Meet Uganda’s jungle giants
Mountain gorillas reward hikers with emotional experience after a steep climb
I slogged up a barely there jungle path that threatened my feet, and my bad sense of balance, with thick brush, loose volcanic rock and mosssmothered roots.
Yet, the hours of panting up the steep slopes of Mount Muhabura in Mgahinga Gorilla National Park were worth the prize at the end. Our guides slashed through ropey vines with machetes to bring our group of bucket-listers to where the Nyakagezi group of mountain gorillas sat, tearing down and munching young bamboo trees.
They sat on a flattened mat of discarded husks, shoots and leaves and looked at us with little interest, totally unfazed by the unrelenting snapping and zooming of cameras.
Despite their nonchalance, the primordial experience of coming face to face with these critically endangered gentle giants and their raw connection to nature makes your complex world melt away and leaves you awestruck.
I made eye contact with one silverback male and it was like signing an unspoken contract of respect and understanding.
The Nyakagezi group is a family of 10 gorillas, three with the signature silver band across their backs (mature males). They roam the ridges together in Mgahinga’s high altitudes and effortlessly cross man-made borders into the forests of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda.
In the past four years, however, they have been kicking around southern Uganda.
The night before our trek, we received a debriefing by the Gorilla Doctors, a group of wildlife veterinarians dedicated to the health and well-being of the roughly 880 mountain gorillas left in the world. About 440 of those gorillas live in Mgahinga.
Mountain gorillas are found in two separate locations: the Virunga Massif, a range of extinct volcanic mountains, where you’ll find Mgahinga, and in the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.
Civil unrest in the area from the early ’80s to the mid-’90s contributed to the massive decline in the population. Rebel soldiers hid in the thick equatorial forest, hunting the animals for food and game trophies.
But strict conservation efforts by the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) and the infusion of tourism money from permits ($800 per person for the gorilla trek) have led to a healthy rise in the population.
Along with their work untangling the animals from snares and tracking their movements, the Gorilla Doctors are subcontracted to track viruses to try to predict what might jump from animals to humans.
“We’re all connected with this work. Keeping this population safe means keeping the world safe,” said Dr. Mike Cranfield, a Canadian wildlife veterinarian and co-director of the Gorilla Doctors.
“Gorillas share 98 per cent of their DNA with humans, but you’ve got to take it with a grain of salt. Mice are 60 per cent similar to humans.”
Due to these health precautions while in the company of gorillas, one of the rules is to keep away from them by at least seven metres. No one seems to have informed the gorillas of this rule, however.
There were two juveniles in the group who, in our hour-long visit, were rambunctious and even flirtatious with their human onlookers.
They got so close we could reach out and touch them. Then upon seeing how they effortlessly snap thick bamboo, we came to our senses.
Ajuvenile, all riled up from a roughhouse session with another, waddled up to our group, reached out and lightly punched my fellow trekker Judy Koutsky on the leg.
“His hand was warm. I could feel it,” Koutsky said.
We were given strict instructions by our guides not to run if the gorillas charge.
Still, it is panic-inducing when an animal that can tear off your arms and beat you with them invades your personal space.
“This experience is always unpredictable” said Caleb Twesigye, our UWA guide who was decked in army fatigues with an AK-47 slung over his shoulder.
“We have wild buffalo. We have elephants. We have wild gorillas who are not used to seeing humans and are aggressive. We will not shoot if they come too close, but we will scare-shoot up in the air.”
Access to these animals is still limited. Only 96 permits are sold per day — crowds are not a possibility — and you are allotted one quick hour to observe them.
The UWA guarantees it will track down the rare primates for you and if you hike for hours on end with no result, you can come back the next day to try again free.
“Come for the gorillas and stay for nature’s gifts,” Cranfield said.
The area surrounding Mgahinga has the most spectacular undulating landscape. From the air, you can see rising hills with the patchwork green of farmers’ fields colliding with the lush mountain range where clouds pool between the volcanoes.
It is like a cross between Napa Valley and Jurassic Park.
While you trek through the jungle, you can expect your guide to point out the flora and fauna along the way. I chose to hire a porter who, along with literally dragging me up the mountain at points, gave me a more detailed account of what was around me by pointing out the knuckle prints in the mud and discarded gorilla nests.
Porters wait at the Muhabura base camp (2,381 metres above sea level), offering their services of carrying your backpacks and helping you with the difficult hike for $20 (plus a welldeserved tip).
Despite being clad in Mountain Equipment Co-op gear, just the small jaunt up to the base camp left me winded and sore, so I was glad to have a young, eager porter to ease my suffering.
The entire experience is emotional, exhausting, rewarding and will likely leave you with a few battle wounds.
If you want to tick the gorillas off your bucket list but can’t even entertain the idea of a gruelling hike, head to the Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda, where porters will literally carry you up the mountain.
But where is the fun in that? Andy Macdonald was hosted by Tourism Uganda, which did not review or approve this story.