The Mountain Gorillas of Rwanda...

One of the highlights of our recent trip to Rwanda was our visit to the Virunga National Park to visit its famous residents, the Mountain Gorillas. The Virunga Park is home to six of the seven Volcanos making up the Virunga range (reaching as much as 14,000 ft.), and the home of the only remaining mountain gorillas in the world. The gorillas live in groups lead by a dominant male (called a silverback), several younger males, and the females and their babies. Five of these groups have been habituated to the presence of humans in the Virunga National Park, and eight permits are available for each group daily.

We arrived the night before our trek in the village of Kinigi, about thirty minuites north of Ruhengeri, and stayed at a guesthouse just a few yards from park headquarters. This was a prime location, because the assignments for the groups is on a first-come, first-served basis, and we had already decided to try for the Susa group, the largest group of habituated gorillas in the world with 40 individuals. This group had recently become even more notable because of the birth of gorilla twins. Group assignments are made at 7:00 AM. We were the first to arrive and had no problem being assigned to Susa group. Our guide, Olivier, gave us an orientation to the park and the gorillas. We then loaded into Dave Jenkins' truck for a drive of about one hour, where our trek would begin.

Our hike began at a school and quickly ascended through steep terraced fields, and with each step the view behind us became even more beautiful. It would be difficult to find a corner of Rwanda that is not beautiful, and this was definitely one of the most spectacular! After about 30 minuites of hiking, we arrived at the boundary of the park, an abrupt wall of dense foliage with fields running right up to it.


A group of scouts was waiting for us, having already located the gorillas based upon their last know position from the day before. At times the Susa group can range deep into the forest and high on the slopes of the volcano, requiring up to a four-hour hike to visit them. For our visit, though, they decided to come and meet us! They had been located not far from the park boundry. After a few instructions on how to behave in the presence of the gorillas, we pushed into the forest.

We walked about 10 minuites into the thick growth of trees and vegetation when I had the distinct feling that we were not alone. I then heard a loud "crack" and turned to see a huge male gorilla about 5 feet away, crunching on some bamboo. My first thought was that he was too big to be real! Sitting down, the top of this giant creature's head would have reached to my chest. My next thought was to realize that there was nothing between me and this huge creature, and that my well-being rested directly in the hands of this animal and his acceptance of our presence. We had been told that a habituated gorilla has never attacked a human, but this knowledge seemed less assuring when face to face with a real-live mountain gorilla! But it quickly became clear that our being there didn't bother him in the least, and my apprehension faded into awe of being so close to such a magnificent creature.


Soon after encountering this first gorilla, other dark shadows began to emerge from the forest and make their presence known. We would hear a crack in the foliage, and then be gently but firmly directed by our guide where to stand in order to allow the gorillas to pass. Several of them walked less than a foot away from us as they begin to move further up the slope. Soon the gorillas settled on the place that would serve as the setting for most of our one-hour visit, and to our delight, they decided to eat, lounge, and play in an open clearing with beautiful lighting from the noon-time sun. Though seeing the gorillas is almost gauranteed, where they will be seen is not, and we were greatly blessed to encounter them in an open area where viewing and photographing was easy.

The next 45 minuites were joyfully spent watching 35 of the 40 Susa gorillas interact with each other. The young gorillas were balls of energy, rolling around on the ground, dropping from trees, wrestling with each other, and beating their chests. The adults patiently allowed the younger ones to play around and with them, and everything happened under the constant supervision of the dominant male silverback, a huge animal who was obviously respected and deferred to by everyone.


Several of the female gorillas had babies, including one female named Poppy who before joining the Susa group had been a part of the original group studied by Dian Fossey more than 25 years ago. One of the babies was only one month old, and I was able to take what may be one of my best pictures of the visit of this baby getting ready to nurse. Even it's little tounge is showing!


One of my favorite moments during our visit happened when the dominant silverback heard some noise up-slope from us that bothered him. He immediately left his post overlooking the group and herded the gorillas up to the side of the hill we were standing on, less than 10 feet from us, where they all stood for several minuites staring up into the trees. It was amazing to know that they accepted us to the point of choosing to come near to us when they sensed danger. When the moment passed, one of the younger males passed less than six inches in front of us, gently tapping our guide on the leg as he passed. Soon after this, the group moved further up the slope. We followed for a while, but then, all to soon, our guide informed us that our time was up, and we needed to take our last pictures and "say our goodbyes." We reluctantly left the group and walked back to the park boundry, where the scouts were watching over our bags.


This was definitely one of the most amazing wildlife experiences of my life, and one that I hope to repeat someday. Aidan is already looking forward to visiting the gorillas someday, though he will have to wait 10 more years, as the minimum age is 15. The creative brillance of our God is most defenitely displayed in an amazing way in Rwanda!