Face to Face: An Encounter with Central Africa’s Elusive Mountain Gorillas

Face to Face: An Encounter with Central Africa’s Elusive Mountain Gorillas

This article appears in SUITCASE
Volume 20: Homelands
.



I
am balancing on a springy tangle of thick undergrowth while a
cloud of mosquitoes hovers hungrily. The elusive mountain gorilla
that my group has been tracking tumbles expertly down the slope and
stops right in front of me. Idly he leans back against a tree trunk
and his deep brown eyes, compassionate and intelligent, lock
unblinkingly with mine. Never did I think that I’d have a staring
match with a mountain gorilla.

This adventure started in Rwanda’s meticulously maintained
capital, Kigali. On arrival my guide, Yassin, a patient man with a
broad knowledge of the local wildlife, met me with a vintage Land
Rover that was going to be my mode of transport for the upcoming
days. As we rattled rhythmically along, the landscape transformed
from the urban sprawl of low-slung houses into endless rolling
greenery. I waved back at the excited young children gathered in
groups on the dusty sidelines, with their wide smiles and curious
eyes.

I was on my way to Virunga Lodge, one of four luxury camps that
make up Volcanoes Safaris. Founded 20 years ago by a
conservationist and businessman called Praveen Moman, the company
was the first to introduce gorilla tourism into these fragile
post-conflict regions. The aim was to promote conservation and to
improve the welfare of local people through employment
opportunities and community-based initiatives. Along with wanting
to witness the mountain gorilla in its natural habitat, I was keen
to see how Moman’s efforts had played out.

I leaned back in my seat, the crisp fragrance of fresh rain
wafting through the open windows, and continued my journey
northwards. By now the curving road had narrowed into a slither of
a dirt track that snaked along the edge of a precipice. The deep
valley below was overshadowed by the mountain opposite, its peak
illuminated by the late afternoon sun that had begun to emerge from
the dispersing clouds.


Perched on a ridge, Virunga Lodge has ten bandas, or houses,
each with a cinematic outlook – either of the looming Virunga
volcanoes or of the scenic Bulera and Ruhondo lakes. Their glassy
surfaces reflected the rainbow that appeared, like magic, for my
arrival.

Later, over a warming goat stew in the main house, I chatted to
Moman. Born in Uganda, where his family were part of the pioneering
Asian community that initially arrived in the country through the
British administration, he moved to the UK as a refugee during the
Amin expulsion. In the early 1990s he returned to his home country,
with “a partly romantic vision based on childhood memories”, to set
up the safari company.

I asked Moman how gorilla conservation sustains the livelihood
of the locals, and his eyes lit up. “To me, it is quite simple.
Sensitively controlled tourism is essential for the protection of
gorillas,” he said. “Conservation efforts alone do not pay –
especially in
African
countries where you have oil and minerals to make money
from – but using tourism to connect to the local communities
creates an income and a livelihood for them. Without that you won’t
get any support for conservation.” As a result, all the Volcanoes
Safaris lodges are not only managed by locals, they also all run
their own community projects ranging from simple educational dance
groups to vocational initiatives that equip the locals to make a
living.

The next morning, in anticipation of my gorilla experience, I
rose before my 5AM wake-up call and scrambled up in the dark
underneath my mosquito net. As I left my room, the air chilly and
slightly damp against my skin, the horizon was starting to radiate
a hazy pink. A soft glow was cast over the landscape, creating a
dreamy setting for my adventure into Volcanoes National Park – the
home of the mountain gorillas.


Located on the northwestern edge of Rwanda, the park is a 60
square-mile expanse of dense rainforest and overgrown bamboo – part
of a wider tangle of thick jungle that spreads west over the border
to the Democratic Republic of Congo and north to Uganda. This
region is home to half of the gorilla population, with the rest
located deep within the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in southwestern
Uganda. The Rwandan zone is the territory for 30 gorilla families.
Ten are tracked for tourism purposes, and the rest for research.
Every day eight people are allowed to spend one fleeting hour with
a family, and the length of your trek will always be dependent on
the gorillas’ location.

As it turned out, the Isabukuru family was under two miles away,
but as we entered the rainforest it soon became apparent that
reaching them would take some time. The trees were high and densely
packed. Some had ancient trunks plaited into great sinews that
plunged into a ground so muddy that it became exhausting to
navigate.

After some time trudging uphill through glutinous sludge, our
convoy slowed down. The group’s chatter became hushed, the silence
absolute. Beck, our guide, waved us over, leading us through the
trees to a clearing. Unsure of what to expect, I glanced around
nervously before I saw a flicker of black fur through a tangle of
bushes and a gorilla, baby in tow, ambled out and settled down a
few metres in front of me. Not the largest of the species, her
sheer hulk was still frightening. I watched her fingers, so much
like our own, dexterously tear bamboo leaves off a tree, all the
while keeping a watchful eye over her inquisitive child. “Baby
gorillas are like our human kids,” whispered Beck, who was standing
next to me. “They are curious and will try and touch you. It’s okay
if they do – just stand still and don’t touch them back.”


Before I could consider this thought the bushes started rustling
again, and in a flash the entire family appeared in front of me,
youngsters swinging from branches above our heads, others lazily
munching on bamboo leaves, while the brawny silverback – the
dominant male in the group – sauntered over and idly reclined into
a pile of foliage, scratching his belly as he yawned. These
gorillas are far from tame, but they are accustomed to humans,
which meant that we were able to openly observe them as they went
about their business. As I watched on in silence I thought about
Moman’s words from the night before. Could it really be that my
presence there, as a tourist, was supporting the gorillas’ very
existence?

The evidence seems to suggest that this is correct. Moman’s
project has helped to significantly increase the gorilla population
– from around 620 in the early 1990s, when conservation efforts
first began, to about 880 today. It has also formed the basis of
Rwanda’s emerging tourism industry. The arrival of the luxury hotel
brand One & Only, as well as the government’s controversial
overnight doubling in price of the gorilla permits to USD $1,500,
are testament to this. The price hike was seen as an outrage at
first, but as Moman explained: “With fewer than 100 permits a day,
gorilla tourism has to be a high-value product. I am not against
the rise in price because, as I keep saying, tourism is important
for the conservation of gorillas, but it hasn’t been done in the
most appropriate way.”

All too soon the golden hour passed and I began my descent,
sliding treacherously downhill. A couple of hours later, dirty and
happy, I climbed back into the Land Rover and began the drive to
Uganda, already anticipating my next gorilla encounter in the
Bwindi Impenetrable Forest.


Early the next morning, over porridge and fresh fruit, I chatted
to Joselyne, the manager at Bwindi Lodge, who suggested that my
upcoming encounter in the Impenetrable Forest would be different to
the last. “The forest has that name for a reason,” she laughed.

Indeed, I soon found the 128 square-mile Unesco World Heritage
site to be as unyielding as its moniker suggests. The compact
jungle vegetation was only navigable by way of machete-wielding
guides, who expertly hacked at the dense shrubs and the wild
twisting vines. This allowed only a glimpse of the gorillas as they
moved around the undergrowth, shifting in and out of view. Far from
the display that I received in Volcanoes National Park, this
encounter brought home the truth that, habituated as the gorillas
may be, they remain wild and elusive creatures. This is still their
homeland, and I am a mere visitor, fortunate enough to be invited
in.

The next day, as I travelled northwards through Uganda, along
the border of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, I was struck by
the diversity of the land, as the emerald-green mountains gradually
flattened into the dry, grassy plains of Queen Elizabeth National
Park. The air was dry and hot as we bumped along the crumbling
roads, dodging deep potholes and passing herds of elephants
flapping their ears.

Sticky and dusty, we slowed down at the eastern edge of the
park, where the scenery had transformed, once again, to reveal the
gaping drop of the Kyambura Gorge. This tropical ravine was home to
a family of chimpanzees, whose frenzied, visceral shrills echoed
down below. As the sinking sun turned the sky a vivid orange that
slowly dissipated into puffs of pink and purple streaks, I
contemplated everything that I had seen over the past few days. The
mountain gorillas would almost certainly have been hunted to
extinction were it not for pioneering conservationists like Moman.
The proof, for these vulnerable creatures, is in their happily
rising population. Without tourism, there would be no gorillas.

The Lowdown

Spend seven nights in Uganda and Rwanda, staying at all four
Volcanoes Safaris
Lodges
in Virunga, Gahinga, Bwindi and Kyambura from £5,590.
Price includes permits to see chimpanzees and mountain gorillas as
well as international flights on Rwanda Air from London Gatwick
with africaodyssey.com.

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