There are three gorilla families that area habituated to humans. The rangers take 8 tourists to see each family (for a total of 24). With each group there is one guide, porters (if you choose to hire them), and various trackers, who carry machetes and machine guns! The trackers set of first to try to locate the gorilla family. The tourist follow with the guide, and the porters take up the rear.
At first Debby and I were a bit concerned about the guides with machine guns. Though it turns out there are good reasons for them. First, there are elephants in the park, which are mostly peaceful, but can charge. The gorillas also can be dangerous, even though they are habituated to visitors. The leader, the silverback, will charge if he feels threatened. We were told not to run, to squat slowly, and to look down (i.e. avoid challenging the male). Makes sense though it might be hard to keep it up in practice (fortunately we didn't have to find out if we were so cool headed).
Each family is independent of the rest and consists of a dominant male (a silverback), some females, and the juveniles and babies. The silverback has silver (or white) hair in the lower back to indicate his status as the older male. He is the father of all the offspring and is the protector of the group. The rangers have named all the habituated gorillas and can easily recognize them. The gorillas seem to recognize the guides as well. We had a hard time telling them apart--other than the silver back which is easy to spot.
We got lucky because our group was only a 5 minute hike away from the ranger station. We literally walked 5 minutes and were face to face with the gorillas. At first they were hiding in the vegetation, kind of shy so it was hard to see them clearly. Soon they started to move and we had to follow through the rain forest--which is where the guys with machetes come in handy. It was hard keeping up with the gorillas, even though we had help. One of the other groups had a 2 hour hike through steep hills to get to the gorilla group they were visiting!
After leading us on a bit of a hike, our group settled in a more open area with several vines hanging down. The silverback moved close to the adolescents and the baby, resulting in all three starting to play. The baby kept trying to traverse the vine. Even though the baby is 18 months, it lacks strength and would periodically fall to the ground. But it would just get back on the vine, swinging upside down sometimes making happy faces.
Visitors are only allowed an hour with gorillas, so after watching the family interact for a bit we had to leave.
The villagers that live on the boundary of the park get 25% of the proceeds (supposedly, we don't know how much gets creamed off by the rangers) and have come to like the gorillas (they were hunted up until a few years ago). Now the gorillas know that as long as the rangers are with them they are immune and can go on a rampage. Apparently while the visits are going on they will go down to a village and tear up the banana trees. But the park fees more than makeup for the loss.
The area around Bwindi is heavily populated, and all the land is under cultivation. There park border was starkly evident as we drove in.
R
Debby adds:
The funniest moment was probably near the end of the gorilla hour when the silverback stood up and let out a really loud fart. We all giggled.
Visiting the gorillas also proved to be a social opportunity for us as
well. We took a hike to nearby falls in the afternoon with a nurse from Canada. I enjoyed comparing notes on how she had found Uganda so far. Then at dinner, we talked to a couple celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary. They were celebrating with a two month trip much like ours. They shared that they had decided when they first got married that they would visit all the far-flung places first, so they have been
to Nepal, Cambodia, Laos, but never Paris. It was fun to learn that they are from the Chicago area.
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