Close Encounter with Mountain Gorillas

As a young child I fell in love with biology. Plants, animals and environmental studies. In 2014, I took a vacation to the Galapagos islands and followed in the footsteps of Charles Darwin. You know, survival of the fittest, giant tortoises and blue footed boobies. Yeah that guy. A few days ago I watched wild chimpanzee behavior just as Jane Goodall had done for 60 years. Now I had the chance to experience the work of Dian Fossey trekking to view mountain gorillas.

"When you realize the value of all life, you dwell less on what is past and concentrate more on the preservation of the future."

Up at 4am, we waited and waited for the shuttle to pick us up to take us to Bwindi impenetrable forest, home to approximately 500 mountain gorillas, half of the world's population. https://www.bwindiforestnationalpark.com/.

After a major passport snafu, we were divided into three walking groups and off we went. The initial part of the hike was a steep incline on gravel path. Easy hiking group, yea right. It was hot and humid as we finally made it to the forests edge where we met up with the rest of our rangers and guides At first the forest hiking was easy but became impossible as we scrambled up mountainsides and trambled through the thick brush. Then suddenly I stopped and yelped in pain. We walked straight into a fire ant nest. For every one we pulled off, 40 would be attacking every inch of our bodies. Past the fucking nest we walked around the corner and stopped. The guide pointed, gorillas there. Straight up the mountain that seemed to be at a 45-degree angle. Rangers armed with machetes cleared a jungle path.

After 3 hours of trekking, there they were, a family of 10 gorillas, silverback male, several females and cubs. For over an hour we watched the cubs climb from branch to branch, eating the vegetation and playing. Majestic, humbling, totally in awe of watching one of humans closest relatives.

I shall never forget my first encounter with gorillas. Sound preceded sight. Odor preceded sound in the form of an overwhelming, musky-barnyard, humanlike scent. The air was suddenly rent by a high-pitched series of screams followed by the rhythmic rondo of sharp pok-pok chest beats from a great silver backed male obscured behind what seemed an impenetrable wall of vegetation.

Dian's work memorized in the memoir gorillas in the mist, provided a better understanding of these gentle giants. The gorillas forest home is the literal lungs of the earth and one of our best natural defenses against climate change. When we protect gorillas, we protect ourselves. A few days later in Rwanda, I visited the Dian Fossey Museum and learned about her work with Digit and the rest of the mountain gorillas.