Volcanoes National Park

Gorillas in the mist

Unity

Gorillas in our midst

The world has many wondrous sights to offer, but there can surely be few better than walking into a sunlit glade and finding yourself in the midst of a group of mountain gorillas. It is a very humbling experience that is full of a sense of honour at being allowed to share a few moments with such beautiful, intelligent and peaceful creatures.

According to the National Geographic website there are roughly 700 mountain gorillas remaining on earth and half of these are to be found in the Virunga mountains of East Africa - a range of 5 volcanoes that spread across the borders of Uganda, The Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda.

Gorilla viewing is not cheap. A gorilla permit must be obtained at a cost of US$500 (about 350GBP). The permits are strictly controlled and allow the lucky bearer the privilege of just one hour in the company of these majestic primates.

The money goes towards the protection of the gorillas. Our approach to the gorillas was in the Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda. Despite the gorilla being an endangered species worldwide it is the only primate on the planet that is increasing in number and the news from Rwanda is all good.

In the area where we trekked there were 14 groups of gorillas. Since 1985 only one gorilla has died at the hands of poachers. In 2005, 108 gorillas were born in the national park and of these only 9 died.

In a tour that was filled with wonder, the greatest excitement of all came towards the end when we were to visit the gorillas. I awoke at 4.30am with the child-like excitement of Christmas morning. After breakfast Land Rovers arrived and ferried the 16 of us to the national park, where we divided into two groups of 8 for our trek up the volcano.

The staging post was alive with people. Mostly tourists like ourselves but also the game rangers who were being briefed on their duties for the day.

Eventually we met our guides who told us that we were to meet with a group of gorillas known as Peace. The group was led by a silverback called Unity. There were 17 gorillas in total in our group.

Another ride in the Land Rover took us to our starting point - a small village at the foot of the volcano.

The initial trekking was easy as it passed through farmland where potatoes and other crops were growing. Despite being vegetarian, the gorillas do not raid the villagers crops and the villagers have learned to respect their neighbours in return.

As I learned later from our guide, the trek began at an altitude of 2,620 metres and when we reached the gorillas we had climbed to 2,973 metres. That's almost 10,000 feet. Certainly a lot higher than anything the Lake District has to offer.

Despite the altitude it was hot and humid on the climb to meet our group. Beyond the farmland the trail began in earnest among the lush tropical vegetation on the volcano slopes. A huge inch worm lay across our path and a bit further on a chameleon steadily made its way along a branch. Tarzan would not have been out of place here.

Worst of all were the huge African stinging nettles. We warned to avoid these but it was impossible - they stung me through my shirt and trousers. Ouch!

After and hour and half of trekking we met up with the spotters who had located our group just a short way ahead in the dense undergrowth. We lay down all of our kit except our cameras and quietly crept along to our rendezvous.

Two juvenile gorillas tore down the path ahead of us, intent on playing and seemingly oblivious to our presence.

We emerged into the clearing and into the midst of the Peace group.

It was a sublime moment. To see the gorillas lying on the forest floor dozing in the soft sunlight, their young climbing playfully over them was a moment of huge emotion. Our cameras were still as we simply drank in this moment and savoured it. I don't think there was a dry eye among the 8 of us.

My expectation of visiting gorillas was for it to be exactly like this. The group would laze about and we would crouch on the edge and watch them for an hour. I was mistaken.

Within a few minutes the gorillas, led by Unity, began to wander into the undergrowth and were soon lost to sight. Under the careful control of our guides we followed. Here and there paths had to be hacked out for us with machetes.

This is how it was for the full hour. An ever changing vista that brought us near to most of the group. At one point I could see gorillas on three sides of me.

The older members of the group were intent on munching on the vegetation, whilst the younger ones were more playful and engaged in mock battles.

As the hour came to an end we were in the company of Unity himself, sat about 20 feet away with his back to us while he munched on some leaves.

'Time to go' announced the guide.

On cue, Unity climbed up into view and turned to face us, his intelligent eyes looking right though us.

'Ok then, two more minutes', said the guide kindly.

Softly we withdrew from this magical kingdom and I offered silent thanks to Unity for the unique experience of sharing a small amount of time with him and his family high up on the Rwandan volcano. Asante sana.