Jun 27 2008
Gorilla trek podcast and photos
Hello everyone, Paula here and this is the moment of truth !!! Here’s my promised podcast. Listen with headphones gorillas are very quiet creatures so listen carefully, I hope you feel immersed in the jungle. Look a the photos as you listen - I’ve put them in chronological order.
The day started at 4.30am after a very long night of very loud Oliver N’goma concert!
The experience begins with a talk from our guide Francis, who was absolutely brilliant. ….he takes us on an extraordinary hike through the jungle introducing us to much more than gorillas,….
Here’s the volcano, Mt Bisoke, we had to climb it!
We first walked through farms to this wall, the “buffalo wall” demarcates the edge of the park protecting it from incursions as well as protecting the people from buffaloes.
The houses in this area are made of sticks and the walls of leaves, the soil here is not sticky enough to plaster the walls!
The trek we were told would take anything from 10 minutes to 3 hours. Every time someone asked “are we nearly there?” we were told the same thing, “just ten more minutes”. It took us nearly like 3 hours! From Left to Right these are Joe Summerhays (animator), John (assisting guide), Bill Gorth (master story teller), Craig Hatkoff (co founder of Tribeca Film Festival), and Brian Newman (Tribeca Film Foundation).
Our first sighting, he just sat there and stared right back.
The emotion you feel when you spot Gorillas for the first time are never forgotten. From Left to Right, these are Dino (dudu diaries), Craig and Rabai Irwin.
It’s hard to keep the 10 meter rule, gorillas walk right up to you and will even grab and push you aside you if you are in the way as happened to Craig!
The experience gets better and better as the group begins to ignore you - two individuals played right in front of us then climbed a tree.
I could have watched these guys playing for hours! So entertaining.
I know why Dian Fossey fell in love with the place, the staff like Francis are super dedicated, amusing, and just a pleasure to spend time with.
The trackers wake up at about 6 am to find the group and stay with them and guide the tourists to them.
Can you see the 3 week old baby? Did you hear it coughing on the podcast?
Life as a gorilla can’t be that bad?
Apart from the mind blowing gorillas, other odd things creatures also caught our attention like this giant earthworm. They grow to about 1 foot and are about 1 inch thick!
After that full day in gorilla country and one hour with the Amohoro family I looked at my certificate and I can’t help feeling like it was a life time experience well wort the $500 price tag. I want to stay in touch with them, monitor the progress of the new baby, hear their daily shenanigans.
What do you think? Would you pay $500 to experience this?
How was the podcast?
