Meeting the Relatives- Ugenda Group

 Any by relatives I mean primates, and Gorillas to be specific! Coming to Rwanda, I wasn’t sure if this was going to be worth it, but when another of the interns really wanted to go and found two tickets at the pre-June price (it went up 250 at the beginning of June), I decided I should not really say no. They are endangered after all, and Congo had to close their Volcanos national park due to guerillas (not gorillas). Seemed like it might not be an option next time I am here. Sophia and I came back to Musanze Sunday night so that we could be picked-up at 6:15am (one of my earlier mornings here). We got to the Fatima a few minutes late, but didn’t see a car anywhere out front- luckily Vicky (our driver) had just been inside checking the room list for us. They don’t get many people that aren’t tourists in hotels, so we gave him a surprise! Heading to the gorillas, Sophia and I still weren’t quite sure what to expect. We’d heard about stinging nettles, whacking through forest and feeling like the hike up to the gorillas might kill you. Beyond that, people would merely say it was a once in a life time, amazing experience. Really detailed, right?

So the drive was smooth to the Kinigi Volcanoes National Park Welcome Center, and upon our arrival we were offered tea and coffee while a group of local dancers performed some incredible pieces to drum beats and singing from the other dancers. I took a few pictures so that you could get a feel for some of the costuming which made the costumes of The Lion King on Broadway feel equally comparable. From bells around their ankles to animal hair manes and beaded decorations, the costumes were quite ornate. The dancers used drums, spears, shields, and baskets as they danced, but what really shown the most was the HUGE smiles on the faces of the dancers. They were also amazing at making eye contact in a way that made you feel they were specifically dancing for you! The performance went on until about 7:30 before we used the bathrooms and met our trekking groups.

Our team and John before the hike!

Since Sophia and I only made up two, and the groups were a Maximum of 8 tourists each, we were paired with a group of people our age that were travelling from Nairobi to Cape Town over the course of two months. They all clearly had fascinating stories, though we got to hear very few of them due to our discussions of the current situations taking over the conversation. We met our guide, John, here and headed back to our land cruisers for the trip to the starting point (apparently not the Kinigi Welcome Center). The road was good for about 10 minutes and then our driver Vicky turned around and said, “get ready for your massage! It’s free!”  That’s when we hit the non-tarmacked road. Now pictures don’t really do this justice, because a fuzzy one would just look out of focus (without the knowledge that it was due to being catapulted out of your seat) and the clear ones make the rocks we had to drive over seem- like pebbles. To really grasp the road we were on, I can only describe it as jagged (the kids along us could run faster than we could move), and our music’s beats were definitely mixed with the consistent scrapping of the bottom of the car. Along the road, kids were trying to sell little crayon drawings of gorillas on the back of used computer paper. There were so many of them, that I thought- we’ll then just need to start an art school out hear and sell things at the parking lot wherever we were headed! They were eating so much dust running behind us, I just kept thinking about their poor little 10 year old lungs- mine can hardly handle the fumes and dust on a regular day, and this was a whole level worse in terms of visibility. At one point, the kids were so close to the car waving, that when I stuck my hand out to wave back, we ended up doing high-fives instead! About 20 minutes along the road, people outside were waving at us to stop, and while we were not sure why, the instant we pulled over it was clear- a flat. Big surprise with all the big jagged volcanic rocks, but there we were, in nowhere with a flat and a huddle of poor village folks around us. Luckily, we were not the last in the caravan, so a lovely bird watching Canadian pair of ladies took us in. Their car was lower to the ground making the scraping sounds even more worrisome, but we made it to the starting spot with no further delays.

As we hopped out, we couldn’t see any of our other mates, and I thought, what if they left without us? Clearly that wasn’t happening, bathrooms were just around the office and everyone was using them. Sophia ran to use that, while I stayed and chatted with the guide, John, about our eventful drive over. When everyone got back, John handed out well loved wooden walking sticks. I really was kind of annoyed at having to carry it at first, thinking that it was just getting in the way, but it did fit well in my non-camera hand, and after we finished the flatter portion of our walking, the inclines started growing to upwards of 45 degree angles. Then, my stick and I became much better friends as it started being useful at keeping balance and propelling myself up some pretty sandy surfaces (where even sneakers couldn’t get much traction). First, we walked through fields of the local villagers (potato and paraffin flowers –which are used in organic pesticides). Then the steeper the landscape got, the more there was eucalyptus- not an indigenous species here, but very common in Rwanda because it grows quickly, is sturdy wood, and is great for making charcoals. Then, as we entered the forest itself, it was interesting to notice that the eucalyptus just disappeared. It was of course replaced by all manner of jungle-esque plants and gorgeous giant trunked trees (that I can’t recall the name of).

At the entrance to the forest/jungle, we got a warning style lecture, and picked up two guards with some good sized guns. We were told that was in case any buffalo or elephants charged us. Sadly, that didn’t happen (so we didn’t see any buffalo or elephants), which definitely would have made the experience all that more amazing (still have yet to see a wild elephant!). I am pretty sure it would only be tranquilizers, but then again- anything to protect the gorillas! As we headed into the park, our guide was radioing people in the field to find out where to go to get us to the specific group we were going to see, Ugenda. We knew there would be 2 silverbacks and some babies after our talk at the welcome center, but weren’t sure exactly who we would see. As we trekked up the incredibly steep mountainside, we passed gorilla poop and some of the stinging nettles that we had heard so much about. We also passed the “antidote” plant- which upon Sophia getting stung we tried and actually worked instantaneously!

I was in capris, and so began to be particularly careful walking along the path. I had no problem, but then we came to a spot with some other trackers and my guide looked at me really worried. He gave me a look and said something to the effect of, we would be sacrificing your legs if we actually let you go into the bush in those capris. I was just ready to tough it out and be careful, but he then says he has extra pants- not his size, mine! How lucky is that!?! I was not particularly believing it until he literally pulled out a pair of black colored ski-pants (might not be ski pants, but that’s what they looked like to me). I did my best tree pose and managed to get myself coordinated enough to put on the pants without getting my socks full of dirt (or my sneakers for that matter). All that yoga sure pays off! Once in the pants, I became even more grateful that our guide had them, because the trackers we met began hacking through nothing but stinging nettles to go find the gorillas!

Silverback Ugenda

As we trudged after the guide and tracker pangas (machetes) whacking away, we were beginning to anticipate actually getting to see the gorillas. We had been informed there was a rule of staying 7 meters away from the gorillas unless they came toward you. We came around a bend and there the gorillas were literally less than 3 away! And it was the Silverback named Ugenda (which is how the groups get their names- through the alpha silverback’s name). Ugenda is particularly large and much older than the other males in the group, and got his name because, “he liked to travel in his younger years.”

Sophia and I with Ugenda!

As we continued on through the jungle, we could hear (and sort of see) some of the babies up playing in the trees that surrounded us, while their mothers were being shy and eating their late lunches. This consisted almost entirely of stinging nettles, but also other leafy surrounds. Watching them eat was quite comparable to watching an ill-mannered child chewing with their mouth open, but was still fascinating in that it felt so human. Down to how we bring a fork to our mouths, it was no different, and the way I have seen children eating the inside of corn stalks or sugar cane involves the same holding of the foliage. Their movement was also quite interesting, and I am honestly surprised that our presence didn’t make more of an impact on their behaviors. They merely kept on eating and then hunkered down for a nap- with the whole group of us huddled around their nest area watching. They didn’t seem to be too phased by it, but then again, flash photography was prohibited, so that might have helped a bit.

After what felt like no more than 20 minutes, an hour had passed and it was time to move on away from the gorillas and back toward the bottom of the mountain (and surely the gift shops). Trekking will now only have one meaning- steep climb with awesome views and perhaps even enough to be winded! The Bisoke volcano and Ugenda group truly were incredible, and while it felt particularly cheesy to receive a certificate afterwards, it was also pretty nice. It was also a relief not to have to pay for the memento, because even post cards were exorbitantly expensive for what you got- 2 US dollars for a single post card! No sir! Sophia got a “Muzungus in the Mist” tee shirt, but I managed to escape unscathed by the overpriced tourist trap.

  

Vicky (our driver) was wonderful picking us up and playing great music on our way back to the certificate building. After wrapping things up, he drove out guide, John, back into Musanze and dropped us off to meet Greg, the ticket finder Sophia had met at Hotel Murabura. It was a lovely place, where tourism in Rwanda met with a Congolese mask market and a bamboo pod necklace making artist to draw you into being a tourist. It was a friendly end to to a wonderful experience, but left us feeling famished- so then it was off to lunch- COVERED in dirt!