World Uganda Bwindi National Park

Geoff and Heidi's World Tour

Bwindi Nat'l. Park - Uganda Feb 22, 2006

Bwindi Nat'l.Park What an absolutely beautiful drive through terraced mountains (reminded us of Nepal) banana plantations, rainforests (some logging and clear cuts). The road is dusty, washed out, steep, no guard rail (we are so used to it by now). Lot's of people walking on the road, some walking for many miles to the next polling station. Tomorrow is election day and Ugandans show their political preferance by lifting up one or two fingers (depending on party supported). We drive by waiving to everyone, men, women and children. We get many smiles and waves back. Finally we arrive at Bwindi N.P. and check into our camp. A walk through the village and some chats with fellow trekkers and off to bed we go not being able to sleep - we are so excited. Awake at 4 a.m. - up by 7 a.m. and on the truck by 8:30 to get to our entry spot into the rain forest. There are three groups of eight people allowed to see three groups (FAMILIES) of gorillas. We are going to track and search for group "H". Normally this group is far in the forest and the estimated time to find them is 3 1/2 to 4 hours. One hour viewing time and then back. A full days outing. We have 2 guides, 2 guards with rifles and 2 porters ( TO SUPPORT THE LOCAL PEOPLE) The rain is holding off and we start our trek. Five minutes later we see our first gorilla in the wild, in a tree 3 meters above us. He totally ignores us, shows us his back side and grunts (A few other noises as well). As we look around we see many more in the trees, mothers with their babies, young male gorillas and finally the silverback. We are just stunned as we watch them coming down from the trees to the ground one by one. They don't seem bothered by us, but they do move on and we follow them. One young male lies down on his back and lifts all arms and legs into the air and yawns. We get a few photos, but it is very dark and we know they won't be sharp due to slow shutter speeds. We try to forget about the camera and just enjoy the moment. We follow them for a while and then our one hour is up and we have to leave them. Absolutely thrilled but sad we turn to see them climbing back into the trees. We don't think our presence bothered them too much, but hopefully people won't push them too far in the future. We head back into camp and go for another 3 hour hike in the afternoon with a guide (the only option) and 2 guards with rifles again. We are very close to the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Ugandans want the world to know that they will "protect" the tourists that are willing to come and support their economy. We never felt threatenned or unsafe, but the shooting of some tourists in 1999 and 4 Ugandan students in 2001 by some rebels is keeping the tourist numbers low. We loved it here very much and can only recommend to all to come and see this part of the "Pearl of Africa" for yourself.

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