Tracking Mountain Gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest

Mountain gorillas are fascinating animals with complex social structures. They are rare, living exclusively in the mountainous volcanic rift area of central Africa spanning Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda. They are also endangered due to loss of habitat, poaching, disease and human conflict. It is believed that they currently number approximately 1,000 individuals, a significant increase since 1989 when only about 600 existed. 

I was thrilled to have the opportunity to see mountain gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest last year. Even better was that we had permits to visit them on three separate days. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park covers almost 128 square miles of heavily forested and steep terrain in the far southwest corner of Uganda. Though nearly at the equator, the nights are cool and the days moderate due to its high elevation, from about 1,100 meters up to 2,600 meters.

Each day we were assigned a different gorilla group to observe. Rangers who are thoroughly familiar with the gorilla groups, individual gorillas, and the Bwindi forest patiently led us to our assigned family. Here you see part of the Habinyanja group, including the alpha male.

The rangers were armed with rifles to scare off aggressive elephants (which thankfully we never encountered) and machetes to clear paths through the jungle.

These gorilla groups have been habituated to humans and while they don't entirely ignore people, they do carry on with their daily lives in our presence. We were allotted one hour to observe them each day. It seemed to me that they were aware of this time limit as they began to wonder off at the end of the hour.

Here is a sampling of images of the Habinyanja group. We saw them resting,

eating,

socializing,

and posing for photographs. Okay, maybe that's not what this silverback was doing, though it sure seemed that way.

Our second day demonstrated the appropriateness of the name Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. The rangers hacked away with their machetes to clear paths for us and it took real effort on our part to climb steep and slippery hillsides to reach the Rushegura group. 

We were rewarded with front row seats to watch this energetic 14 month old. 

He spent a lot of time clambering around on his ever patient mother. 

Gorillas spend most of their time on the forest floor,

but the younger and lighter ones especially do climb trees.

As one of humans' closest relatives, it is not surprising that mountain gorillas have expressive faces. They are absolutely fascinating to watch. Here the alpha male of the Rushegura group seemed to be pondering weighty matters. 

This approximately two month old infant from the Muyambi group was the youngest gorilla we saw. It was conceived and born during the Covid pandemic, so part of an apparent mountain gorilla baby boom that took place during the time that human visitors were mostly absent.   I think the tight grip this little one has on its  mother's face is adorable!

This gives you an idea of what the experience was like for us. We were required to wear masks when in the presence of gorillas and instructed to keep at least ten meters distant from them.  In some cases they approached us and then we just needed to remain still.

I traveled with Cheeseman's Ecology Safaris on this trip, and can highly recommend them. They have years of experience running excursions like this and it shows. My trip went smoothly from beginning to end, we had lots of time with the wildlife, benefitted from experienced and knowledgeable guides, and enjoyed a high standard of accommodation and excellent food.

I will try to write one more post highlighting the non-wildlife parts of my trip, including some of the remarkable people I met and the beautiful countryside that I was privileged to see

Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda

While my trip to Uganda focused on primates, especially chimpanzees and mountain gorillas, we also spent a couple of days in Queen Elizabeth National Park observing other iconic African wildlife. Our first stop was Lake Edward where we boarded a boat for a cruise along the wildlife-rich Kazinga Channel, which connects Lake Edward to Lake George. Of all the animals and birds we saw from the boat my favorites were the crocodiles

and the hippos lurking in the shallows. 

We also saw local fishermen repairing their nets on shore and fishing from small boats on the lake.

From Lake Edward we continued to Ishasha Wildeness Camp, along the Ntungwe River in the southern part of the park. As we neared camp at dusk, we were greeted by a trio of lions in and around an enormous fig tree. This one was draped across two branches, with his apparently full belly hanging in between.

Though we laughed at his comically distended belly, in profile he looked every inch the king.

He really was gorgeous! Getting photos of him was one of the highlights of the whole trip. Lions in this part of QENP are well known for their unusual behavior in climbing and resting in trees. Apparently they do so to avoid insects and heat on the ground and to get a better view of prey. 

We spotted a number of elephants during our visit, but this quartet, a big female with three youngsters obliging lined up in size order, was my favorite group.

The littlest one just had to break away from the rest to show off.

As is typical for game drives, we got an early start. Morning fog and mist lent an air of mystery to the park.

And then suddenly it was a brilliant day with hundreds of animals in sight. Here is a herd of kob, a subspecies of antelope, and several topi.

Here is a close-up of a male kob, displaying his exquisitely curved horns (and a cloud of insects buzzing around him). 

Water buffalo are also quite prolific in the park. They seemed to watch us with great curiosity.

If you're curious to see more Ugandan wildlife, check back soon for my post on the mountain gorillas of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest.