Dear Journey - Chapter 2

Uganda the beautiful

Our second morning we embarked on an exciting adventure to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest to trek to find a family of Mountain Gorillas!

The morning started with a ceremonial dance that ignited our excitement further!

There were dancers, all the rangers eagerly awaiting their customers, instrument players banging their drums to African beats, a table full of delicious snacks and African coffee and tea, and all of our tour guides nervously waiting on the side, visibly worried for their clients.

The energy was intense, and all the tourists seemed excited and definitely prepared; which you could tell by seeing all the trekking tools they carried. It could've been a advertisement for Columbia or the North Face.

We however, didn't even wear socks that day!

Then we were assigned our Ranger for the trek who would guide us and educate us about all the different things we would encounter during this journey. We learned about the ecosystem, the nature, the mushrooms, snails, birds and butterflies that called this forest home.

And the curious African Snail, that extended larger than the size of the palm of my hand, and a centipede that was almost 6 inches long.

The man on this picture was our security guard, he is part of the Ugandan Wildlife Authority (UWA); which is the organization that hires, trains and deploys all the staff that guard the endangered animals, and really, all animals. He came with us carrying an AK-47 with rubber bullets. They are meant to not hurt the animals, but to get them to back off, should we encountered an angry silverback, for example. Another one of his jobs is to find, report, and if necessary, confront poachers threatening the wildlife in Uganda. Which made us believe that there were magazines with other types of bullets on his chest. Some of the stories they tell are pretty heroine, considering who they are up against.

Each morning there are scouts that head out ahead of each group and they locate your assigned Gorilla family and communicate to your ranger when they have been located so that you are not wandering for hours. This allows for the experience to be so much more robust and enjoyable.

When the communication comes in that your family has been located, it’s exhilarating! Below are the first moments we laid eyes on this beautiful Gorilla family for the first time…..There were two females, two babies and two male Silverbacks.