There are between 700 to 800 mountain gorillas left on the planet. The Virunga Mountains is divided by 3 countries, Rwanda, Uganda and DRC and is the only place in the world where these fascinating creatures can be found. 400 individuals reside on the Rwandan portion of the mountains and are divided into 18 family groups. Only 8 of the groups can be visited by tourist, and they are visited only once a day for one hour and only by 8 people. It is therefore a privilege to spend time with such a rare animal.
Perhaps “animal” is not the best word to us describe the mountain gorillas as they share 98% of their genes with humans and when watching their behaviour and mannerisms this is definitely evident. To describe the feeling of sitting within meters of gorillas is hard to explain, and I use the term “meters” very loosely. Let me explain. . . . . it is said that you cannot get any closer to the gorillas than 7 meters. 100cm =1 meter so 7 meter would be 700cm, right? Well when a mountain gorilla pushes you out of the way with its hand that is not 7 meters! There is no limit! If gorillas get close they get real close and having a 230kg silver back gorilla within centre meters of you is an experience you will not forget! Going back to the feeling? I saw mountain gorillas 15 years ago and I still get shivers down my spine when I think about that first time as I peered through a bamboo forest within these prehistoric Virunga Mountains and saw a mountain gorilla staring into my eyes. When a 200kg gorilla welcomes you into his family and accepts your presence with a stare and then ignores you, you feel insignificant. You
have the feeling that this beast can crush you with one hand at any time and he knows how feeble we are and treats us with contempt, as if we are not even worth a minute of his time. He rolls over and allows one of his girls to remove fleas from his fur and doesn’t even acknowledge you again. That arrogance puts you in your place and lets you know who is boss. A silver back mountain gorilla is truly the king of the jungle and doesn’t he know it! Our success rate on that day was 100%, everyone saw the gorillas. We abided by that ‘7 meters’ rule, But as gorillas cannot measure 7 meters they got closer and a great day was had by all. Even with the trekking, mud, and stinging nettles the word best used to describe the day was ‘awesome’.
No one wore the chain of shame today, it was too good of a day and besides I am not sure the gorillas would have appreciated the “bling”.
Tip of the day: You cannot stop your jaw from dropping when you first see mountain gorillas.