It is the morning of 18.12. and as promised, our rubber chicken preparer stood punctually at 04 o’clock in front of our door to wake us up. The coffee was not the yellow of the egg, but we were not disappointed by the short breakfast once again. The fresh juice and especially the fresh fruit have a taste that you can’t get in Germany. With filled stomachs we started the 2.5 hour drive to the ranger headquarters of the Bwindi Forest. The original plan was to take us to another ranger post, but Hamza’s choice for the headquarters turned out to be a good decision. Once there, we were able to observe the rangers during morning roll call. Afterwards we were asked about CoVid symptoms and once again the temperature was measured – this time the reading of 36.1 degrees Celsius was more in the regions we knew – the usual “Ohhh. Very good.” was given for free. Our ranger squad leader Cosmas introduced himself briefly and gave us a quick briefing. He was a bit surprised that we wanted to carry our backpacks ourselves on the upcoming tour and did without the help of the local porters. At shortly after 08:30 we started our hike. On the first kilometers Cosmas showed us the “female” tree and the “male” tree.
But what were we actually doing here, in the middle of the jungle of the Ugandan highlands in the Buhoma sector? We were looking for the mountain gorillas of the Rushegura group, which consists of 19 members. Already about 2 hours before our small 5-man-group had set off (troop leader Cosmas, the armed rangers Richard and Mattias, Mel and Andreas), 2 scouts had set off into the thicket to find the tracks of the gorillas and to guide us by radio. So we fought our way uphill through the jungle for 2 hours, interrupted again and again by short breaks to get some air. It was warm, humid, very steep and slippery. The fact that we had to wear our masks the whole time did not make it easier to get proper air. On the way we talked and joked around a lot with Cosmas – again the Ugandan lightness of life showed. Cosmas told us a lot of interesting things about life and training as a ranger and showed us a lot in this beautiful nature. He also warned us again and again about the small dangers of the jungle – for example the relatively large forest ants, whose warriors are not poisonous, but the bites are very painful. By the way, these warriors attack every living creature that emits CO2.
We had another short rest and Cosmas told us that we were only about 30min away from the scouts who had actually tracked down the gorilla group. In good spirits and full of anticipation of what we were about to experience, we set off on the last part of the trail. 200m before we made contact with the gorillas, we met the scouts Fred and Royal(?) and there was the important briefing how to behave near the animals: never run away (as if that would be possible in this thicket for Europeans), slow movements, if it is absolutely necessary only speak softly and if possible only when in a good mood (while they are eating) look the gorillas in the eyes. Only if one strictly adheres to these rules, the gorillas are “neutral” and consider us friendly or part of the ecosystem in which they themselves live. Also, very strict attention was paid to the observance of time – a maximum of one hour is allowed to stay near the group. This coming hour should become one of the most magical moments in our lives – to be allowed to experience the gorillas so close we will probably never forget. The whole manner of the gorillas and their interaction with each other made us partially forget that we were here among wild animals. However, the scouts also told us how human these animals are – they have seen gorillas kissing, caressing and comforting each other. They also experienced how even the silverback restrained the females of the group from climbing too high on the trees when carrying the babies on their backs, so as not to endanger them.
On the way back to the HQ we made a short stop for a small jungle dinner to start the descent strengthened. After a little more than an hour we arrived back in the valley, sweaty and overjoyed. Cosmas presented us with certificates for our participation in the gorilla tracking and did not tire of explaining to us how important it is to preserve such protected areas in order to give our descendants the opportunity to experience these gentle giants in the wild. He declared us official ambassadors of the Bwindi Forest and the mountain gorillas living here. He was also so enthusiastic about our condition that he said if we could come back the next day he would have a special gift for us. Unfortunately, this was not possible for us and so only the entry in the guest book and a small donation remained before departure.
On the 5-hour drive to our accommodation, the Eco Resort Lodge, at Lake Bunyonyi, it started to rain – for the first time since we arrived in Africa – so that we could review our experiences.
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