Entry into
Rwanda was pretty quick, despite the fact that we had a bit of an issue with
our visas. We did do a quick check a while back on what the requirements were
for a Rwandan visa, but should have followed up further*. If we had done that
we would have known that we were supposed to have arranged them before rocking
up at the border. Opps! Anyway, a bit of lecture from the official there, some
“yes sir”, “your right sir” and we were granted entry to the country. Another
small run in with the Rwandan police official as we passed the gate (we missed
him and he had to blow his whistle) and a plastic bag falling out of the car as
he opened the door, “Contraband!!” (plastic bags are banned in Rwanda) and we
were on our way. On the right side of
the road no less!! A new experience for Mike. J
Lucky! We
had the Mountain Gorillas booked for two days later!
After a
quick overnight stopover in Kigali we picked up our Gorilla permits from the
Rwanda Development Board and headed north to the Volcanoes National Park, only
a couple of hours from the capital (loving being in a small country for a
change).
We camped at
Kinigi Guesthouse for the night, only 200m away from the park office, handy
since we had to be there at 7am the next morning.
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| Hills and farmland at the Volcanoes National Park |
The next
day we arrived early at the park office, greeted by around 80 other keen
Gorilla trekkers and a rather noisy cultural performance. Less keen on the
festivities than some others there we quickly registered and waited in the
quietest corner possible while park officials and rangers arranged groups, a
process that seemed somewhat disorganised initially, but seemed to work.
We were
put with an older group of six Germans and Swiss, many of whom stated they
weren’t particularly fit, working in our favour (we thought) for a closer
group. Embarrassingly I actually can’t remember the name of the gorilla group
we were assigned to find. I managed with the first group they designated us but
then they changed gorilla groups (to a closer one) and I now have no idea of
the name.
Anyway, we
headed off at around 8am following the other group in our car (you must have
your own vehicle or be on a tour) to where our trek started, around a half hour
drive. At the start of our trek the guide added on some porters which Mike and
I were pretty sure we didn’t need, but I was pretty happy they came later on
our walk.
The walk started out
as a nice trek up through some hills and farm land. Already some of our members
were struggling a little, but then again we were up at around 2400 metres. We
walked for nearly an hour before finally making it to the forest. It was from
here that the day gradually grew more and more cumbersome.
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| The forest path. I swear there is a path we walked on there somewhere! |
The forest wasn’t the nicest I’ve walked through; slippery but mostly prickly from all of the stinging nettle, it was slow, particularly with our group and as a result we were having difficulty reaching the group of gorilla’s before they moved again. A very long story (and morning) short, we finally reached the “close” group at around 1pm, climbing areas that were steeper than on Kilimanjaro!
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| Stinging nettle |
The gorillas however
made it immediately worth it. It’s not an experience that can be explained, so
I won’t try to, but we did get EXTREMELY close! Twice the Silver-back charged at
our group, a scary and humbling experience. No harm done though and mostly we
just sat and watched as they ate and the younger gorillas engaged in play-
fighting. I'll let the photos tell the story!
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| The Silver-back coming for us |
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| Letting us know who is the king of the jungle |
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| The baby coming out to play |
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| Playtime! |
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I really wasn't sure about turning my back on the Silver-back for a photo.
Can you tell? |
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| Yep, I still look nervous |
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| Mike looking calm |
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| And one for photo with the three of us! |
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| Meal time for some.... |
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| .....and still playtime for others! |
About 40 minutes with the gorillas and we had to leave them mostly because they had started to leave us first.
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| Some of the other members of the group |
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| Just about time to go... |
Back down the
mountain, slipping and trying to avoid the stinging thistles, we finally made
it back to the cars at around 5:30pm. A long day in all! Mike and I felt
initially a bit disappointed, feeling that the trek itself had overridden the
time we spent with the Gorillas, however looking back now they are what I
remember most about the day so that is not the case at all.
Arriving
back at the lodge at 6pm we opted for a room this time so we could take hot
shower. A bit achy we collapsed into bed that night after a very long day.
The trip back to Kigali was lovely, with hills and more hills. A very scenic drive that is difficult to capture in photos.
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| On the way back to Kigali |
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| Hills and farmland |
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