AUIP’s Managing Director, Laura Sessions, recently spent six weeks exploring the cultures and wildlife of East Africa, and the highlight of the trip was the chance to see wild mountain gorillas in the Volcanoes National Park, northern Rwanda.
There are only about 800 mountain gorillas left in the world, and about one-third of these live in the Virunga Mountains of Rwanda and the Congo. Only 64 gorilla permits are issued each day for visitors in Rwanda, with eight people assigned to visit each of eight habituated gorilla groups.
The experience begins with a walk through potato and pyrethrum fields up to the national park boundary, and then through rainforest to wherever the group happens to be located that day. The walk can be anywhere from one to six hours, but once you reach the gorillas, you are allowed just one hour to enjoy being with these special creatures. All of the tight controls on visitor interactions with the gorillas help protect the animals from stress and human diseases.
Laura had two chances to visit different gorilla groups, and each encounter was a very different but equally awe-inspiring experience. The first group were still on their nests (which they reconstruct each night out of vegetation) in dense rainforest, quietly grooming each other. It was just like a scene from Gorillas in the Mist, which is actually based on Dian Fossey’s original gorilla research in this region. In fact, Laura’s guide even worked as a guide with Fossey thirty years ago!
After this serene and moving experience, Laura’s second day was more about exhilaration and entertainment. This group was ready to play, and the young gorillas spent the whole hour chasing each other, swinging from trees (as in this video below) and otherwise amusing the visitors.
You can find out more about mountain gorillas and what you can do to help from the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International. Look out for Laura’s next blog for more about Rwanda and her other safari adventures!
Check out the videos that Laura captured!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mn3XMDQl4Bk]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siw87HSfsvY]
