Meet Munyinya – the leader of the Hirwa group – (Hirwa means lucky)
the usual 6:30AM start, and today’s trek was deep mud, thick forest and lots of rain! My excitement cannot be deterred. Trekking with people who have never seen or been in the presence of gorillas before is extremely encouraging. the squeals of joy, the gasps of surprise and the big round eyes of amazement leave me feeling as if we as humans feel the connection, look at the gorillas and see a bit ourselves. I hope this breeds compassion.
A couple hours in the rain/mist and lots of swamp like conditions and we reach the group. out in the open – luckily!!!
Munyinya is extremely calm – engaging his children, and has decided to make camp for rest time (after eating) in an open area in the rain. as you will see, gorillas sit in the rain with arms crossed, close the limbs into the body and allow the rain water to just run off of them…
It was raining – not pouring and we were lucky enough to see the group and how they handled the jungle/forest weather….as you can see below – they weren’t too phased, even yawning… like father like child.
Mommy below, loving her very new little one – age – i believe about 6 months – but will confirm. so tender and gentle. protecting herself and her baby from the rain…
the rest of the group was up the hill a bit in another opening…and there was one blackback (means between 8 and 12 years of age) that was determined to “punish” the group for straying too far from the silverback. (so i’m told)
But my take on it was that he was just showing his stuff. Here are 3 pics before camera went down and i just crouched, looked down and let him know that he was dominant. He came within a foot of me – beating his chest, making it known that he was the big guy. in this moment, my heart beat a bit faster, but my body remained calm. I felt no threat, i felt connected, safe, and curious. I know he didn’t want to hurt me. I see light in his eyes. I believe he may be just letting us know that he’s tired of being watched. That it’s not ok and he wants privacy or that he wants to simply show off for us…but not for a moment did i question my safety. the women scurried behind me, frightened, panting, nearly crying as i told them to stay calm, don’t run, just breathe….in that moment, i knew that i belong with the gorillas. I’ve found a home.
He then went around the group – including the 4 year old twins and hit them and ran after them, stood on his hind legs and beat his chest…i am told he was telling them to go back down to the big boss. But, who knows…
He needed to show off and let everyone know, including the 2 TWINS, that he was boss. And yes, i said twins! out of 5 twin groups that have been born in the mountain gorilla families, only 2 survived. Why? because gorillas walk on their knuckles and trying to carry 2 and care for 2 is nearly impossible. But these little ones survived!
So, the group started to move down through the yummy bamboo and make way back to Munyinyo…
the little ones, once a certain age (maybe 6 months), can ride on the back, before then mom carries them in the front or on the side.
And when we got back down the group was drying off….looks like fun doesn’t it!!
Once dried, Munyinyo checks out the scene and decides that human visitation time is over…
the gorilla caravan is on it’s way 🙂
Today i learned to give freely, to receive fully and to remain calm, loving and open hearted in the face of conflict – i am so so fortunate.
Good night from the gorillas and I. Good night from US.