First and foremost it would entail hiking for an hour up a volcano. No complaints here though as the previous day’s hike had me prepared (at least mentally). Once we reached the edge of the park (it was nice to see the surrounding countryside filled with terraced plots [hillside erosion is a huge problem here] of sweet potatoes and beets), the group stopped for a break and had our last chance for a food and bathroom break. It’s interesting, we were told to keep a 4 meter distance between ourselves and the gorillas, though, not only for our safety but for theirs as well (they’re susceptible, probably more so, to all the common human ailments and, should one contract something like a cold, it could devastate the entire group in a matter of days). After a short hike through some jungle (three weeks in Africa and I finally discovered what that was like), we finally came upon one of the mother gorillas with a child on her back. So the fun began.
We were allowed an hour with the group of gorillas – three male silverbacks (the patrons of the families, if you will), around ten females and males, and five or six adolescents. Thirty gorillas is a lot….especially when bombarded by a group of ten curious, and at times, idiotic, members of the higher mammalian order. But there were only a few close calls. One of the silverbacks leapt out of the bamboo brush and sideswiped a few of us. Such encounters were enough to convince me that the one hour was plenty.
Oh, and speaking of Virunga National Park, Rwanda has done, and is doing, an incredible job with their conservation efforts. Friedman’s recent article reminded me why we should follow their lead:
No comments:
Post a Comment