“To every action there is always opposed and equal reaction”- isaac newton. It’s just rarely what we expect it to be. They key is being open to observing all parts, being humble enough to learn through curious senses – seeing and experiencing all occurrences, even those seemingly unrelated, for I’ve found that the one universal truth is that we are all energy, inherently connected.
Good morning Uganda – what an extraordinary view. Volcanoes everywhere – in fact, we are surrounded by 7 here at Clouds Resort – where we are 2100 meters above sea level – truly in the clouds!
The mist that rolls in and out has a life force of it’s own.
Today we head off – just a walk across the street (thank god for no long drive to the park), to visit the Nkoringo group – named after the Nkoringo “hill” here. The park, mind you, is called the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park – key word – Impenetrable.
After the briefing, which is obviously scripted, but key to the experience, we were off – i had my doubts about a couple folks wearing sneakers and jeans, but i thought – hey, maybe they’ll be tough! Oh boy…was i wrong.
Up until this point, treks have been 4 -5 hours on the high end – difficult for sure, even grueling….but nothing prepared me for what we were about to face.
We headed off – i was excited to experience the difference between Rwanda and Uganda gorilla trekking – my ears, eyes, nose – all senses were heightened to experience whatever the day brought. The first hour and a half we simply took our time through fields of millet, tea and pockets of corn. it was relatively easy and pleasant, but due to some slipping and sliding of non boot wearing lovely new yorkers, we had to take an alternate route that wasn’t nearly as steep and surely added 2 hours to our descent.
at one point we stopped and took a break – for our benefit and that of the trackers that had yet to locate the family – here’s the view…
Tough to see, but we were about 1/2 down the 2100m mountain – to the pit of the valley where the buffer zone starts and 350m later the forests begins.
you can see the forest clearly and the buffer zone is made of tea – in the hopes that once it grows thick the gorillas won’t wander up the hill to banana trees for a treat…we shall see!
So, we sat in the morning Ugandan sun, munched on snacks and then I heard what no one wants to hear “i don’t think i can make it.” the woman who was struggling just didn’t think she could keep going – oh boy, now what? i mind my business and let the guide do his job. It was evident that these two folks would struggle, they fell a half dozen times so far and couldn’t take one step without slipping – i was waiting for one to tear up an ankle. they were basically skiing down the hill…it was crazy. again, not my job. So, i offered up some encouraging words, and let them know that we would get there, no hurry…
It’s interesting here in Uganda, they are not as advanced as Rwanda in terms of appreciating gorillas, habituation of groups or tracking the gorillas. I believe they followed suit after seeing the income Rwanda had coming in (100’s of millions/year!) – none the less, they are trying. However, the trackers ended up following a lone silverback. The leader of the group who had apparently gone off to fight and left his family somewhere safe.
Where was the family? that is the question – as we wait on the side of a gorgeous, steep and unforgiving mountain lined with tea plants, we all wonder if we will get to visit the family. It was a welcome rest to sit and relax, enjoy, take in the equatorial sun – with no sunscreen on 😉 thank you indonesian blood.
and then, an extraordinary thing happened, in the distance, down where the tea plant buffer zone meets the forest, a flash of silver appeared. Dr Fred who had been traveling with us for a second day was down there and walking along side the forest as the silverback made his way around the edge to a sort of foot path right along the inside of the forest. Dr Fred ran up to us (more like leapt like a gazelle) and let us know that the SB was looking for his family. So, our guide let me, a couple fit German guys, and my 2 new friends Leann and Tom head off with Dr. Fred and a guard (i failed to mention that every trek has 2 armed guards along)….explain later.
So, we bound down the mountain in a minute and reached the forest/buffer path where the SB was – no sight of the SB, so we headed into the forest where we could see he was traveling – we were actually TRACKING a gorilla! We found bamboo and plants he had eaten along the way, we followed the broken limbs of trees and plants and searched for clues…we eventually heard him before we saw him – he was smarter than us! He was heading up to the footpath right outside the forest where the tea stared…why walk through heavy jungle when he can take to the “streets” :)))) Smart smart guy.
When we caught up with him, he was ambling along the path, obviously searching, looking, longing…we followed him cautiously, giving him his space. but every 50 yards or so, he would stop, eat, rest, look back at us and then CALL – loudly for his family.
Rafiki knew we were following him and i got the sense that he welcomed it, somehow he felt safe and secure and confident that we (together) would find his family.
we carried on like this for what seemed like forever – maybe 20 minutes until finally our guide met up with us (he had the rest of the group with him) and let us know the trackers had found the family!
GREAT! now….will RAFIKI find them?
Meanwhile he was starting to head UP the tea fields away from where his family was – oh no!! he strolled about 100m up the mountain, looking, calling, then turned back, saw the trackers on the edge of the forest – stopped in his tracks, sat, watched them and then headed back down to the forest! He had spotted his family – PHEW!
A huge sense of relief filled our space along with anticipation for how the reunion would go. sometimes, SB’s come back into the group, show dominance and make a big scene…
we perched in the tea rows and watched as Rafiki uneventfully reunited with his family. They all knew he was there, no doubt, but they didn’t make a fuss, just kept on eating and letting him join in.
Toward the edge of where the family was, we found Kirungi, 2nd in command SB, who has an injury on his lower left back. This was Dr. Fred’s mission today – to assess the wound and determine next steps.
Fred and i took many many pics and noted his movements, behavior, and overall appearance and health. We got a close up shot of the wound and saw that it was indeed infected, flies were very much bothering it and him…so he would sit against leaves or bushes to stop the flies from coming in. It’s a tough spot because he can’t reach around himself to clean it and no other gorillas clean it. There was obvious swelling and to me, i wanted nothing more than to flush the wound and dress it appropriately. I found this whole process fascinating because instead of just stepping in before it’s too late and he’s septic, we had to chat and discuss the best course of action. Remembering we aren’t in a zoo, a controlled environment, these are essentially “wild” gorillas, some conservationists believe that we must let nature take it’s course. in events like this, wait and see and allow the gorilla to heal is the best way to ensure strong gene pools moving forward. Others may say that this is not a fully “wild” environment, these gorillas have been habituated over years – sometimes up to 3 years before tourists are allowed to visit. They see 8 people a day for 1 hour a day and then trackers up to 5 hours a day, researchers a couple hours a day….all of a sudden these “wild” gorillas are around humans more than half their day/life. Is that “wild?” How is it that we can justify habituation and tourism but not preventative measures that might help the gorillas survive better? With so little left in the WORLD – should we not step in more? That begs the question of immunization – is this a logical next step? Since gorillas are being exposed to human conditions and diseases, respiratory illnesses as most frequent, as well as human caused conditions (scabies, rabies, bovine (mad-cow) disease, parasites…etc. etc. – should we not also weigh the other side of the scale and give them a shot at fighting these diseases?
In fact, this group has suffered from what may be scabies – a recurring skin disease, yet to be identified. parasites? skin condition? no one knows yet. and the ability to have lab work done efficiently with correct biopathways is challenging to say the very least.
At the end of the day, Dr. Fred decided that he and the trackers would monitor Kurungi’s condition and if it became life threatening, they would step in. He explained to me that darting and treating a SB is not just easy peasy – it has consequences too. The rest of the family sees the SB incapacitated and other males may see this as a weakness and try to test his authority or females may see this as a sign of weakness and move to other groups.
The yin and yang – the universe is comprised of this never-ending interaction, exchange and opposing counterparts. without one, the other, in fact, nothing else exists.
The family was calm and happy to have Rafiki back, and to our surprise and delight, no big entrance on his part, no shennanigans, or showing off, just a peaceful hello and continued feeding on the 200kg of plants needed each day to thrive.
After a 2 hour trek back UP the mountain to get home in the pouring rain, Dr Fred and i postulated and brainstormed on what we thought the skin condition could be…i realized that if it’s not life and death, it’s not a high priority and Fred must move onto another group that had a still born baby the next morning.
Life in the jungle – not easy, life with humans in the jungle, better? My conclusion so far is yes, but are we going to far? How do we balance the scales of saving a species vs. interfering with natural progression and evolution.
9 hours later, we reached the top of the mountain – 2 of our group had to be stretchered up the hill by 20 men a piece. They simply could not make the journey. We walked ahead of them and to our complete surprise 2 minutes later, the 2 stretchers were at the top. The physical ability of these ugandan boys and men was unbelievable. They ran these people up the mountain in the rain without even being out of breath. I sensed this has happened before….many times. At least they make a good bit of money – 600 bucks per person!
Today, i will rest well, body aching and tired, yet spirit feeling completely awakened, grateful and alive with achievement. Having achieved 9 hours of trecherous hiking while holding a calm, open and curious state of mind, rather than getting emotionally stuck in wanting to immediately help Kirungi. Today provided so many learnings and insights, i can’t imagine not feeling fulfilled, grateful, utterly exhausted and excited to do it all again tomorrow!
thank you Dr. Fred, for your passion, enthusiasm, wisdom and commitment to these gorillas as this wildlife. You are an extraordinary man, and i’m sure your mother is very very proud of you.