Gentle giants

Mountain gorillas may be back from the brink, but they still are an endangered species, write Sandy N Vyjay

Shh! whispered our guide Oliver putting a finger on his lips to underline his command. We were walking single file behind him and froze in our tracks, alert and waiting for the next command. We heard them before we saw them. Loud shrieks pierced the green walls of the jungle and sent a chill down our spines. Our guide smiled and gestured to us to follow him. So off we went like obedient school kids behind him, stepping gingerly to avoid protruding vines and thorny bushes.

We suddenly stepped out into a clearing in the midst of the jungle and there they were. An entire family of mountain gorillas right there in front of us, going about their daily routine. There were a couple of adolescents teasing each other scampering busily across some tree branches. A mother gorilla sat nursing a tiny baby clutching it protectively to her bosom. A massive silverback gorilla who was apparently the head of the family, saw us and standing on the toes of his two legs, started beating his chest and letting off a warning shriek reminding us of Tarzan. It was a sign of warning, declaring to us not to encroach on his territory.

We stood there mesmerised looking in awe at these gentle giants. There was nothing between us, no bars or cages. We were not looking down at them from a safari jeep. We were on the ground face-to-face with them and at the same level. They were just a couple of feet away. So awed were we in the presence of these beautiful beings that we lost all sense of time watching their antics. A tough trek of about three hours cutting our way through thick vegetation, climbing up a near vertical mountain face, being bitten by safari ants, stumbling in the marshy terrain and getting up and continuing, the rigours of the trek faded in the background in the presence of the gorillas who were so much close to us humans in mannerisms.

It was indeed the ultimate wildlife experience, something that would remain etched in our minds forever. We spent an hour in close proximity with the Ntambara Gorilla family as they were called who inhabited the Virunga volcanic mountains of the Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda, Africa.

A success story

Rwanda, a tiny country in Africa has been showing a beacon to the world in many aspects of sustainable development including the protection of its rainforests, wildlife, and natural heritage. The endangered mountain gorillas are at the heart of its conservation efforts. The population of the mountain gorillas in the world, which today stands around just a thousand, had actually dwindled to under 300. Rampant poaching and habitat loss had rung the death knell of the mountain gorillas and extinction loomed large in front of the species. However, conservation efforts of the government and all stakeholders ensured that the population has more than doubled in the last decade. The mountain gorillas are back from the brink but still an endangered species. The habitat of the mountain gorillas stretches across three countries namely Rwanda, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

An adolescent gorilla throwing a tantrum

Gorilla tracking

The Volcanoes National Park is a little more than 100 kilometres from Rwanda’s capital city of Kigali. A drive across some of the most beautiful landscapes takes you to the fringes of the Virunga Mountains where the Volcanoes National Park stretches across an area of 160 square kilometres.

The headquarters of the Volcanoes National Park at Kinigi is where the gorilla tracking permits are made, and guides and jeeps assigned. To ensure that footfalls are minimised and the endangered species of mountain gorillas are not threatened in any manner, the entire process of gorilla tracking is controlled. The cost of the gorilla tracking permit is an expensive affair at $1500 per person. The permits are restricted to just 96 per day. With 12 gorilla families available for the tracking experience, 12 groups of eight people get permits everyday. Each group tracks a different family and the time they spend near the family is restricted to an hour. This means that each gorilla family is exposed to visitors for one hour daily. A percentage of the revenue from the tracking permits goes towards the development of the region and the local community.

The trek starts with walking through fields on flat ground as you approach the mountains and then one starts climbing to enter the National Park. As you enter the jungles, you are faced with thick vegetation which seems impenetrable, however, the accompanying rangers clear the way with machetes. Parts of the trail consist of marshy soil made of black volcanic soil in which one can get stuck. Other challenges include swarms of safari ants which can unobtrusively get inside your clothes and need to be tackled immediately as they are the deadliest ants in the world. One also needs to mind the stinging nettles that abound in the jungle.

African dancers at the reception centre of Volcanoes National Park

Ultimate wildlife experience

The baby gorilla, almost hidden in the furry lap of its mother looked at us with curious shiny eyes. The mother slouched over it protectively, her motherly instincts on red alert in the presence of strangers. A juvenile gorilla was nudging the mother for his share of attention, a case of sibling rivalry. The silver back hovered in the background protectively, ready to defend himself and his family if needed.

As we looked into the eyes of the silverback, we noticed a touch of melancholia. They seemed to say, why? Oh why were we persecuted all these years? We never harm anyone but have still been brought to the brink of extinction?

With World Wildlife Day just gone by, we left the gorilla family feeling sorry for having invaded their privacy though unobtrusively and just for an hour.