Gorilla Trekking Day 2

After the first difficult and exhausting gorilla hike, we were feeling a bit sore. We had an internal discussion and opted in favor of an easier hike for our second day. We grabbed breakfast at the lodge and got in the truck at 6:00am on the dot. We made our way over to gorilla HQ, got a coffee, used the facilities, and chatted with fellow trekkers. We met a lovely British couple at our lodge, so we happily continued conversing with them until everyone was split up into their gorilla groups depending on the difficulty of their desired journey. Since we had gone with the easier hike, our group was larger in size today (four people including us had done a hike the previous day). We were also pleased to see that our group was comprised of people of all ages. This meant that if the hike was particularly difficult again, then we wouldn’t be the first ones to die. We met our guide who was named Felicien and was quite the character. He informed us that our target today was the Agashya family. This family has had quite an interesting history and is currently led by a gorilla affectionately nicknamed Mr Special. He is called this because he led his family on a 2-year trip through the Virunga Mountains. They went to Uganda, added a few more women to the family, then ventured into the Democratic Republic of the Congo and did the exact same. Once pleased with these additions, Mr Special led his new, larger family back to exactly where they had started. Researchers had never seen anything like this before. It was something really special, and thus his nickname was born. The group is in a transitional period as Mr Special has selected his eldest son to be his successor and leader of the group. Yes, they have a peaceful selection and transition process for new leadership. Beyond cool. Mr Special is now slowly stepping away from the family and spending more time on his own. Agashya means “new” in Kinyarwanda, the mother tongue of Rwanda. This group is known for their many members and exceedingly playful behavior with one another. They are not the most friendly group with trekkers however, and sometimes actively avoid the tourist groups. We certainly experienced these sentiments in a variety of ways, but I won’t get ahead of myself just yet.

Due to the fact that this family inhabits a different area of the mountain, it is a flatter hike but typically a longer hike as they reside further into the forest. As always, we left gorilla HQ and drove to the the trailhead to begin our adventure. Once at the trailhead, we employed the services of two porters named Augustin and (Abi doesn’t remember the name of her porter. Rude). Porters are absolutely essential to these hikes. They carry your bags for you and assist you through difficult terrain but holding your hand and pulling you through or offering other forms of stability. If you ever go, hire the porter. They’re former poachers in most cases, but, through the many conservation efforts, have been given a legitimate job now that still uses all the same skills they used to display daily. It’s so clear just how many hours they’ve spent in the forest. They deftly navigate the uneven and challenging terrain with catlike precision all while wearing basic rubber rain boots. It is beyond impressive. The communities depend on gorilla tourism and conservation for money and their livelihood. Portions of every gorilla activity is reinvested in the surrounding communities in a multitude of ways whether it be access to clean water or supplies for farming. The villagers always love seeing the gorilla trekkers come through as it means their way of life is secure.

We began our hike from the village towards the forest. The walk is beyond beautiful and winds through the countless farm fields that are full of crops, animals, children, and farmers. It’s a true community collaboration to get food on the table. It was already clear to me that this hike was going to be longer but easier. Felicien stopped the group and answered a walkie-talkie call from our tracker in the forest. The trackers, also former poachers, go into the forest ahead of time and locate the gorillas and radio back their approximate whereabouts. They track the animals by finding droppings, fur, broken branches, and footprints. They also carry AK-47’s for protection. These guns are more for spooking aggressive animals than actual lethal force. The gorillas aren’t the only dangerous creatures in these mountains. There are also mountain buffalos and forest elephants that you don’t want to bump into unexpectedly. If you came across one of these, the tracker would fire shots into the air to drive the animals away. But the call from the tracker wasn’t about buffalos or elephants. It appeared that Agashya was not where we had anticipated them being so this meant our hike was going to be even further.

We made contact with our tracker at the buffalo wall which is there as the official boundary between the national park and surrounding fields. You cannot enter the national park without proper paperwork, and the villagers act as the border patrol along this wall. They call in potential poachers to the authorities which is just another sign of the great partnership between the community and the conservation effort. This wall is appropriately named as it is also there as a obstacle for the mountain buffalos trying to enter the fields to steal the villagers’ potatoes and other crops. Of course this wall doesn’t always work, and they do make it down to the fields and feast. The gorillas are also known to come out of the forest to snack on the nearby eucalyptus leaves. The villagers don’t like the buffalos but don’t disturb the gorillas when they steal their crops as they quite literally pay the bills around here.

We headed into the forest where the terrain got harder and the foliage got a lot thicker. There are no true paths in the forest. What little paths are there are literally created by the buffalos and gorillas. This means there is poop everywhere too. Guides and porters carry machetes for clearing thick trees and other plants. The plant you want to avoid the most is stinging nettle. It’s quite a painful thing to come into contact with, and it is unavoidable as it will happen no matter how hard you try. I would compare it to beestings that wear off in about 30 minutes. After about 45 minutes of hiking, we made contact with our gorilla group which meant donning our masks in order to protect the gorillas from any illness that can be spread from us to them and handing over our walking sticks and bags as they can spook the gorillas. Cameras are fine, but flash photography is strictly prohibited as it upsets and spooks the gorillas.

Amahoro means peace in Kinyarwanda which was an apt name for the Amahoro family since they didn’t move more than 10 feet in the hour we were with them. Maybe “New” means something else to the Rwandans because the Agashya family was INSANE. Everywhere you looked, there was a gorilla eating, playing, fighting, climbing, or some other highly energetic activity. This was clearly a huge group with numbers looking to exceed 20. It also appeared the group didn’t always stick together in a tight formation. They liked to spread out and get some space. This led to our tourist group becoming a bit separated as one half was with one group of primates and the other checked out the rest. We spotted a massive silverback right away and were in awe of his size and power. You could tell that he was well aware of how dominant he was as he swore a smirk of confidence that bordered on downright cockiness.  Within 5 minutes as the gorillas and us became more fanned out, I found myself with about 4 other tourists and our guide in a narrow corridor. It was tight so we had to walk in a single-file line, and I was the last one in our formation. Our guide went first leading the way and making sure it was clear. I had no clue where Abi was, I just assumed she was safe with the other group and the other guide. Being that the vegetation was so dense and there were 4 people in front of me, I couldn’t see a thing and felt quite vulnerable, but you know the guides have your safety at the top of their minds. It was about this time that I heard some twigs and branches snapping behind me while we were at a standstill in this passageway. I assumed that it was a guide or perhaps the rest of the group was reuniting with us. Well, you know what they say about assuming. Next thing I know, I felt a soft force graze my left leg. I looked down and all I saw was silver and black fur. I had discovered that a very large silverback gorilla was gently nudging me out of the way as it walked past me through the passageway. I got out of the way as quickly as I could while uttering some words under my breath. I wish I could have warned the people in my group about what was coming, but there was no chance I was going to yell to warn them after seeing the size of this brute. I laughed watching the people in front of me go through the same range of emotions that I just experienced as this colossal male strolled through on his way to graze for more food. It was my first time being touched by a wild animal, and it was by a gorilla.  Once the primate had cleared the area, my group was able to reconnect with the others in our group where I told Abi about my encounter. About 5 minutes later, I was walking by a huge bush when I noticed there was a gorilla sitting in it like 3 feet from my head. I turned on my Insta360 camera and got some cool footage right as it jumped out of the bush and ran past me. This time was scarier for me as I was facing the gorilla as it launched itself out of the bush but at least it didn’t touch me this time!

Like I said earlier, this family was like any other human family. They played, fought, rested, stuffed their faces with food, and made lots of noise. This was like the watching the Kardashians of the gorilla world; they’re highly dramatic and entertaining. There were multiple instances of chest pounding and fighting while sprinting where you had to duck out of the way by the suggestion of the guide. If he was waving his hand summoning you to get closer to him, you did it without question. But there are still situations where he can’t even help you due to the unpredictable nature of these incredible creatures.

Just when you get comfortable, you better wake yourself up and get alert again. Expect the unexpected is particularly true when trekking with gorillas. We were all surrounding a silverback as he was gripping a small tree and feeding on it. Next thing we know, he has snapped the small tree to the ground as if it was a tiny twig. He begins sprinting directly towards Abi while loudly pounding on his chest! We luckily have video and photos of this scary encounter too. Abi executed one of the few methods of deescalation perfectly, and he stopped a few feet from her and veered off to her right. He was still in a mood though as illustrated by him taking a swipe at another woman in our group! The guide complimented Abi, and I quickly went to see if she was doing okay! She said her heart rate had never felt higher, and her adrenaline was pumping. It took her hours to calm back down from the thrill, but she was totally fine and now has a great story to tell for the rest of her life.

All in all, we were literally an arm’s length from these majestic beings for one hour. It’s so easy to see the many similarities between us and them as we really are so close genetically to them. They’re insanely intelligent animals, and it’s such a blessing to experience them. This particular Agashya family pulled out all the stops for us and was incredibly fun to watch. We got incredible photographs and videos with them which I will look at for the rest of my life and proudly show to anyone who asks (or even doesn’t ask - I just want to show them)!

We began our trek out of the forest knowing that we had just had a singularly unique encounter with this family of primates. The hike out was beautiful and relaxing but did little to actually calm or relax us. Coming down from the mountain was easy, but coming down from that high was difficult and would take some time.

Once back at the car, Johnson welcomed us and could instantly tell from the look on our faces that we had had the ride of our lives. We happily recounted the details of our day and shared our photos with him. He was impressed with our journey. Hell, we were impressed with ourselves too. The journey home flew by, and before we knew it we had an adult beverage in hand and were enjoying lunch.

We used the afternoon to unwind and eventually reach a normal resting pulse. Over dinner, we throughly captivated our fellow diners with our tales of bravery. We said our goodbyes to everyone after a long evening of chit-chat and turned in for a good night’s sleep. We needed our energy because the following day, we had a date with the rare golden monkeys.

My apologies to our loyal fans for falling behind on our updates. We are honestly so busy and our time is so filled with activities that I haven’t had a real chance to write down my thoughts unless I do it over meals or late at night. I will make the conscious effort to do better! Talk soon! Asante Sana! Kwaheri!