Day 139 – 21st February 2010 (Lake Bunyoni, Uganda – Kinigi NP, Rwanda)
OK, it still hasn’t stopped raining so, with some rather damp laundry on board, we headed south again to check out possible Mountain Gorilla tracking in Mgahinga NP near the border of Rwanda. Mountain Gorilla tracking was always down as one of our trip highlights – critically endangered with only approx. 750 individuals left in the wild, you can only track them in four places – Bwindi NP (which we found out yesterday had been booked up 2 months in advance and we feared this may be the case for all the parks … possibly with the exception of the DRC as a small matter of civil war seems to put people off tracking Gorilla’s there, at least the ape variety anyway) and the Virunga Mountain Range which straddles 3 countries’ NPs – Mgahinga in Uganda, Parc des Volcanes in Rwanda and Virunga in the DRC. We reached Mgahinga and found out that there was space available for the trek going the next day but the gorilla group here is only 9 individuals whereas, in Rwanda, we had heard the Susa group (studied by Dian Fossey of Gorillas in the Mist fame) numbered 40 individuals. Since there is a bit of price fixing going on when it comes to Mountain Gorilla tracking (a cool $500 per person whichever country you go, with the exception of the DRC again), we wanted to try for the best experience so we bit the bullet and headed across the border to try out luck on the Rwandan side …
and our luck wasn’t in. We were told by a very nice ranger called Vincent that they were fully booked and he didn’t know when the next available places would be … but, if we turned up at the NP gate at 6:30am the next morning and speak to the head-hauncho park warden, we might be lucky and he might squeeze us on. So, fingers and toes crossed, we prepared our trekking gear and went to bed dreaming of being charged by a Silverback. Of course, there’s always DRC if Rwanda fails … OK, so on the downside there is a bit of a civil war going on there and therefore the distinct possibility of getting shot at but, on the upside, it is cheaper
Miles travelled: 90 miles (total 14,570 miles)
Highlight of the day: Not being charged anything to enter a country … zero, zippidy doo-dah – the first time this has happened on the trip!
Day 140 – 22nd February 2010 (Kinigi NP, Rwanda)
We dutifully reported to the gate at 6:30am a bit blurry eyed but very excited and attempted to make ourselves look as fit as possible. Apparently the Susa Group (1 of 7 different groups of Gorilla’s you can visit here) was quite a trek away and the groups were allocated on arrival based on whether you looked like you could cope so Ness was practically doing press-ups in the car park. However, despite our best efforts to look extremely fit and dohey eyed, the head-hauncho informed us that we would have to wait for everyone to turn up to see if there was a cancellation. Our mood began to dampen as vehicle after vehicle pulled up delivering very excited tourists for their trek (probably booked months ago) whilst we looked on from the sidelines of the car park. To make matters worse, one vehicle arrived and out jumped the chav from Bunyoni … this was not happening.
Whilst we discussed who was going to take out the chav in the toilets to free up at least one space (since he was a boy this ruled Ness out so it was really only between James and Oli … rock, paper, scissors?), the head-hauncho came over with the good news that he could squeeze us on to the trek today, Yay! But we had to go in separate groups, boo! Not really ideal for the honeymooners and so it ended up that Oli went today, to the Susa Group, and we would wait until Wednesday when we could go to the Susa Group, Yay! – only a day and a half to wait and when Oli returned with stories of being pushed over by a huge Silverback, we knew we’d made the right decision!
Miles travelled: 0 miles (total 14,570 miles)
Comment of the day: Oli “my tootsies are too cold for a beer”; James “mate, you need to be a bit careful what you say about Tutsi’s here”
Days 141&142 – 23rd & 24th February 2010 (Kinigi NP and Kinigi NP - Kigali)
Yesterday was mostly spent wishing it was tomorrow and Gorilla day and after a terrible night sleep (partly because Ness was too excited to sleep and partly because the mother of all storms rocked our little tent all night), we once again reported to the Kinigi NP Gate slightly blurry eyed and trying to look uber-fit. We needn’t have worried, we got into the Susa Group, Yay!, and the 1.5hr trek to the edge of the NP was not actually that bad – even though 4 months sitting in a Land Rover really does nothing for your fitness. Edward, our ranger, gave us a quick lesson in Gorilla language and we followed another ranger (complete with AK47) into the forest. About 20 minutes of clambering through the forest floor undergrowth later, Edward stopped to say he could smell the gorillas and we were close (actually, this was not a testament to Edward’s tracking skills but more to do with the two rangers who stay with the Gorillas all day everyday so they always know where they are).
We dumped our bags, took the camera and moved up a bit further and, just behind a bush, we saw out first Mountain Gorilla – a fluffy juvenile less than 2 metres away but Edward insisted we come up further and for good reason as just around the next bush was a group of about 10 – ranging from a mother with a 2 month old baby to a huge Silverback, which Edward informed us was the 2IC of the Susa Group. Nothing prepares you for how huge these amazing animals are especially when, 5 minutes later, the Silverback charged towards us and punched the nice German man next to me in the stomach… new pants please??!?
For the next 50 minutes we watched these amazing animals – the juveniles playing and tumbling down the hills in spins, much like a small child would do trying to make itself dizzy and the big Silverback, the alpha male, proving his agility by climbing a far too thin looking tree and the tree, amazingly, withstanding the onslaught. And then it started to rain and we (and the Gorillas) sought shelter from the downpour, not to much effect unfortunately. But we had paid $500 for a full hour so we were determined to wait it out … and then we found the 3rd Silverback of the group who, seemingly not so pleased to see us as we were to see him, promptly charged at us and threw a half eaten branch at Edward then snapped a tree in half … new pants again please??
As we descended down the hill, we looked like drowned rats … but very happy drowned rats and, as James would put it, the Gorillas had been “untold”.
Miles travelled: 100 miles (total 14,670 miles)
Highlight of the day: Gorilla’s, Gorilla’s, Gorilla’s
Comment of the day: Goes to James today for his response to the guy from the hotel in Kigali who was trying to wake us up at 11pm by “knocking” on our car window apparently concerned that we might do a runner in the morning without paying the $10 we were being charged to use to park in their car park (despite being padlocked in the said car park) “I don’t have a passport, I have lots of money, now F*** off” … I thought it was a fair response actually
Day 143 – 25th February 2010 (Kigali, Rwanda)
Today couldn’t have been more different from yesterday, we moved to a campsite in Kigali called the “One Love” campsite – strange NGO reggae commune – and then visited the Genocide Memorial Museum. A sobering experience. Considering the Genocide that so nearly destroyed Rwanda happened only 16 years ago, this country seems to have come such a long way in a short amount of time. The country appears relatively prosperous – recently accepted into the Commonwealth, tourism is going from strength to strength, the road system is great, the capital complete with a shopping mall and Starbucks-like coffee shop that serves yummy caffe lattes with free wifi … but then on the other side, we heard reports that last Saturday there was three simultaneous grenade attacks on a restaurant, an office block and the train station in Kigali which is interesting because Rwanda does not have any trains
Miles travelled: 12 miles (total 14,682 miles)
Comment of the day: Has to go to the numpty from Lloyds Bank who I had to waste money on an international call to in order to assure her that Kigali, where I had attempted to use my card earlier in the day, was in fact the capital of Rwanda and was certainly not the capital of Ghana, as her computer appeared to be insisting.