Surviving the DRC meant a return to some more basic objectives of our trip: maintaining dating bliss between Ross and April. I’m not aware of all the nuances of their relationship but the phone was on speaker when I heard April say “Ross, if you don’t go see the gorillas I’m breaking up with you!” Before our successful volcano summit we had attempted to see mountain gorillas in the Parc Nationals des Volcans in Rwanda but the tours were very crowded which left little room to negotiate down the $750 list price. And so as we crossed the border into Uganda it became imperative that we make a plan.
After getting our camping organized at Lake Bunyoni Overland Resort, a beautiful and lusciously green campground with great facilities, we started networking with the locals to organize a gorilla tour. A sneaky tour was organized with payment contingent upon seeing actual mountain gorillas. The next day we met our driver and two other tourists, a gentleman named Eve from Switzerland and his friend Aaliyah from Kampala. The nature of their friendship/relationship was unclear. We set off for the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park about 25km down the road. It was unclear why we left at 9:30 AM because most other drivers we had seen thus far in our journey followed the “hurry up and wait” method of pedal to the metal acceleration followed by screeching brakes. It was an unusual surprise to have a driver so committed to leaving early in the morning but extending the driving time by maintaining steady pace of 5kph on the road. It turns out, our time slot for the gorillas wasn’t until the afternoon and the driver had nowhere to take us so was determined to just kill time by driving slowly. We put a stop to this by demanding to be driven to a bar. As there were no bars alongside the road, we found a shop selling beer, organized some tables and chairs and started our own bar.
After 3 or 4 beers, we got the call that our gorilla tour was ready to start so we drove the 30 minutes into the park and met our ranger guide. It was a quick 15 minute bushwhack through dense jungle and when I narrowly missed stepping into some steaming feces, I knew we were getting close. We entered a gap in the dense jungle and could suddenly see the gorillas. Coming within 10 meters of the creatures was amazing, until the flatulence started. I suppose if you ate leaves all day everyday, you would also have pretty bad gas. We watched for an hour or so as they climbed the trees around us eating leaves and bugs. It was a once in a lifetime viewing experience and I was relieved that Ross and April would be able to maintain their relationship going forward.
Unlike the drive to the park, the drive home was done as fast as possible. Unfortunately, the third tier tour company we choose was determined our tour should include the entire park and so instead of the 30-45 minute return journey after seeing the gorillas, we spent the next 3.5 hours winding through the hills around the Bwindi Impenetrable forest on our way home. When we finally exited the vehicle 10 hours after entering, we reflected on time spent in the car versus cost saved through alternative tour methods. Happy to have saved Ross and April, we are further committed to official tours and efficient uses of time going forward.
Joburg to Scotland 