Only a week left in Africa! Its gone so quickly and I'll be very sad to leave but equally I'm very excited about South America!
I went gorilla trekking in Nkuringo, Bwindi National Park, western Uganda at the weekend and the good news is we saw them!
I went with two other soft power volunteers and we had a long 15 hour drive from Jinja to Nkuringo on Friday. We left at 6am and arrived at 9.30pm. The roads were terrible and full of pot holes so we were glad to arrive. The last two hours were on a very windy road around mountains with one side of the road a cliff and the other a black drop! So it was pretty scary! Anyway we arrived safely.
In the morning we had our briefing at the Uganda Wildlife Authority office along with the other four people we were trekking with (to make 7).
The trackers had already left at 7am to find the gorilla family so it would be easier for us to find them.
We left the office about 9.30am and headed for the park gate.
We then descended down a very steep slope to the bottom of the valley where our guide got a radio message saying the trackers had found the gorrilas!
We all started getting very excited at this point as of course they cannot guarantee that you will find them, and you only have a one day pass!
We set off abit further into the forest and then were told to stop and leave everything but our cameras as we were very close.
We then moved further in and caught sight of a massive silver back gorrilla!
I couldn't believe how big it was! They can weigh up to 250kg and can be quite dangerous if they feel threatened!
The trakkers then moved infront of us pulling away loose branches and twigs so we could get a better look at it. I found this quite odd as the park is there to protect the gorrillas and its habitat but I suppose it all grows back quite quickly otherwise there would be nothing left!
We came across the rest of the family which was about 8 members. There was also the big chief silverback who was just chilling out in a clearing, staring back at us.
They didn't seem at all bothered by us being there clicking away with our cameras! There were two baby twins there as well which were only 7 months old and so cute! The mother was understandibly protective though and soon moved off into a bush.
When the gorillas moved on we followed them and were able to get really close. There were a few occasions when a silver back came up behind us and just sat there waiting to go by. When this happened the guides hastily told us to get back out of the way so it could pass!
You are only allowed an hour with the gorillas once you have found them and it seemed to pass very quickly!
So when our time was up we had to make the slow ascent up the very steep valley side to get back to our camp.

We then had the whole afternoon to chill out and we went down to a lodge close by which is $500/night/person to stay there! They didnt have anyone staying there though so they were very attentive to us and showed us around the rooms which were amazing!! but so expensive!!
We spent the evening around the campfire reminiscing over the events of the day before heading to bed.
We then had an early start on sunday for a 13hour drive back!
It was slightly quicker on the way back as we went on the new road which was been built around kampala centre which is always full of traffic!
Its not officially open though so you have to drive up to the check point where there is a guard with a log with nails sticking out blocking the road. You then give him 'money for water' and he lets you through!
Very typical of how the police force is run here!
I now only have a week left so I'm finishing off my volunteering projects. I have been creating a leaflet from the conservation club which soft power run for children in the holidays. They learn about how to conserve their environment and they wanted me to create a leaflet of all of the poems and pictures they did which can be distributed to all of the schools. Ive also made a map of the village documenting projects that soft power has done and made a seond one that can be used in teaching.
They have certainly kept me busy!
I'm going to murchison falls for my last weekend which is a 6 hour drive north.
Then it will be off to the airport on tuesday to fly back to heathrow for a quick change over before leaving for Argentina!