Gorillas and chameleons

Before we started our trip in November Chris’ dad gave us a huge surprise. He had organized that when we reached Uganda he and the family would join us and all of us would go to see the increasingly rare Mountain Gorillas of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.

Armed with high spirits we all left Johannesburg and headed to the mountains of Uganda. A very long and twisty road later we arrived at our lodgings. Chameleon Lodge boasts a literally breathtaking view over Lake Mutanda all the way to the DRC and a total of six volcanoes that can be seen from the deck. Travel weary and dusty we had hot showers and went to bed early, knowing that we’d be getting up before dawn the next morning.

Traveling from the lodge to the gorilla tracking proved to be more complicated than we thought, as there were tracks crisscrossing our path all the way. Only through good luck and asking for directions from every person we met did we make it to the ranger station on time.

Here we tightened our boots, hitched our backpacks and were briefed on how to behave ourselves around the gorillas. And off we went. Our group consisted of eight tourists, two guides leading the way as well as two policemen armed with AK47s. We were assured that the armed policemen were there to ensure that we weren’t attacked by any wild animals and the fact that the DRC with its troubles was only a hop, skip and a jump away seemed to have no influence.

The Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is aptly named. Standing on top of the hill looking over the vastness of the forest we were wondering how many hours of hacking through the undergrowth it would take to find the gorillas. Luckily for us (or unlucky, depending on your viewpoint) we found the family of gorillas sunbathing in a clearing just inside the leading edge of the forest.

This allowed us to get within three meters of them and the Silverback of the family even walked right past Chris. He could have stretched out his hand and stroked his back! We spent an hour with the family, watching the two babies being cradled by their mothers, watching the adolescents bickering and the adults picking their noses. It was a strange experience to say the least. They are incredibly gentle creatures and to see them lovingly play and interact with each other was extraordinary. The whole time we were with them, the Silverback made sure that he was always in between us and his family. With his back to us, he dozed in the sun, occasionally scratching his bum or tasting a leaf or two.

Unfortunately our time was up all to soon and we slowly headed back up the mountain. The rangers explained to us that the set of circumstances on our visit were incredibly rare. We had sun; the gorillas were close; the family was extremely relaxed; they weren’t off in the trees foraging, but happily snoozing in the sun and we had a close and intimate viewing which few other people can claim.

What an experience!

With the experience fresh in our minds, the grueling hike back up the steep mountainside in the midday sun went if not unnoticed, then at least was happily tackled and conquered.

Discussing the day’s events over dinner that evening we thought it couldn’t get any better. Not so. Charles, our wonderful barman mentioned in passing that if we watched carefully, that we could see a live volcano erupting. What!?

It turns out that the last of the six volcanoes that can be seen from the Chameleons deck is active, very active. As of 9 PM you can literally see the eruption. Although very far away, you can see the sky glowing and the smoke from the volcano backlit by the flowing lava. An incredible sight and a fitting end to an unforgettable day!