Another wonderful report conjuring up magical memories of our gorilla trekking in Uganda. ^
Originally Posted by
bhrubin
Still, my research had suggested that it is easier to trek and see the mountain gorillas on the Ugandan side--though I didn't pursue it much beyond that since Uganda wasn't a realistic option for us to consider.
I can assure you that we did not find that to be the case! Firstly, the drive from Kampala to the mountains is very arduous. The Ugandan roads are terrible! Even where they are paved they are of such poor construction quality that potholes appear every rainy season. Despite continual efforts to repair them they are encountered every few metres. We went to Uganda because we knew people living there who were going and we joined their party. The general consensus among the Ugandan residents was that gorilla trekking is far more comfortably done in Rwanda.
The actual trekking sounds very similar to what you experienced - but fortunately we "only" walked for about 1.5 hours to our troop. (I might have given up had it been over 3 hours!
) But it was a steep downhill climb with paths only visible in places. The return uphill was pretty exhausting - and it also rained!! (Which had an odd consequence: I was wearing a plastic raincoat which caused a sauna effect and I perspired so much I was wetter than if I had not had a raincoat at all.)
Our sighting also involved a close encounter with a big male. He suddenly appeared below us on the hill while the troop was above us. He surveyed us for a long moment then beat his chest and came quickly passed us brushing against some members on his way. (We had all dropped down as per instructions.) It was quite exhilarating to say the least! My partner posted a video of that on YouTube. For the rest the animals were very sedate and mainly just chilled out on a rocky place with us rather close by. We were unable to maintain the required distance because of the terrain - it simply wasn't possible to get a vantage point more than a couple of metres away. The most charming part of the interaction was the antics of the youngsters who clambered all over the adults, including the huge silverback, and played in the vines. One cheeky little thing kept trying to edge closer to us. His mother didn't seem to pay him any attention -and yet every time he got within a certain distance of us she would calmly reel him back in.
We stayed at
Clouds Mountain Gorilla Lodge which was as nice as a luxury lodge located a day's drive from Kampala (not the most inspiring African city) can be. It was also cold - not surprising at 2000m above sea level. And I recall being a bit disappointed with the food and some of the arrangements though the detail now escapes me. It gets incredibly good reviews on TripAdvisor - but I'm not sure how mush of that is a halo effect from the gorilla sightings.
We combined this with visits to some of the other parks - which was most enjoyable (tree climbing lions!) but not the stuff great safaris are made of. At the end we went searching for the elusive shoebill on Lake Victoria - and were lucky enough to get an excellent sighting.
All in all it was a very memorable trip even if Uganda proved quite challenging. But the time spent with the gorillas was, as you put it, "INCREDIBLE". If I had not done it I would never have believed how profound the experience felt. It was without a doubt one of the most moving, thrilling travel experiences I have ever had.