Isaac: Mom?
Vanessa: What?
Isaac: What are you doing?
V: Getting up to go to the bathroom.
I: Is it time to get up to go gorilla tracking?
V: Probably.
5:00 AM, Buhoma Community Rest Camp Dining Area
Vanessa: Gordon! What are you doing here? You said you'd meet us at 6 AM.
Gordon: (Appearing acutely distressed) Car's broken . I will have to find you a place in a car with another group. No worries. We guides take care of each other. You must hurry. Your gorilla permits are for 9 AM. It takes a few hours to get there from here. The other driver who can fit you may not have been there before.
Gordon negotiated something with some young people who were speaking something that sounded like German. They looked like they weren't thrilled but felt obliged. They seemed impatient to get going. Isaac had forgotten his passport in our Luxury Tent but Gordon just hustled us into the van without the passport and without mentioning how we were going to get back....
The young people were Swiss (more later). The road was steep and bumpy.
The driver did get lost.
7:00 AM, On the Road
The Swiss tourists' driver stops and asks for directions
9:00 AM, Ruhija, Gorilla Sanctuary, Weather: Dry, sunny, 68 degrees F with slight breeze from Southeast and large, photogenic cumulus clouds.
Uniformed rangers greeted us and registered us. When we explained that Isaac didn't have his passport they demanded to know who our guide was. When we said it was Gordon from Afritours even the uniformed guys with the rifles smiled and said, "Gordon! No worries!"
Then they put us in a group with some other people for Orientation. They sent the Swiss tourists off in their van with their driver. When we told the rangers that we had come with the Swiss tourists and didn't know how we would get back they demanded to know who our guide was. Yup. Same as above.
In Orientation we were told that it might rain, the trails would be steep and difficult with biting insects, and that we may walk for hours and never see gorillas. Those who needed to be carried back by porters would incur an additional charge. Those who strayed more than two feet from their guides or broke park rules would be forcibly removed and incur a fine. Gorillas are big, dangerous and shy. If we did not find gorillas within six hours we would be required to return and would receive a small refund.
Great build up, eh?
My group walked for about twenty minutes on a beautiful trail that was less challenging with far less malicious insect life than a typical Minnesota Boundary Waters' portage and found ourselves surrounded by calm, friendly gorillas who were eating, playing with their babies and doing interesting stuff like having sex.
I had only brought a small cheap camera with me to Uganda (my bag was filled with all the stuff that Nice People like Dr. Tim Miley and Dr. Naheed Murad had collected for me to donate to the hospital in Kampala) so I had fun taking pictures of people with good cameras taking good pictures.
After an hour or so they made us walk back to the Ranger Station to get our certificates.
We napped until the nice Swiss people came back with their driver.
The driver got the van stuck in the mud and they were really glad that we were along to have Isaac figure out how to unstick us and both of us to help push.
I was also really glad to get to know them. It turns out that they were from Biovision, an NGO based in Switzerland that promotes organic and sustainable farming practices in Africa. Click on the link!
Biovision
We finally saw Gordon again at 9 PM. He had somehow managed to get the vehicle over the mountains, get it repaired and made it back to tell us to be up and ready early, for tomorrow we would be visiting the ELEPHANTS!
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