Goodbye Uganda, Hello Rwanda - Golden Monkeys and Gorillas!

 

Even the steep hillsides are cultivated by hand.

Monday, 9/25, was a long driving day, about 6 hours on the road and a border crossing into Rwanda. The countryside in southern Uganda is absolutely spectacular. Sometimes it looked like every available inch was farmed including hillsides so steep I’d have needed a rope to climb them.

We got a wave from this serious looking little angel.

 

You can see that agriculture is a big part of Uganda's economy.

It was our last day with Eddie, and we were determined to make the most of it. I cannot express how sad we were to leave Uganda and our fabulous guide, Eddie, behind. In the ten days we’ve been together he’s become a family friend. We’ve shared stories and more than a few beers (or G&T’s 😊) and a great deal of laughter. He really made the trip so much more fun, especially for Rian. Hanging out with only Mom and Dad just doesn’t cut it. Cue Eddie to the rescue. Lol.  We stopped at Heritage Camp on the shore of Lake Bunyonyi, to see the second deepest lake in Africa. We hope he can make it to the USA so we can drive him around and show him the sights!

Eddie wouldn't swap vehicles with Rian,
but she did manage to swap their sunglasses. Lol. 

A stop at Heritage Camp on Lake Bunyonyi.

Rian on the pier at Lake Bunyonyi.

Our last family photo.
We miss you Eddie!

I knew there will be more amazing adventures in Rwanda with our new guide, Joe, but it certainly wouldn’t be the same. Speaking of Joe, kudos to him because we weren’t our best selves when he picked us up. We were physically exhausted and sad and grumpy after saying goodbye to Eddie. Rog was also suffering from a bacterial bug, and all three of us were feeling the very unpleasant side effects of the anti-malarial drugs. Trust me, when I say you really don’t want the details. Lol.  Luckily, we had nothing else on the schedule, so Joe dropped us off at the lovely 5 Volcanos Boutique Hotel near Ruhengeri, about 45 minutes from the border. The hotel’s namesake volcanos are just gorgeous.

Another stellar lodge.

These rugged volcanos are home to the mountain gorillas in Rwanda.

The next morning was our Golden Monkey trek. Somehow, we were under the impression this was just a short walk to see the Golden Monkeys. Luckily, we got a last-minute heads up from Joe that it was run just like the gorilla and chimpanzee trekking - so a briefing, guides, trackers, porters, guards, etc.  That required some hasty prep on our part, so we were dressed for the occasion and had the appropriate tips on hand. We got it squared away and the “trek” was quite fun. Joe drove us to the starting point, and we wound our way through cultivated fields to a bamboo forest at the base of the Virunga Mountains in Volcanos National Park where we quickly located our family.

Rog and I at the Information Center for our pre-trek briefing.

Walking through the fields to the Golden Monkeys.

The volcano provides a stunning backdrop to the lush fields.

We found the Golden Monkeys!

The habituated Golden Monkeys are in four groups, each with about 120 individuals. The Golden Monkeys were little perpetual motion machines. The bamboo shoots were in season and they were busy digging and munching. I swear, with their little cheeks stuffed full they looked like giant, long tailed chipmunks. Lol. We spent an hour enjoying their antics.

Golden Monkey mom munches on fresh bamboo shoots.

Video Clip (53 sec): Golden Monkey Mom happily munching on bamboo shoots.

Check out those cheeks!

How close did they get, you ask?
This close. Lol.

In the afternoon we were supposed to go to a cultural center and learn how the forest people (the Twa or Pygmies as they were called) lived before the area was designated as a National Park and they were all forced to leave. Rog did some reading on what happened in Uganda and it was pretty horrendous. I’m guessing it wasn’t much better in Rwanda. We decided to run some errands first. I needed to hit an ATM to get some of the local currency (Rwandan Francs) and Joe made the mistake of pointing out a good place to buy souvenirs and baskets. Lol. The building was like a mini-mall with each tiny shop run by a different vendor. Much of the merchandise was similar, so to say the competition between the vendors was fierce would be an understatement. We aren’t fans of the hard sell, so it wasn’t a particularly pleasant shopping experience. But Rian did find some great baskets to hang on her wall and I picked up some souvenirs.

A few of my favorite souvenirs -  hand carved, beaded walking stick,
baskets, and a gorilla carved from the local volcanic rock.

We opted to skip the cultural activity and return to the hotel for a late lunch. On the way we passed by a large park and were intrigued by these giant bamboo sculptures. They were left over from the Kwita Izina celebration held there in early September. The celebration is modeled off a centuries old tradition in which Rwandans name their children in the presence of family and friends. In 2005, Rwanda began officially naming the baby mountain gorillas. We arrived in Rwanda too late to attend this year’s event, where 23 infant gorillas were named. The celebration draws people from all over the world and raises awareness of the endangered mountain gorillas. 

Gigantic bamboo sculptures from the Kwita Izina celebration.

Our third and final gorilla trek was on Wednesday, 9/27.  I was interested to see how the experience would be different from our treks in Uganda. Everything I read said the trekking experience in Rwanda was easier, no surprise we found it to be exactly the opposite! Lol. Rian has a bum foot and I’m no spring chicken, so we have tried to make sure we weren’t in the triathlon trekking group. Our two treks in Uganda were very easy, unfortunately, the gorillas in Rwanda failed to get the memo! We were assigned to what was supposed to be the easy group. On the previous day they were only a 15 minute walk from the starting point.  But before we arrived, the gorilla family had decided to move further up the mountain in search of bamboo shoots requiring us to hike for an hour and a half straight up the mountainside!

Seeing these amazing creatures was well worth the hike!

Thank heaven for the porters who were there to lend a hand, pushing and pulling and keeping us from falling on our asses. Lol. We had a 75-year-old mom and her daughter from Austin, TX in our group. Nobody had anticipated such a strenuous hike, and the porters had been hired to carry mom up in a litter. The first part of our trek was through cultivated fields to the park boundary. 

This Texas Mom was traveling in style!

Then the porters with the litter took the lead with someone to hack a path through the vegetation and they easily beat us up the mountain! Lol. The daughter was really struggling and about ready to quit. Then she told us she had leukemia, and the climb was just too much. Everyone rallied around her, and the porters provided additional support so she could make it to the gorilla family. The hike ended up having about 2,480 feet of elevation gain, topping out at around 8,600 ft. Between the altitude, heat, and humidity, it was a challenge. But, how awful would it have been to come so far and get within 30 minutes of your goal and not make it. 

Fire ants also managed to get into Rian's boots during one of the rest breaks. When we paused, she and several others were standing right in the middle of an ant highway, it only took seconds for them to infiltrate even though she had on gaiters and had her pants tucked into her socks. Itchy ant bites. Ugh!

Once we got to the mountain slopes,
the guides hacked a path through the thick vegetation.

Even after we contacted our gorilla family, they were much more difficult to see. The vegetation was super thick and the hillside very steep. They also continued to move, searching for the bamboo shoots that the Golden Monkeys had found so delectable. We had to follow along to stay in contact until, finally, the big silverback settled down for a long nap and we got to hang out with him and some of the others that congregated near him. The first video shows how close the gorillas were to our group. Because they were moving around more and the vegetation was so thick, they literally walked right through our group a couple of times. Lol. Everybody was pretty chill, although one gal kept grabbing onto Rian when the gorillas came close. Rian was not amused. Lol. 

Video Clip (50 sec): How close do the gorillas get?

Mom and baby move through our group.

I just never get tired watching them.

Video Clip (50 sec): Gorillas grooming

Younger gorilla grooming the silverback.

No, it's not Bigfoot! Lol.  

Our last hour with the gorillas was quickly over, but I am so grateful we had such an amazing opportunity to spend time observing them on their home turf. We made it back down the mountainside with the help of our ever-able porters. Lol. 

Time to hike back. We did not accept any hitchhikers. 😏

I plan to wrap up our Africa travels in one last post. You'll get to see Akagera National Park and the city of Kigali. Hang with us, we're almost home!