We got our permits to track a gorilla family in the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda a few months ago. When the actual morning arrived Joanne was so excited she was breathless. It is known to be a difficult hike which added to her anxiety so we hired a porter to help her with her footing and hold on to the camera. It turned out to be extremely challenging with steep ravines and spongy undergrowth. Gloves were vitally important since you have to grab at the hanging vines to keep from tumbling down the incredibly steep mountain slopes. Our objective was to find the 15-member Kyaguriro gorilla family led by a silverback called Rukara. There were 8 of us adventurers plus a ranger guide, trackers, and porters. We would find the gorilla family and then have a little over an hour to spend with them.

The Impenetrable National Park is a World Heritage Site and is aptly named. This view is from the road. The descent is very steep and dark. There are no well-beaten trails to follow. Just bushwhacking behind the trackers who chop away at the growth with machetes. 

Male gorillas weigh 300 to 430 lb. and are 4’11” in to 5′ 11″ tall, with an arm span that stretches from 7 1/2 to 8 1/2 feet. They are the largest  living primates. The DNA of gorillas is highly similar to that of humans, the next closest living relatives to humans after chimpanzees and bonobos. Gorillas walk on their knuckles. Typically they move on their arms and legs, although they can stand up and walk on two legs short distances up to 3 meters. 

After about an hour of tracking, Rukara, the silverback, is spotted in a tree. The trackers coaxed Rukara down from the tree by pulling on the vines. He came down and headed for his family and we followed. 

We stopped, looked around. And then there they were, right next to us.

A gorilla mom with her 6 week old baby. Gorilla females are about half the size of the males. 

Another adult female sat in the crook of a tree nearby.

And then we heard grunts and rustling in the bushes. We followed the sound and found two adolescents (a male and a female) wrestling.

They were really going at it. 

“Who’s this lady?”  We weren’t supposed to get too close to them, more for their health safety than for ours. But at times it couldn’t be helped as they ran past and brushed up against us. Then the fun really began.

They started swinging on the vines heading straight for us. Duck!

Yawn!

“There’s a newborn baby” the ranger told us as he pointed to nest where the silverback had gone after coming down from the tree. We found Rukara grooming the new mother who was resting with her arm around the baby.

A Mother’s Kiss. What a moment!

Joanne and our porter, Viann.