7th trek to find and share space with the beautiful gorillas.
Early Start today to drive to Rushaga Region of Bwindi National Park from the Nkuringo area where I’m based. Though it’s only 20km, the drive takes slightly over an hour on dirt/rock and rough roads. So rough, we all get a wonderful “African massage.”
Group we are visiting today is Nshongi – a closer group, easier to reach and much more habituated than other groups. There are only 7 left – the group split and these are the remaining members.
The trek up was through the most beautiful rainforest – the variation of green is amazing! Thick foliage most certainly housing a whole universe of plants, animals, insects and amphibians – if these trees could talk.
You’ll see a lone Mahogany tree to the right – the large orange/brown trunk. Not many left here anymore – sadly…today, logging is no longer allowed here in Uganda. As a world heritage site, it is protected from our modern days needs – like our dresser or dining room table. If we only knew where it came from, how it was found and the impact of taking it out has on the ecosystem…maybe we’d think twice. Maybe.
So we only trekked about 30 minutes until we saw the trackers. These gorillas hang out in the trees – and the first guy we stumbled upon was the SB – Bweza. 
It was amazing how comfortable he was about 12 feet in the air, just grabbing branches, eating leaves, lounging, digesting. Gorillas feed for about 3 – 4 hours then rest for a few and digest the up to 200kg of food they consume daily. (plants, bark, leaves, a few bugs but not often)
Mommy and baby pictured above were an amazing duo! boy that baby has to hold on for dear life – about 30 feet in the air while mom feeds, it hangs onto the side of her and suckles when it feels like it, but mostly just makes sure it is hanging on!
as you can see, they all were in the trees, hanging out, eating, foraging and enjoying the gorgeous view.
Dr. Fred was along again because the trackers found something odd at the nest about 30 hours ago. Dr. Fred and I got to check out the nest and take samples…though it was covered in flies and had been baking in the sun, we still took a few to be analyzed. The blood was not just regular blood, it seemed to be some sort of placenta but not enough to be a full placenta and none of the moms had any newborns…odd, very very odd and a mystery to solve. In the meantime, the trackers must monitor the group carefully for any odd behavior.
The hour flew by, the gorillas tolerated and even welcomed us and then it was time to head home… today’s trek was so much easier and gave us the opportunity to enjoy a truly magical rainforest.
the 1+hour bumpy drive back to the lodge. Our driver spotted this guy – rhino:
a gorgeous 8 inch chameleon that changed color as he went on…such an amazing creature!
All in all, a pretty relaxing day, breathing in the rich oxygen from one of the very few tropical rainforests left in the world. Tonight, i’ll spend some time reflecting on what i can do to be more conscious about the choices i make and how important these ecosystems are to our existence.
Thank you Bwindi National Forest!