KISORO – The Gorillas of the Impenetrable Forest

It’s early morning in a misty jungle and Benjamin, our fifty one year old tracker, acts as part ranger and part school teacher as he runs through his briefing. There is no be no flash photography, no food taken beyond a certain point, anybody who is ill and does not disclose the fact to him before we depart will be removed from the group and, once we reach the appointed area, we must follow his every instruction. It’s 7am on the morning of our journey to track gorillas in the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest; and the four of us are hanging on his every word.

Rachel and I arrived in Kisoro, the nearest town to the Impenetrable Forest, yesterday during a monsoon style rainstorm. We’d been driving for almost eight hours since leaving Jeff and the Kibaale truck in Masaka earlier that day. Our driver’s name is Norbet; and he’s become Rachel’s designated tour guide of choice as she’s been undertaking her various trips around Uganda. Apparently he, like our safari guides in Kenya, finds out his latest assignments at the last moment and so having just done the three day round trip to Uganda’s most south western point, he’s now about to do it all again. Most of the day’s driving was dry and sunny but as we left the plains behind and headed into the mountains, the sky began to darken and we began driving slowly through ever larger areas of mist as we ascended and descended on narrow mountain paths. We are in the Virunga Mountains, which straddle the borders of the south western region of Uganda, northern Rwanda and the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Inhospitable, rugged and under populated; this region has been a flash point for violence in all three of the countries which border it over the years. Which, coupled with the traitorous state of the roads, makes it strange that it’s become one of Uganda’s biggest tourist attraction. The reason for that is the reason we’re here: mountain gorillas.

In 1902, a German expedition to map the borders of German East Africa were the first to encounter gorillas on these mountain sides. It quickly became clear that the gorillas in this part of the world were a separate species to those found elsewhere. As it became clear that the numbers of gorillas in the region were small and in danger of becoming extinct, others came to study them including, most famously, Dian Fossey in 1967. Most of Fosse’s studies were done in Rwanda but, given the fact that gorillas rather understandably pay little attention to human borders, she would often travel to Uganda as she observed and studied the mountain gorillas (she was ejected from the Democratic Republic of Congo; the first instance of the violence and opposition which would follow her throughout her life in the region) and when she was in Uganda she’d often stay at the Travellers Rest Hostel in Kisoro, which is where Rachel and I stayed while in the region.


The Traveller's Rest in Kisoro.

Nowadays the hotel is a well developed operation which primarily houses tourists before and after their gorilla trekking expeditions. Gorilla tourism was publically condemned by Fossey, which makes it interesting that she’d constantly return to the Travellers Rest. Ultimately she probably realized that carefully controlled visits gorillas could both keep tourists away from making their own damaging treks through the delicate eco system and help to raise substantial funds for the conservation of the animals. And if the Travellers Rest is meant to be an introduction to the gorillas’ world, it’s certainly a dramatic one. The thunderous storm which began as we were arriving in town continues all night. And the morning brings an eerie mist throughout the lower lying areas; giving the region a sort of lost world / Transylvania feeling as we head out early to reach the starting point of our trek by sunrise.


The mysterious jungle which is the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest.

Gorilla tourism certainly isn’t cheap. The cost of a permit to track gorillas is $500 (hence my dalliance with Kampala’s ATMs!) and the lengthy list of terms and conditions makes it clear that no encounter is guaranteed by purchasing it. The permit allows a small number of tourists a day to track gorillas (no more than eight following each gorilla group, and there are perhaps four or five groups being tracked in Uganda each day) with the services of guides. Trekking is simply that; heading into the jungle and following the guides as they track the movements of the gorilla groups. Finding the gorillas can take all day and, as some of the displays at the Travellers Rest attest, in some cases it may not happen, especially if the gorillas have moved over one of the land borders.

All this and more is covered by Benjamin in his early morning briefing. As well as myself and Rachel there are two Australians making the trip with us; Jesse and James. There were, apparently, meant to be four others in our group but they do not reach the check in desk by the allotted time and so we leave without them (and, at $500 a permit, that makes that an expensive day’s sleep in…) As well as Benjamin we have a second guide carrying a gun. This isn’t, we discover, for the gorillas but for the possibility of other wildlife which might cross our path in an unwelcome way, including elephants! Benjamin tells us that this group of gorillas, the Nshong group, are always found at some point during a day’s tracking but that initial trek can last anywhere between ninety minutes and four hours. There’s no way of knowing that before we set out, although there are already three trackers in the jungle looking for the gorillas’ trail who we will be in contact with via radio.


Descending the first ridge on the trail of mountain gorillas.

We drive to the top of a mountain ridge above the Bwindi forest. The day’s hiking begins, therefore, with a steep 600m descent. This, for me, is my least favourite way to begin a day’s hiking. Downhill on sharp rocky paths isn’t a lot of fun, especially as sliding isn’t an option close to sheer drops. The early morning mist has cleared, though, so that the sky is sparkling blue. Of course, that also means it becomes very hot very quickly and we’re soon glad to finish the initial descent and find our way onto the valley floor (just to put our efforts in perspective, we pass several local houses clinging to the sides of the slopes, and their residents are nimbly making their way up and down the ridges as they undoubtedly to every day of their lives) We follow the river marking the border between the grasslands and jungle until we reach our crossing point: a fallen log over the fast flowing water. Once across, we are swallowed up by the impenetrable forest. Twisted trees are all around us and the sounds of the river are quickly extinguished. It may not be impenetrable; but it’s a different world under the boughs of these ancient trees.


Heading along the river valley towards the jungle edge.

As we get deeper into the jungle, Benjamin seems to loosen up considerably and becomes very animated as he tells us about his history with the gorillas. He’s worked in this region his entire life and, for the past twenty years has made this trip practically every day. He helped to habituate this particular gorilla group. In other words, he visited them every day and sat in their presence observing them and allowing them become comfortable with him, so that he could begin to bring in small groups of tourists without seeming like a threat. This habituation process is the same one Dian Fossey pioneered, and is still used by researchers as they seek to become acquainted with the groups of gorillas they wish to study.


During a quiet moment, Benjamin explains more about the Bwindi gorillas.

With each rest and check in with the early morning trackers, it seems like we’re getting closer and then, somewhere in the distance, we hear a prehistoric scream from the jungle. Benjamin looks into the air and muses whether it could be chimpanzees but, after a conversation with the trackers, it’s clear that they’ve found the Nshong gorilla group and after around ninety minutes walking from the bottom of the mountain, we’re shedding our rucksacks and preparing to enter their area.


Benjamin leads us into the gorillas' current habitat.


And here's what we were looking for. Mountain gorillas in their natural habitat. Or so the gorillas claim...

Benjamin goes first; beckoning and halting us as we approach the area where many of the female gorillas and their infants are waiting. The first gorilla is above us, sitting in a true and observing with a detached interest. Once we reach the resting site, though, we find that we are surrounded. There are gorillas everywhere. Sitting on the ground with infants, wandering around with even younger children on their backs and climbing some of the nearby trees. There are also huge silverback male gorillas patrolling around the area, giving us the occasional snort as if to remind us not to come too close. It’s abundantly clear just how much Benjamin loves his job; he barely contains his excitement as he points out the various family groups he has named and known for years, and shows us the best spots for photographs. Seeing as how my camera has a pretty poor zoom; I take a few token photographs then spend the time simply watching the gorillas go about their business. Really, it’s much like any family. Parents are spending time with their children and so we as the visitors are just distractions and; seeing as we’re not really moving, we’re not very interesting ones either.


Spotting gorillas through the undergrowth...


... and then just wandering around the corner and finding one right there!

As the gorillas move out of the clearing and onto the nearby jungle slopes, we slowly follow them. It’s a fascinating process as Benjamin motions around a corner and suddenly we’ll find there’s a gorilla sitting just metres away. Part of Benjamin’s briefing was to tell us that we need to keep at least six metres away from the gorillas; but obviously nobody told the gorillas as they often seem intent on surprising us with how close they will be before slowly slinking away.




These closer shots come courtesy of Rachel's camera and its zoom, which is several times better than the one I'm using!

We carry on this fascinating journey for an hour until, sadly, we have to leave. (The permits are strict in only allowing tourists an hour’s encounter with the gorillas) It’s clear that the way Dian Fossey described these incredible creatures is precisely correct: they’re peaceful, maternal and paternal and have no natural inclination towards violence. They’re not very many shades of development away from us; including the vein of curiosity which runs through them since as we begin hiking out of the jungle they begin following and observing us from afar (much as we’ve just been doing to them)


Heading out of the now hot and sticky jungle.

Being a regular hiker in Vancouver’s mountains; steep ascents in hot sun are a regular occurrence and substantially easier than doing the same route down. Rarely, for Australians, Jesse and James aren’t very quick hikers so I have plenty of time with the early morning trackers hearing stories about their daily hikes into the jungle. Astoundingly, when they have walkers who can’t make the entire walk themselves they’ve been called upon to actually carry them down the mountains and across the jungle. My mind boggles at how hard that must be; I can only assume the resulting tip for their services is very generous. I also fill them in on the latest developments in the Premier League. Or, at least, developments from two weeks beforehand when I was back in the UK.


Heading back up the hill. Hotter, yes, but a lot easier than the rocky slide to oblivion in the morning!

The excitement from everyone who observes these creatures is obvious. Once we’re back at the tracking centre; Benjamin hands out certificates detailing our day’s achievements. He takes this process surprisingly seriously. That’s partially down to his demeanour, and also because it’s clear that our experience as guests and participants is of primary importance to our guides. As an expensive and off the beaten track journey, gorilla tracking relies on positive reviews and word of mouth as advertising. And it’s vital to the local economy; both in protecting the gorillas (which is where much of the expense of the permits goes) and for the guesthouses which cater to the visitors. Whether or not the local communities see much of this benefit is up for debate. By my calculations; even if every gorilla tracking spot every day is filled there’s probably less than 100 tourists per day staying in the area and we’ve passed several guesthouses in and around Kisoro. Not everyone is going to be reaping the rewards of the industry. It’s clear, though, that what these mountains offer is an experience like no other. And with mountain gorillas still on the verge of extinction (the decline in their numbers observed since the early 1900s has stopped, but they’ve only risen by a few percent each year since) there is vital work going on here which is being subsidized. For Benjamin and the rest of the ecologists who work in the gorilla tourism industry, it’s the gorillas which are the excitement and getting the chance to share some of that enthusiasm as well as knowing they’re helping to preserve the species keeps them going back into the jungle day after day.


Looking across the ridges and farms of the Virunga mountains.

As we make our way back to Kisoro the clouds return and, as if to remind us of our fortune for finding the gorillas relatively quickly, by early evening the village is enveloped in another huge storm which we watch from the fireside at the Travellers Rest. Which makes me wonder what the gorillas and their families do each day as the rain falls around them…