We were the the first group to go gorilla trekking today, so with much enthusiasm, we were all in the the jeep by 5.50am along with our guide and very experienced tracker. We drove to a point which was close to where the gorillas nested last night ......and then the fun began! We followed their trails as they looped around an area then crossed the main track and headed off through the marantaceae plants. Along the trails we saw discarded half eaten fruit, eaten marantaceae leaves, areas where they had been digging for roots and the hopeful sign of fresh poo. The tracker couldn't understand why they were moving so fast but then he found the tracks of a big lone silverback who was clearly pressuring the group as he wanted his own females. Apparently this silverback is really impressive and very big but he has a particularly weedy voice and has found it difficult to keep females -proving in the gorilla world size isn't everything and having a deep 'sexy' voice matters!
Eventually we found the group crossing a track - we saw a mother with a very young baby on her back cross, some youngsters playing by the track side occasionally peering at us and finally we saw the silverback who was bringing up the rear and making sure his females were not vulnerable to abduction! (today's picture). He looked at us and then slowly moved out of sight into the undergrowth -we followed at a distance, pausing as we went - we could hear but not see them in the marantaceae - I luckily glanced up to see a female in the trees feeding and looking at us. We followed the group a bit further and saw the youngsters fleetingly playing, as youngsters do, in the trees. As they were about to nest and remain out of our sight we had to leave. We all felt that our thirst for the gorillas had been unrequited but we were a victim of the circumstances on the day.
There was some Austrian frustration with the ability of Danielle to keep up with the fast pace that we were clearly told we needed to do - maybe we could have seen more of the family cross the road - who knows. I had some sympathy with their frustrations but also understood Stephanie's problem in keeping a mixed ability group together. Talking to Danielle later - she knew she had struggled but had misinterpreted lowland gorillas for flat easy walking - it is not mountainous as with the mountain gorillas but the terrain is undulating- more importantly following and tracking them requires going through thick difficult undergrowth which needs a level of strength and capability which she didn't have.
The afternoon group had similar problems with the group moving fast due to pressure from the lone silverback; with fading light they finally got some glimpses of the gorillas but like us it was a frustrating day and everyone hoped for better luck tomorrow.
In the afternoon, together with Robert and Nora, we went to the local village and were shown around by the chief - Nikola. It was a subsistence existence, the houses were wood and mud construction with fires outside, chickens and goats were running around along with scraggy puppies and dogs.... dogs are used for hunting and go with young men,armed with sophisticated homemade bows and arrows, into the forests to hunt the duiker and monkeys. In the village they grow a variety of fruits; we bought some bananas for the lodge, but with encouragement they could extend what they grow and supply the lodge with the papaya and avocados that they also grow. John and Robert both partook in the pestling of manioc leaves, this breaks down the cellulose to make them more edible, ready for dinner that evening. We then walked to see the manioc and cassava fields which its the women's role to tend; on the way we saw where they dry the manioc rolls to make flour; ever willing to try something new we bought a sausage of manioc which they chop and fry - we thought chef could cook it for us (verdict - a bit chewy and tasteless!) Finally they brought out some baskets and mats they had been encouraged to make for our visit - we bought 2, Nora bought about 6 and Stephanie bought the rest - I think they will make more as the smiles were broad when we handed over the cash.
On our way back we saw lots of people walking back towards the village no doubt having visited Mbomo and walked the 17-20km there and back. There were however a few motorbikes - we saw about 3 in the village and they must make life easier - as long as they can get petrol which we saw for sale in bottles in Mbomo.
A great and very informative visit, however back in camp all our thoughts turned to thinking about tomorrow's gorilla trek; all of us really hoping for better sightings but also realising this is nature and nature is never predictable!