Trekking the Gorillas

After Hell's Gate we stopped at Lake Nakuru in Kenya for another game drive. We were hoping to see more kitties up close but again it wasn't to be.

Rhinos and Giraffe were the most exciting things we saw....

Next up was the Mountain Gorilla trek. The main point for going on this tour for most people. Originally we were supposed to go to the Congo for this but we found out that ATC hasn't gone to the Congo for at least 6 months due to the unrest there. Don't ask me why we were constantly told that Congo is where we are going then!

The new plan was to go into Rwanda.

It felt like we were being smuggled into Rwanda. We arrived at the border after dark. They kept it open for us 2 hours after they close to everyone else. We had to hike it on foot across the border with our stuff to the other side where we were met with the contact there. We were happy to find out that Canadians didn't need to pay for a visa. I made sure to rub it in to everyone else who did! :)

The next morning we headed in to Volcanoes National Park to find our family of gorillas. Our guide had a sense of humor telling us we were in for a 3 hour hike to the top to find them. I was all psyched up and ready when he said, it's only about 40 minutes. Maybe less because they are coming towards us!

So off we went into the hills. What happened next was definitely not expected.

We caught up with the family and as we were all grouping together, one of the male gorillas comes running up to the last guy in the line and starts to push him around (lightly apparently).

I just heard a "help" and turned around with my camera to catch a quick second before stopping. I'll have to post that later.

We finally get everyone together when the same gorilla decides he wants to carry off one of our group. He comes right up and grabs her, tries to take her away, but the guide somehow wrestles her away from him.

All a bit nervewracking in the first 5 minutes of the trip. Apparently they are a soft fuzzy. Not bristly like an elephant.

The rest of the trek was great. Saw the family and the massive Silverback, who was in a good mood so we just hung around. He showed off his power by breaking some bamboo like toothpicks. Really amazing animals.

Well worth the money if you are in this part of the world.