the village, and visited the Gorilla Naming Ground. This was like a fairground where people gather once a year for a festival and celebrate the new gorillas born that year to the various families, giving each of them names.

the Naming Ground has an impressive sculpture of a small gorilla family. it’s made of vines and stands about 50-60 feet tall. Each fall there is a festival to name that year’s gorillas.

From there we returned back to our lodge. Each time we arrived, after passing the guard shack the entire staff would line up outside to greet us! This time, they had a bench outside. We were instructed to have a seat while they removed our muddy boots and washed our feet with warm soap and water. they gave us these really nice flip-flops and a couple hours later my hiking shoes were back on my porch looking like the day I bought them!

We enjoyed a lovely dinner, a couple Virunga Mist beers, and a lot of laughs about the day.

The next morning we were off to Uganda but on the way out of town we stopped at the Ellen DeGeneris Campus of the Dian Fossey Research Center. This is an educational and conservation center doing great work and made possible by the generosity of Ellen DeGeneres and her wife Portia de Rossi. It was a great place for the final stop.

The cost: It is possible to spend a massive fortune on this adventure, but not required. The minimum is $1,500 per person. that goes to the Rwandan government for conservation of the park and Gorilla habitat. From there, everything else is up to you. A posh lodge is not required, and at least for me, one day was enough. There are plenty of people who stay the week and see the gorillas every day. If you google the adventures and find prices of $15,000-$20,000, that’s why. We spent a tenth of that and felt good about the $1500 per person because the park is so well run and the conservation efforts are paying off as the gorilla population grows.

TT