Die Gorillas im Bwindi Forest

After almost 4 hours of driving, I arrived at my destination. I arrived in the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, the home of the mountain gorillas in Uganda.

However, there was still a real highlight on my last night in Queen Elizabeth National Park, from where I set off in the morning.
'Never walk alone through the camp at night,' the staff told me upon arrival. And now I know why. I woke up at night from a sound that I couldn't place correctly. The sound got closer and eventually I could tell that it must be an animal grazing. I looked through the mosquito net of my tent, but couldn't see anything in the darkness. One of the camp's staff members seems to have heard the sound too and turned on his flashlight. Suddenly, I could see the wet-gray shiny skin of a huge hippopotamus, which was comfortably grazing less than 2 meters away from my sleeping place.
My heart started pounding, a feeling of anxiety and joy alternated every second. The flashlight went out, I lay back down and listened to the animal as it leisurely walked through the camp, grazing on the grass.

After breakfast, we continue our journey south. The relatively flat landscape around Queen Elizabeth National Park is gradually transforming into a hilly area with cultivated fields. It has started raining, the climate is getting colder, and mist hangs between the mountains.

Off the wet red road, on one side it goes steeply down hundreds of meters, on the other side it goes high up. Despite that, the slopes are planted with beans, corn, or bananas. Children sit at the roadside with their brothers and fathers, breaking the stones they have extracted from the mountain into gravel. I feel pretty shitty as we pass them, many of them are not even older than 3 years old...

Then, suddenly behind a curve, the enormous Bwindi Forest appears. It takes a while until we arrive at the accommodation, where I am the only guest and have been for the past 3 days. In the midst of the rainy jungle, surrounded by giant trees, is my accommodation for the next 3 days. No Wi-Fi, 4 hours of electricity per day. Enough time to think about all the things of the past weeks, months, and years.

Back at the guesthouse and connected to the Wi-Fi, I now learn that there are actually the first Ebola cases in Uganda. You don't notice much of it on-site. The government in Uganda knows how important tourism is here and will do everything to prevent an epidemic in this country. Therefore, I don't worry, of course, you should be cautious, always inform yourself with the locals, and follow their advice.

Then it came, the morning of gorilla trekking, the main reason for my trip to this beautiful country.
After passport and permit control, there is initially a briefing in a small round hut on the edge of the Bwindi Forest. About 10 tourists are already sitting in the hut, equipped with the best Jack Wolfskin clothing, with great anticipation and excitement for what's to come. The hut gradually fills up, until eventually about 40 people sit in the briefing circle and my mood dramatically drops. 'I'm not going on a search for gorillas with 40 people,' I thought.
After a short introduction, the group is finally divided into smaller groups of about 8-10 people each.
I already noticed the large group of porters in their gray uniforms sitting on tree trunks, waiting to carry the tourists' bags for $15.

And then it starts, we slowly make our way through small trails, up and down through the dense jungle. Armed rangers walk at the beginning and end of the group to intervene if something goes wrong. Directly behind the ranger, always supported by her porter, walks a completely over-made-up American lady of higher age. As the lady constantly complained about the heat, the strenuous climb, her runny nose, and her thirst, our progress was slow. I wonder what heat she is talking about, if we continue at this pace, I'm more afraid of freezing.

After about 1.5 hours of hiking, the time had come. The group stopped and the ranger gave final instructions. Bags, drinks, and porters were left behind, and my heart started pounding.

You could already hear the sounds and commotion of a few gorillas that were moving around between the trees. We sneak slowly and silently around the corner. And there it was, sitting comfortably and eating leaves on the side of the path, somewhat hidden among the trees. A huge silverback, only about 5 meters away from us. My hands, trembling with excitement, tried to take a few photos before I sat down and just enjoyed the moment. I did it, I thought. Dream fulfilled. After a short time, the gorilla started moving and disappeared, crossing the small path into the dense jungle.

So we left the path, the rangers cleared the way for us with their sharp machetes until we met the silverback in the circle of his family again. About 3 more female gorillas, as well as a young gorilla and a small baby gorilla, were chilling between the trees. Again, I took a few photos and then just enjoyed the moment. There was complete silence, no one in the group spoke, you could only hear the movement of the gorillas. Well, the silence was interrupted by the American lady, who didn't go down the path with us, but was already on her way back. Despite some distance, you could hear her talking about something. 'Another female gorilla,' someone from the group said with a grin. Everyone laughed.

The gorillas are aware of us, but they are not interested in us at all. They have probably eaten well and are taking a long break.

The hour you have to observe the gorillas passes by in a flash. A few last photos and then we go downhill, back to the road to be picked up and taken back to the camp.

An incredibly beautiful and intense experience to see these animals in their natural environment. I will never forget this experience in my life.

Back at the camp, I take a short break and later go for a walk through the village. Two boys pick me up, and together we hike through the hilly landscape, across fields to a viewpoint over the entire region. To conclude, there was a traditional song and dance by the villagers for me.

I fall asleep happy and grateful early in the evening. At 8 o'clock in the morning, we head back to Kampala, back to the ICU Guesthouse, where I will stay for 3 more days before returning to Germany.