This article was originally published in The Courier Mail in Brisbane.
Azure waters, forested mountain slopes and picturesque villages converge where the borders of Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Uganda come together north of Lake Tanganyika in the middle of Africa. That this is gorilla-visiting headquarters of the world is a pleasant bonus.
After visiting chimpanzees at Jane Goodall’s research station in Kigoma, Joyce Brown and boarded a slow boat to Bukavu enroute to see eastern lowland gorillas in Kahuzi-Biega Park near the south end of Lake Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Kahuzi-Biega Park
We boarded a bus out of Bukavu and were dropped off at the Kahuzi-Biega Park turnoff shortly after dusk. We walked straight up a rocky mountain road for seven kilometres to park headquarters.
Once we settled payment, our entourage – French tourist, our guide, trackers carrying metre-long Jungle slashing pangas, a few of their friends and us stepped off the main road and slipped into the forest.
One typically humid 27 degree day we walked through mountainous terrain that varied at altitudes between 900 and 3000 metres.
We followed a path until it disappeared and the trackers took over, slashing at the tangled mass before us while our guide searched and listened for gorilla clues.
It rains at any time of the year in a rainforest so there is constant wet, loamy feel to the place.
We slid down slick gullies and scrambled up hillsides grabbing at looping lianes, prickly rattan, serial roots, bamboo or anything preferably snake-free we could get our hands on.
We forged knee-deep through marshes where elephants had just played. Through one particularly dense area we slithered on our stomachs under a large twisted tree trunk nose to the musty-smelling earth.
This was no afternoon stroll through the park. Just when we thought we couldn’t go a step further, our trackers would spot fresh gorilla spoor or we would hear the chest-beating buk-buk–buk of a distant gorilla.
Revived, we’d plunge onward once more for another hundred metres of hard slogging. Because the hackers were wearing black rain ponchos, I mistook them – understandable error any one could have made – for gorillas.
Hearing not one, but two boisterous cries of “Gorilla” from this raving Canadian was twice too much for our guide.
Three muddy hours later, I was convinced we were never going to see gorillas. When our guide said get your cameras ready, I honestly thought he was joking.
Then when saw her sitting within darkened on clave of vine–draped trees – our gorilla, baby attached – casually chewing on a twig. As much as you can try to prepare yourself for this first encounter, it would be difficult to not be moved.
The gorilla’s size, her calm demeanor, the pristine environment, the earthy smells and our evolutionary connection all combined in an over whelming and bonafide physical, emotional and even intellectual thrill.
My first thought was “Whoa – size large.”
The guide estimated the female gorilla’s weight to be 120 kilograms. Adrenaline in full flow, we slowly approached to within three metres of her. She and her black ball of baby fluff sat in relaxed composure ignoring us completely. Then she peered at us with her tiny brown eyes. Gorillas are gentle, peace loving animals and attacks are virtually non-existent.
Yet, for me, some deeply ingrained King Kong stereotype lingered. After all, I was crouching next to a very large wild animal who was protecting her baby.
As if insulted by my thoughts, she slowly stood, turned around and moved toward a tastier vine.
Gorillas live in groups of two to 30 individuals dominated by an older male. Adult males, noticeable from the silver hairs that come out across their backs as they age, weigh about 180 kilograms and stand about 1.75 metres tall.
Typically, the group wakes with the sun, feeds and rests throughout the day, then sleeps at a new location each night usually in ground “nests” within close range of each other.
With larger groupings, guides communicate with gorillas by crouching, making low grunting sounds and chewing foliage. Baby gorillas are the most engaging creatures to watch. They harass their mothers by pulling on their toes, staring them in the eyes, climbing over their heads, and generally doing anything else they can get away with.
You can see lowland or mountain gorillas in their natural habitat at Kahuzi-Biega Park in the low mountain forest between Bukavu and Goma in the Republic of Congo; Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda and Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda. Check country advisories before travelling.
Gorilla tactics:
Crouch, stay motionless, bow your head, keep quiet, don’t point, smoke, eat or litter. Do not touch the gorillas. Wear neutral colored clothing. Do not wear jewellery or perfume.