Day 10 - Monday 30th June

"MZUNGU IN THE MIST"

Hardly slept last night as we were so excited for today. Up at 5am to have breakfast and organise a packed lunch. Thankfully managed to get my hands on more rice cakes - see ya later stale sugar bread sandwiches.

Our local guide here in Ruhengeri - Issa, had visited last night to explain the Gorilla trek process and answer any impending questions. We are offered 3 levels of Trekking, with approximations of durations;

1) Easy: 20 minutes each way
2) Medium: 1-1.5 hours each way
3) Hard: 3 hours each way

These were only rough guides, and had been explained to us similarly by Jakob our Tour Guide a day or two earlier. Jakob continued to insist NOT to do the Hard Trek, and that "it's only for people who do Marathons"! Whilst I felt Jade and I were fairly well prepared with our clothing, trekking poles and gloves, we didn't realize the necessity to have actual hiking boots (and let's be honest, they are not really the most attractive footwear on earth). We were just going to wear our runners/Nike Frees, but were told that the National Park Guides wouldn't let us up in them. Much to our appreciation (and even more so in hindsight), Tracey and Helen lent us their boots, as they were trekking the next day.

So 6am rolls around, and we along with Regina and Barbara (Swiss) and Elaine and Michelle (Americans) tuck our pants into our socks, jump into the Jeep, and head towards the Volcanos National Park.

Our first stop is to register our passports and trekking permits at the National Park office. When we arrive we are greeted by a happy and boisterous Francois, a guide who has been tracking Gorillas for over 20 years, and even trekked with Diane Fossey herself (of Gorillas in the Mist fame/Gorilla savior). He invites us to the gardens where there are at least 80 or so other people, all standing around sipping on their hot coffees, watching African Dancers moving to a great drum beat.

Issa takes our passports and permits to organise our trekking group and guide. We felt we would do the Medium as easy was well, too easy, and Jakob had well and truly scared us out of the Hard level! We are joined by 2 other young lovely American guys Dave and Rob, and are introduced to our trekking guide Francis. Francis sits us aside and teaches us a little more about the Gorillas we will be tracking - a family of 12 called 'Isabukuru', on Mt Bisoke in the National Park. There are 18 families in Rwandan Volcanoes NP, with only 10 used for tourism, and the others more for research. Gorillas are not territorial, so do not create boundaries from one family to another - opposed to many other primates. When a juvenile male (4-9 years ish) reaches a certain age, they are kicked out of the family to stop inbreeding - but if they can convince a female from another family to leave, he can bring her back!

So back in the jeep and we travel toward the mountain, through a local village for around another half an hour. The roads are rough, but the drive made enjoyable by all the cute little kids running out to wave and yell hello to us - they make you feel like total celebs. As we reach the end of the road, the jeep pulls over and we are met by 2 Rwandan Military (also with AK47s), who will escort us up the mountain. Mt. Bisoke is shared by Rwanda, Uganda and the Congo, so whilst they say the protection is for wild animals, I am sure it's for other reasons too. Here we are also offered the services of a Porter for our bags. Jade and I had minimally packed a backpack to share, so decided against it but Elaine and Michelle each got one, as they had quite heavy camera equipment. Now as we know, hindsights a wonderful thing, so let's just say we strongly advised the next days group to pay the US$10. We later learned that most of the Porters were either training to be Gorilla Guides too, or ex-poachers, given a job so they can learn the value of Tourism. At the last minute, I decided to take our second 1.5L bottle of water, and we popped it in with Michelle's bag and porter.

Our Guide Francis advises that they sent 2 Gorilla Trackers up the mountain at the crack of dawn to find each family, and he stays in contact with them until we arrive. We start walking at 1800m above sea level, on a fairly stable dirt path up through the village, where houses were built and crops were planted, all with no road access. The locals working on their gardens and farms were smiling and welcoming, and kids would come out and wave at us. We even had a few kids sing to us! (Probably something along the lines of "You don't know what you're in for"). Already we could feel the shallowness of the air, and found ourselves taking more regular breaths. We stopped quite a few times to take in the view, all catch up to eachother and make sure we were all good.

About half way through the village, we began walking up rocks, and the thin air started to affect Michelle, who was having trouble breathing and coughing. Whilst we didn't know it at the time, I think that our Gorilla family were one of the higher groups on the mountain. With this in mind, Francis said that for everyone to be guaranteed a chance to see the Gorillas, it was best Michelle joined forces with another Medium Group whose family must have been at a lower altitude, and that our group of 7 continue on with less stops. So, after about 45-50minutes we had reached the walls of the National Park, and it is here Michelle side lines to another team. But of course - that extra 1.5L Water - that WE now had to carry!!!! We had decided to swap the backpack roughly every hour, so on my back at went, of course much heavier! (Silly Niesh). Francis says our trek will be about 2 hours to see the Gorillas, and we feel pretty optimistic.

The entrance to park is a narrow stacked Bluestone opening that we squeeze through, and the jungle becomes narrow corridors of dry Bamboo and over grown trees - pretty much what we had imagined it would be like. After a while, the vegetation changes and we come out to a clearing, surrounded by ferns and beautiful moss hanging trees - kind of like a scene straight out of Fern Gully. Francis our guide explains that the mountain is broken into 5 zones of Vegetation, and that this is number 3.
We stop to take a few photos and then continue on. We really start setting quite a fast pace, with fewer stops, as we are all so keen just to get there. The path switches between dirt track and then muddy steps. We mention a few times how handy the trekking poles are to help pull us up each step. Whilst we are constantly slowly climbing, the terrain is not too tough.

After around an hour, our trek becomes really quite steep, and our pace has been really fast. We made stops but not very long ones - maybe 2-3 minutes rest every 10 minutes. It had become evident at this point that our family was climbing away from us (the b*****s). Because the terrain was so uneven and rocky, we were only really looking at our own feet, not forward, and as we came to a stop, Jade looked up and slammed her mouth against an arched tree branch, chipping her new teeth! We asked Francis (who was behind me) "how much longer?" and he responded "2 more stops". Jade and I swap bags, and it's such a relief to feel a cool breeze on my back.

We continue on, and within 2 minutes, the terrain dramatically changes, from rocky paths to thick Forest floor. The military guides are hacking into bamboo and bushes with machetes to pave a way. Then all of a sudden, we are full scale bouldering almost a 90degree wall of the mountain. Are you serious?! At this point we were beginning to lose optimism ... Is this REALLY the Medium Course?!!! We were all single file heading up the side of this mountain, grabbing at anything we can to pull ourselves up - tree roots and branches, some of which would snap as we tried to use it as leverage. Jade and I were the last in position, meaning any potential footing had crumbled to dirt. All I could think was "Poor Jade, if this is hard for me, imagine an extra 6 or so kilos on my back"! Honestly if we lent backwards, we would plummeted down hill.

Our rest stops were now every step we made, and frustration levels really high. We were exhausted, we were gulping for oxygen so much more than normal, and there were a few points I really was unsure how I could pull myself up further with nothing to hold onto. Whilst this vegetation was perhaps only 40 metres high, I think it took us around half an hour to climb. Right at the top we had become stuck and thankfully, Elaine's gorgeous porter Patrick came and literally grabbed us by the hand and pulled us up the last 2 metres. (Told you the porters were worth it!)

Finally - we came to stable ground and met the 2 Gorilla Trackers who had been waiting for us, nearby our Gorilla family. We had trekked 3.3miles and 680 metres almost vertically up the mountain! Relief ... And we hadn't yet even seen the Gorillas! Granted, Francis did say it was going to take us 2 hours from when we got to the park gate, he just forgot to mention it would be 2 of the most physically demanding hours of hour lives!!

We were told to prepare our cameras, and leave our poles and backpacks where we were. We walked slightly back down hill about 3 metres and there they were ... 5 gorillas lazing about in the shade. Jade almost cried - she had her hands over her mouth with excitement, trying to be quiet. Francis machetes a clearance for us and we attempted to kneel or stand where we could all see and could take photos. Our clearest view was of an adult female mum, laying horizontally, and her 2 year old baby son, sitting on top of her. We were about 2.5 metres away. The 2 year old was very aware that we were watching him, and he was very curious of us - rolling off his mum and then crawling about a metre towards us, but then would hesitate and jump back onto mum. She wasn't fazed by us, just laying there with her hand over her eyes blocking the sun. The 2 year old continued it's curiosity for about 10 minutes, rolling and tumbling on the ground between us and it's mother. About another 2 metres above them,were 2 other juveniles (maybe 7 or 8 years old), also just chillaxing. Francis attempted to chop more bushes away above them as there was another adult higher up, but he got irritated and pounded his chest - which made such a loud sound - and then scurried off out of sight.

After about 35 minutes or so, we moved down hill just past the 2 year old and found another adult female laying and cradling her 9 month old baby. It was tiny and had quite a red-ish brown fur, and a head full of bed hair. They were pretty sleepy, but did look up at us a few times. Further down from them was the Silverback - the oldest male and ring leader of the family. He was sitting upright with his gigantic broad shoulders, and cross legged, with 2 other juveniles in his lap - picking at their fur. We managed to get within around 2 metres of him, and get a few fairly clear photos. After another 15 minutes or so, we headed back to the original 4 up the hill, and most of us managed to kneel or sit for a clear view. The vegetation was so thick up there, that I ended up sitting on thorn and stinging nettle bushes (so itchy!) but it was worth it for the photos. The 2 juvenile Gorillas were playing with one another, rolling on one another and even bearing teeth. The 2 year old was jealous and wanted to play also, so kept trying to crawl on top of them mid scuffle! Very cute.

Each day, they restrict only 8 tourists to visit 1 gorilla family for only 1 hour. They do this to protect both the Gorilla and is from transmitting any diseases, but also to keep the Gorillas wild and habitual, and not domesticated. Unfortunately our hour with the Gorillas went to so fast, and it was time to say goodbye. It was a pity we had reached them after lunch when they were sleepy, as I had hoped they'd be a little more interactive, but it was still an incredible experience that we will never forget - and would love to do again. So warhead back to our trackers and bags, and sit down and eat our packed lunches. So glad we did take lunch up with us, as we didn't realize we would be as hungry as we were.

So as they say, what goes up, must come down. Getting back down that 40 odd metres was almost just as tough as getting up them! It was so steep, and of course there was nowhere to hold onto. When our feet were not caught in looped branches, or our clothes caught on thorns and sticks, Jade and I pretty much slided our entire way down. At one point I slipped so far that I rolled onto my stomach and the military guy behind me saved me from falling on top of Jade, who had then also dropped her camera a metre down the mud. After almost seriously injuring ourselves numerous times, and touched every single stinging nettle bush possible, we had reached more stable flat ground. But just as our exhausted bodies thought we were in the all clear - we all march single file straight through a swarm of bees. All of a sudden Regina got stung under her eye, and as we try to stop to help her, they begin surrounding us - yep, it's attack of the killer bees! Our guides tell us to run, and we all start bolting down this rocky path, screaming and waving our hands around our heads trying to fend off the swarm of bees. Porter Patrick was fending them off my back as we ran through thick bushes and down finally to a corridor of trees. Once we stopped to assess the damage, we burst out laughing. Turns out that Regina had been stung under her eye and on her hand and neck, Barbara stung on her neck and hand, I'd been stung on my hand. Jade managed to steer clear which is good, because she's quite allergic. The rest of the walk out was a bit of a blur, and I'm pretty sure the lactic acid build up allowed us just to float the rest of the way down! It took us an 1h40m to walk back the 3.3 miles through the village to our awaiting jeep.
On our way back into Ruhengeri, we made a stop at a few gift shops, where I bought some postcards and Jade bought herself a 'I trekked the Rwandan Gorillas' engraved medal!! Francis also presented us with our Trek Certificates. After a long, challenging but rewarding day, we made it back to our Hotel, Fatima, around 430pm. As you can imagine, we rushed to the showers as we were covered in mud, blood, sweat and tears!

Tonight we head out for a group dinner, all 24 of us. We went to a 'French' restaurant, which has pastries as well as a fairly comprehensive western menu. Jade and I ordered Pizza's. We were so tired that we were pretty much falling asleep at the table - as the food took forever to come out. Serving and fitting 24 people on one table proved to be a tough feat for these Rwandans, as Jades meal never came, others came wrong and very spread out.

We left pretty quick after eating, and retreated to bed - tired, but really proud of ourselves.

Trek Stats - 10 km walked up 680 metres high in altitude.

Day 11 - Tuesday 1st July

Woke up earlier than we wanted today, as the hallways echoed of everyone waking up, and yelling out to eachother... At 630am! We lazed around a little before getting up and reorganizing our backpacks to put back on the truck. We needed to check out of our room as we are hoping to leave tonight, and head to Uganda to cut the next days travel time. This all depended on how late the days Gorilla Trekking groups get back though. After getting ourselves organised, we decided to do our washing, so we bundled everything up, and did a tub / shower job, and then hung them on the hotel line. Our new theory with our clothing is if it's touched water, and had a day off - it's as good as clean.

As 10 o'clock rolls around, we meet our local guide Issa, who takes Jade and I on our own private walking tour of Ruhengeri. We first head to the local markets, which are buzzing with locals and vendors. There was a mix of stalls (not dissimilar to the Queen Vic Market), sectioned into Fruit and Veg, clothing, cooking etc. As we head into the covered fruit and veg area, Issa tests us to name the local fruits - we had no idea! We kept thinking everything was a Sweet Potato.
Of course everyone was looking at us because we are the only 2 white people there, but they are all smiling as we catch their glances, all saying hello, and offering us their goods to sample. As we passed through stalls, I felt a tap on my bum so I looked at Jade and then she had the same - and then we saw a lovely smiling local lady with a cheeky grin and laughing! Issa took us through the clothing where we each bought some material in bright prints - similar to the amazing bright outfits the locals wear.

After the market, we walked to a Woman's Centre called Ubushobozi Project. It was founded by 2 American woman, to teach orphaned teenage woman to basically set themselves up. They teach them English, computer skills, to sow and to weave, business skills and also how to budget their own finances. It was really well run, and we were overwhelmed with hugs and kisses from the ladies when we arrived. We then were taught to basket weave from the lovely Salume and her friend (can't pronounce her name). They have been at Ubushubozi since it opened, and are 2 of the main teachers there. The ladies said we were Number 1 - in comparison to the rest of the group the day before. Jade and I are so good at basket weaving that we've decided to make it into a little side project at home ;)

Afterwards we walked ourselves back to our hotel, where we sat at the bar with Regina and Barbara and ordered a Rwandan style counter meal, and used wifi until our hearts content from 1230pm onwards. I also got to chat to Mum for the first time in 2 weeks which was great - even if it echoed and we repeated ourselves 5 times!
We were hoping the other groups would get back by 3, so we could head back to Uganda, but unfortunately 2 of the groups didn't make it back until around 4pm, so we rechecked into another private room after dinner. At first we were excited because we were right next to the bar so had wifi, but then we realized there was a World Cup match, and our great room, was not so great. We had a fairly early night - Jade read in bed and I watched a movie on the iPad.