Click the photo above to see an album of photos. To return to our website close the window.
Read Previous Episode: Gisenyi
Charles of
the Virungas
Musanze Rwanda
Tuesday 15 Feb 2011
“See those two straight trees on the other side of the valley?” Our guide
Patience said, “there is a gorilla right next to one of the trees. He is the
younger brother of Charles, “The Man”. Our group of eight tourists had been
walking up Bisoke, a 3711 m mountain in Parc des Volcan, Rwanda to find the
Umubano group of Mountain Gorillas that live on the mountain. We had seen lots
of gorilla scat on the trail and knew they were near but after hiking steadily
uphill for nearly two hours this was our first sight of a gorilla. We were all
thrilled.
The Virungas range extends over 3 countries, Parc des Volcans
in Rwanda, Parc National des Virungas in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
(DRC) and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in Uganda. The only thing the three
countries agree on is the need to conserve the Mountain Gorilla population. Part
of the proceeds from the high fees charged for Gorilla trekking goes to support
the local communities. The last census showed that the Mountain Gorilla
population in the Virungas has increased by 26% in the past three years. This
would seem to indicate that despite the rise in Gorilla Tourism, the
conservation policies are working.
We had come to Musanze two days
before specifically to go Gorilla tracking. We had a nice room in the Amahoro
Rest House, owned by the company we had contracted to drive us to the Parc des
Volcan. In the meantime we had taken it easy, just walking around town, reading
our books and finishing the previous blog.
On Tuesday, the day of our
reservation to track the gorillas, our driver Gerard arrived for us at 6:15 am.
There were lots of other tourists at the reception area. They now take 70 people
to visit gorillas groups each day. Everyone was offered tea and coffee while the
crowd assembled. The guides were all briefed and then with the assistance of the
drivers, who brought the tourists, split the crowd into gorilla trekking groups.
We had told Gerard that we didn’t want the wimpy short walk to see the closest
group. We were willing to forgo the six hour steep climb to see the largest
group, but we were capable of a three or four hour hike to see one of the other
groups.
Our request was honoured. We were introduced to our guide,
Patience, and the six other members of our group, all on a 2 ½ week overland
truck trip with Intrepid Tour Company. Part of their group of 15 had trekked
yesterday and the rest were here today. We introduced ourselves; Martin and
Maggie from Scotland, Eric and Pamela, who was Mexican, from Detroit, and two
medical students on an extended trip, Sarah and Chris from the US. Patience told
us he had been associated with the Umubano group that we were going to visit,
for 13 years. He said there were now 18 groups of Mountain Gorillas in the
Virungas, of which eight are visited by tourists.
Male gorillas reach maturity at age 15
at which time their back turns silver in colour, hence the term Siverback. Each
group has at least one Silverback. At 200 kg Charles is “The Man” of the Umubano
group. He had to oust six contenders for his role of leader of the group. Each
gorilla has a name, chosen for newborns at the annual July naming ceremony.
Charles, who is one of the largest gorillas, was named in honour of a large
ranger who is now at another park. The less dominant male gorillas either leave
the group and establish new groups or live peacefully under the established
leader.
We all piled into two jeeps for the 35 minute drive to the Bisoke
parking lot. Our driver warned us it would be an “African Massage” ride and it
was. It qualified as one of the worst roads, Ray didn’t even think it should be
called a road, we had driven on. It was all big rocks and potholes but it was
the only way to Bisoke. The walk to the mountain was through a village with
children waving at us and asking “Hello, how are you”. Fields of white flowers
outside the village were Pyrethrum plants, a natural insecticide, a money maker
for the local communities.
The boundary of the park is demarked
by a long stone wall, erected after the locals complained that the African
Buffalo who live in the park were coming into their farms and eating all the
crops. The buffalo no longer bother the locals but a lone buffalo is an animal
to avoid when walking. A park ranger carrying a gun accompanied our group to
scare off any buffalo we might encounter. Thank goodness we didn’t see any.
A narrow path led from the wall almost straight up Bisoke. Trackers had
cleared some of the brush from the trail but rainforests do not stay cleared
very long. Our ranger used his machete to help clear the path for us. Parts of
the trail were extremely steep. Ray and I were glad we had our hiking poles with
us. They were very useful hauling ourselves up and down the trail.
The
first gorilla we saw was sitting peacefully in the bushes tearing off leaves and
stems and munching happily. We noticed a park employee very near the gorilla.
That was one of the trackers who keep tabs on the group and with whom Patience
had been in touch on his two way radio. “We can’t go straight across to see the
gorilla,” he said, “we have to hike farther up the mountain and circle to the
other side”.
We continued on up the mountain for another half hour.
Patience’s GPS put us at 3077 m when we levelled off and made our way across and
bushwhacked down. We were joined by four trackers who monitor the Umubano group.
Patience told us we must leave our backpacks and walking sticks with one of the
trackers because we were very close to the gorillas and extra equipment and
sharp objects could worry the animals. He warned us not to point at an animal
and not to drink or eat in their presence. Patience told us he and the other
rangers would ensure that we kept about 7 meters between us and the gorillas to
make sure there would be no cross contamination of germs. We heeded his warnings
as best we could.
All of a sudden there they were. Charles, “The Man”,
was nonchalantly munching on leaves a short distance from us. Patience had
demonstrated a gorilla happy sound for us and used it to ensure that Charles
knew we were there in peace. It was hard to get a good photo of Charles in the
dense grasses and bushes but we all tried. When he moved away from our group
there was another gorilla to watch. We counted eight in all, several juveniles,
an adolescent and a baby with its mother. Our hour with the gorillas went fast.
They seemed to be watching us as much as we were watching them. At one point a
ranger indicated to Eric that he should move. He almost stepped on a juvenile!
It quickly got out of the way by dashing past Chris’s legs right beside me, so
much for 7 meters between us and them!
The timing for our visit was just
right. The gorillas spend most of the morning munching. By the time we were
ready to leave they were settling down for their afternoon nap. A few of the
young ones took this time for a bit of play wrestling. We were sad to leave as
it had been fascinating to watch them in their own habitat.
Back at the
park reception area we were all issued certificates proving we had made the
climb to visit the Umubano group. We thanked our guide and trackers and left
happy. Maybe we will return some day and visit another of the groups.
|
Click one of the following to read about Tanzania, Uganda or Kenya
Return to Travel Intro
Return to Introduction