Mountain Gorilla Trek, Rwanda

Gerry and I wanted to experience another east African country before returning to USA in order to expand our understanding of the region. We visited nearby Rwanda to learn first hand about it’s progress since the 1994 genocide, it’s unique approach to development and it’s natural setting. We spent time exploring the capital, Kigali, and the world famous Volcanoes National Park. The main draw of the national park was gorilla trekking to see mountain gorillas.

The mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei) is one of the two subspecies of eastern gorilla.  The current home range of the subspecies is in two locations totaling 174 km²: the volcanic slopes of the Virunga Mountains and the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest.  The Virunga Mountains population resides in three contiguous national parks in Rwanda (Volcanoes National Park), Uganda (Mgahinga National Park) and the Democratic Republic of Congo (Virunga National Park).  The Bwindi Impenetrable Forest population is nearby in Uganda.  The highly endangered subspecies population is estimated at a little over 1000 divided equally between the two locations.  The other subspecies is the more numerous eastern lowland gorilla or Grauer’s gorilla (Gorilla beringei graueri) in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.  Grauer’s gorillas number 5000-8000.

The mountain gorilla is omnivorous, lives in bands, reaches an average age of 35 years, stands 4–6 feet tall and weighs 300­-485 pounds.  They thrive at 8,000 to 14,000 feet elevation and have a thick coat of hair for protection against cold. They climb trees, but spend most of their time on the ground.  Bands or families can reach 30-40 individuals led by a dominant male silverback.  Families can include several subdominant silverbacks, young males, females and their offspring.  The dominant silverback organizes and directs all activities including foraging, grooming, sleeping, playing and changing location in the forest over a home range of 2.5-6.5 km².

In the northwest corner of Rwanda is the tiny world class Volcanoes National Park, home of one of the two populations of mountain gorillas. It is seen in satellite images as a pistol shaped splotch of dark green on the borders with the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda. The view is stark reminder of the tenuous nature of the gorilla existence in a broad expanse of agricultural land and high human population density.

We stay at Hotel Muhabura because Dian Fossey stayed there when she was in Musanze. It is a 10-minute drive to park headquarters where we rendezvous each day at 7 am to meet our guide and get our assignment.

Dian Fossey’s room.

Every day, visitors from the local hotels and resorts converge on the park headquarters at 7 am to learn their assigned trekking group and guide for the day.

Facilities are topnotch and organization very efficient. Each person is assigned to a gorilla trekking group of 8 persons.

Our trekking party of 8 is assigned to the Kwitonda gorilla family.

The trek begins on a trail through rich farmland of potatoes, beans, corn, onions, pyrethrum and etc. The land was obviously very rich for growing crops. The mild climate and abundant rainfall allow farmers to produce three crops in a year from a single plot of land.

Kwitonda was the name given a gorilla family lead by a dominant silverback who crossed over from the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2003 to establish a home range on the slopes of Gahenga and Muhabura volcanoes.

A lush field of potatoes boarders the park.

Park boundary marked by stone wall and rows of trees.

Over a distance of a couple kilometers the boundary is marked by rows of planted exotic trees and a stone wall. Notice the abrupt change across the boundary. There is no buffer zone.

Waiting for word from trackers before crossing into park. Trackers have been searching for the assigned gorilla family since dawn.

Trackers have found our assigned gorilla family, Kwintonda, and we head off quickly to catch the family before it starts to move again. We will have one hour of contact with the gorilla family.

Last instructions before contact.

Tourists are allowed to be in the presence of the mountain gorillas for one hour, which is intended to minimize chances of disease spread from the human to mountain gorillas. There are high chances of disease spread from humans to the gorillas because about 98%of their DNA is similar to humans. We are given specific instructions:

• Always keep 7 meters away from the mountain gorillas.
• Do not use flash photography.
• Minimizing noise.
• Do not eat in the presence of the mountain gorillas.
• Do not touch the mountain gorillas.
• Avoid direct eye contact with the gorillas.

After an hour of scrambling through the underbrush we are abruptly told to look “over there.” As if by miracle there they are. The clock starts ticking and you have one hour to watch in awe.

We are standing in the middle of a large family of nearly 40 individuals with one dominant silverback and three subordinate silverbacks.

Two adults and three juveniles. We are told to watch for distinct behaviors: sleeping, grooming, playing, feeding and moving to a new location. This group is grooming and playing.

Grooming and nursing.

Trackers clear the path for a better view.

We are told to stay 7 meters away from gorillas. That works well until one adult gorilla decides we are in the way and pushes us off his path to better feeding.

When this silverback gets up to leave, all the surrounding gorillas, young and adult, follow him in single file through the woods. I do not hear any audible signals, so assume they respond to visual signals.

Debriefing.

Walking back to the vehicles we are all pondering the event and trying to make sense of what we have seen and experienced. The trackers stay with the gorilla family until dark to learn where they can be found the next day. They also make observations and take copious notes about the conditions of the gorillas and their habitat.

At this parade ground near park headquarters new baby gorillas are named in an annual ceremony. This year they named over 20 baby gorillas, a number that portends well for their future.