The gentle giants of the jungle

We start after breakfast. We are very excited. We hope to see the last wild gorillas in the world. There are 800 of them distributed in two areas. One on the border of Congo, Rwanda, Uganda and the other here. I borrowed a rain jacket at the Gorilla Mist Camp, I don't want to get wet again. Rain pants are on, gloves are with me. There are toxic plants here that burn on the skin and we are going into the dense rainforest. In the introduction, the 7 of us are warned that the hike can be very difficult and can last until the evening. Depending on how quickly the gorillas are found. We should book carriers, called porters, who carry our backpack and help us on the slippery paths. In the worst case, they would also carry us if we can't go on anymore. The so-called porter costs $15, carrying a person costs up to $300. Since I see the slim boys here, I decide not to be carried. The entrance to the gorillas costs $600 per person. This is how the gorilla rescue project is financed, supporting schools and entire villages. We are very worried about the arduous path and off we go. Armed with a walking stick, a porter, and enough water, we go steeply downhill into the forest. After a few meters, the muscles tremble, the feet desperately search for grip. The porter is a good help, by the way, his name is Bernard. After 10 minutes, one of us is on the verge of giving up at the thought that this could go on for 9 hours. After about 40 minutes, the relieving words come: gorillas right in front of us. We only take the cameras and leave everything with the porter. With the machete leading the way, we cut through the thicket. From a minimum distance of 8 meters, it quickly becomes 4. We are in the middle of dense undergrowth, right in front of us is a huge silverback. We step out of the bushes, they come along the path. We stand at the edge of the path, where a mother sits with her 4-week-old baby. At a distance of about 3 meters. The little one walks around clumsily and keeps falling on its nose. Mom is completely relaxed. The huge animals exude a magical calm. They look directly at us and munch on leaves. Another 5 join in, including the silverback. He is three times as big as the others and looks incredibly intimidating. We stand at the edge of the path and he walks slowly and big and proud past us, knowing full well that he can kill us with a gesture. The distance is now ONE METER. No one dares to breathe. It is too close for any lens. The height of the shoulder is at about waist height. In the end, we watch in disbelief at this unique experience with 8 animals including 2 silverbacks and two babies.

We are going back. We have to go back up what we walked down for 40 minutes. After 5 minutes, our thighs and lungs are burning. I have already been on a hiking holiday and cycled 300 km, so I'm not completely untrained, but this is tough. We take three breaks and it takes us more than an hour. Then we receive our endurance certificates with our names on them and drive to the Gorilla Camp. Since I am wet again from head to toe but this time not from the rain, we crawl into bed, it is 1 pm. It starts to rain and suddenly becomes cold, felt below 10 degrees. We don't crawl out again until 5 pm. They serve hot water bottles here at night :)