A Gorilla of a Safari: Trip Report - Gorilla Trekking at Buhoma, Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, Uganda

Using terminology like ‘spiritual’ in a nature related post makes me squirm slightly. Writing about making '‘a spiritual connection’ to an animal brings on sweats - my scientific sensibilities agonize. A dread comes on that I might cheapen or trivialize an experience that meant a lot to me. Still, here I am, attempting to put into words a nature encounter that truly did feel transcendental.

By fortune we received an unexpected stroke of luck when our friends who are also in safaris, extended a generous invitation, offering us the chance to step in as replacement guests for others who had regrettably had to cancel their Gorilla permits. Even better, we were going to Bwindi Impenetrable forest no less! The bewitching name and its celebrated ecology had always been a seduction.

Even to the most casual eye, the boundary between Bwindi National Park and the surrounding small farmed properties, gives a deep sense of the value of the park’s protection. The dense forest around the headquarters at Buhoma (where we began our trek) was farmed only a few decades back but has now regrown to something that many might mistake for virgin forest . The dramatic regrowth gives a sense of optimism that should land use in the area change, the forest would retake its territory without a great deal of human management. Only gazetted in 1992, Bwindi has since become a major destination within Africa and the Gorillas within the Uganda account for about half its tourism revenue of 700-900 Million Dollars!. To boot, by conserving Bwindi, humans not only protected half the world’s mountain gorillas but also some of the richest remaining biodiversity in East Africa.

We had woken quite early to meet at the Buhoma headquarters run by the Ugandan Wildlife Authority. Our meeting of several groups of trekkers began with cultural singing and dancing put on by a local womens group. We all wanted to get onto the trail as soon as possible but the show gave the rangers and guides time to splice out each group and to decide which habituated Gorillas (Bwindi has 27 habituated groups but many more that are totally wild) we would be assigned. Because we were a group of 8 friends we were able to all stick together as a unit.

Our Gorilla group was assigned and we were given a brief outline of the dynamics and names of the animals we would meet. And so we began.

The forest was stunning and in places the tall trunks created a vaulted space of sublime beauty. I was all ready getting spiritualized.

Our walk to our Gorilla group was substantial, steep and at most moments, sweaty. The park authorities made us work for our gorillas and we were thankful for that. Good things come to people who sweat.

In some areas the forest had an extremely thick undergrowth and it was within this habitat that we began to see the first signs of Gorillas, our guide pointing out their spoor and the the broken vegetation that indicated their passing. When we heard a snapping branch we understood that another Gorilla group was nearby. Our guide allowed us to step off the trail for our first exciting glimpse. I was shocked at how little of the animal I could see even at such a close proximity. We continued on. These were not our Gorillas.

Several hours on we arrived at our group who had generously chosen a far more open and camera friendly forest patch to recline in. The first animal we saw was a youngster high in a tree clearly only up there for the joy of it all. Below him, in the trail was his likely father, the majestic silverback, resting on his elbows in thought and in a shaft of light that certainly was quite glorious.

I had reached the top. I was in the presence of something remarkably special. This was a biology of significance, not just our shared ancestry (12 million years ago we had a common ancestor) but also in the rarity of these animals and the amazing fact that they had not been exterminated durring our own long and disrupting rise to ape-dominance.

We circled around the silverback to witness the entire group, resting within a small space of forest floor. Mothers and subadults dozed in various positions that after the long hike looked sensible and comfortable. A disruptive infant though swung and bounced over the group using all his sleeping family members as his own bouncy castle. Occasionally he practiced beating his chest and it was hard not to think of how indelible that uniquely gorilla gesture has become in movies and art.

The Gorillas possessed a musky body smell that was inescapably humanesque -something that you might cultivate along a long multi-week backpacking trip. And yet in spite of the odeur or maybe as a result of it (think of all the dirty prophets), that inclination toward the spiritual persisted in my thoughts and emotions. The cherub-like resting poses of the group filled the space we shared with a peace, a very happy forested peace. These animals that are capable of lifting a ton and who could dispatch all of us in an instant, were the embodiment of tranquility and serenity. As if in protest of our own undoing the planet, it felt like the Gorillas offered a passive resistance to our own manic and tragic soap opera.

Again I would remind myself not to jump to such metaphorical conclusions but moments later another shaft of light would fall on a long lost relative and his or her contentment would be my own. I had become a disciple.

I can not encourage you enough to go see these wonderful animals. Your own reactions may be different to my own and to everyone else that accompanies you but they will, guaranteed, be reactions of consequence for you. This remains one of the most moving experiences of my life. A very real and wonderful spritual connection. Please let us know if we can help set up the perfect Gorilla safari.

Cheers, Jamie Christian

In each lodge that we visited in the area there was a resident artist who produced beautiful drawings and paintings of the Gorillas and the area. After our walk we ran into a squad of children selling their own brilliant artworks (which we purchased - see above). Art is often times in short supply in African schools and so it was such a pleasure to see such creativity on display as well offering some employment.

Also Kerry’s dad Rob did a great deal of sketching while in Bwindi and other places in the 1970s. In fact we have a charcoal portrait he did of a baby Gorilla around this time. I wondered while I was there if Rob might have influenced a little culture of art around the area. I hope so.