Air, Landier, and Sea

Today was an absolute showstopper of a day. We got to visit the endangered Silverback gorillas.

Dian Fossey worked in the jungle of Rwanda for 18 years, and was incredibly successful in helping this population not only maintain but grow!

When Fossey began her work, there were about 160 gorillas. Today, there are over 1,000.

Also, poaching (which was a huge problem during Fossey’s time) is now non-existent. In fact, some former poachers/poacher families are now guides.

Tourism is what keeps this conservation movement going. Tourists visiting the gorillas are what fund conservation efforts as well as the villages near the volcano where the gorillas live.

About 10% of revenue from tourism is given to each village , which amounts to somewhere around $650,000 per year for each village.

This money helps the village with whatever it needs- from building schools, to getting milking cows, to building markets. So if you’re looking to do something philanthropic, we highly recommend booking your trip to Rwanda!

Bryce and I were very lucky to get placed in group 3. Group 1 left at 4:45AM, group 2 left at 6AM, and we left at 8AM. We were very grateful.

We loaded up the helicopters in Kigali and headed towards the volcano!

I must admit I was pretty nervous to ride in a helicopter, as I had never done it before, but it went great! And it was a really cool way to see the countryside.

When we landed, we met our guide, Patience. Needless to say, he was incredibly sweet and patient with all of our questions. He has been doing tours with the gorillas for years and says he’s seen them 7,000 times!

He not only is familiar with them but knows all the families and can identify each gorilla by the markings on their nose.

We visited the Kwassima family, which consists of 19 gorillas.

In a typical gorilla family, there’s one alpha silverback male. He’s the only one who is allowed to mate with the females. All the other males must either fight to become the alpha, or convince a female or two to leave with him and start a new family somewhere else.

In this family, two brother gorillas broke off from their previous family to start their own. The oldest brother is now the alpha, but according to Patience, the younger one still mates “behind the bush” where big brother can’t see.

Our trek began with a car ride from the helicopter pad to the bottom of the volcano. On the way, Patience briefed us on some things we may encounter as there are other animals in the jungle as well. Buffalo, jungle elephants, monkeys, and antelope all live in the jungle.

Additionally, on our drive and walk up, we saw sheep (emphasis on sheep, not goats) and many farms. Years ago, a huge chunk of the jungle was cut down and farmland replaced it. Now many of the conservation efforts are focused on “expanding” the jungle, which Patience explained to us really means restoring the jungle as it once was.

The first leg of our journey was a jeep ride, similar to that of our boat ride in Sicily. It started out really smooth and peaceful.

And then it got super bumpy.

During, Patience also taught us some gorilla language. All of the guides, trackers, and porters can speak fluent gorilla and know what the gorillas are indicating, not only based on the sounds, but based on their behaviors in conjunction with the sounds.

For example, a silverback may beat his chest for three reasons:

1. He wants to intimidate us. In this instance, we must bow down to him.

2. He hears another gorilla family and is mad at them. In this instance, that’s “monkey business” (as Patience put it) and we let them deal with it.

3. He wants us to leave. In this instance, we hide behind the guide until he calms the silverback down and then we leave.

Patience says he can clearly tell every situation based on the context clues and sounds.

After our bumpy car ride to the bottom of the volcano, we embarked on our hike. Couple things about the hike. First, we had no idea we were going on a strenuous hike up to 7,000 feet until the night before our trek, and we only knew that because we watched a 60 Minutes segment on the gorilla experience.

Although it’s technically the dry season in Rwanda, it was raining and the trail was mostly a mudslide.

The second interesting thing about the hike is it varies from group to group. The trackers go ahead of the guide an find the gorillas, so if the trackers are having a hard time finding them then the hike will take much longer. The early morning group had to wait for 90 minutes before their trackers found them.

Our group, on the other hand, had a 40 minute hike from the bottom of the volcano to where the gorillas were hanging out, so once again, we lucked out.

While the hike was a lot of work, it was actually a ton of fun! We were deep in the jungle in Rwanda. We hiked through bamboo forests and muddy jungle floors, avoided touching certain plants that burn like a bee sting (Patience said sometimes he enjoys the contrast of immense joy with the gorillas and pain from the plants. I opted for a joy- only trip ), and were assisted by our porters over a rickety bridge. We definitely put some work in to see the gorillas, but it added to the experience.

I (naively) imagined that we would simply helicopter in and boom, gorillas would be magically hanging out just yards away. That, of course, doesn’t make any sense because we are truly entering their environment.

Throughout the hike, Patience taught us more about the gorillas, including interesting facts like they don’t drink water. They get all of their water from the food they eat (Eucalyptus, bamboo, ferns, etc.), and they eat 15% of their body weight every day. We also were told once we enter the main jungle we weren’t allowed to point, because gorillas take that as a threat, we had to keep masks on to protect the gorillas from human disease, and we must speak quietly.

There are so many incredible aspects of this experience, but one in particular is that it’s all so peaceful. There are no weapons brought with us to see the gorillas. These animals are so incredibly welcoming and our presence is not a bother to them. Patience taught us the greeting grunt, which Patience says translates to “Hakuna Mattata”. He says the gorillas welcome us to their home and want us to have no worries.

And boy were we amazed by how welcoming they were and how comfortable they were with us there.

When we first came, it was siesta time (as Patience called it). The alpha silverback was getting groomed by two of his females and softly sleeping.

It was absolutely breathtaking. Being so close to these animals was an experience that I struggle to even put into words. I felt so incredibly fortunate to be standing in the jungle, watching these animals sleep peacefully.

Then they heard a noise from an outside gorilla and the alpha woke. Just the act of his eyes startling open took my breath away. He had such a presence about him.

From there, while the alpha eventually rolled back over to finish his nap, the rest of the gorillas became super active.

One of the females grooming the alpha stood up, and popped her 10-month old baby on her back and headed out for a snack.

Not long after a gorilla brushed right past our legs. Our natural reaction was to back away, but Patience encouraged us, “Stay right where you are- he’s in a good mood.” (Thank God!)

We then followed the more active gorillas as they ate and even played a little. We also got to meet the brother of the group, who was also taking a siesta. Then we heard a baby making the “crying” call to its mother and watched as the mother wrapped the baby in her arms.

The whole experience was extraordinary, breathtaking, and moving. An experience we will never forget and are honored to get to be part of. We were astonished by how close we were able to get to the gorillas and how comfortable they were having us there.

After our trek, we went to the Dian Fossey Center that was funded by Ellen Degeneres. Patience told us that the center has been of great benefit to the continued conservation in the area.

We enjoyed a great lunch there and then got to learn even more about gorillas, including playing an interactive game of gorilla language. Bryce discovered his new talent of speaking gorilla.

After a helicopter ride back, we made it back to the hotel and had time for the quickest shower before heading out to dinner.

Like all of the other dinners, this one was spectacular!

We headed into dinner, led by the most beautiful dance group, who performed multiple dances for us, and even included us in some! We had a blast!

Our guest speaker for the evening was Serge, who was a survivor of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. He not only spoke of the horrific events of this time, but of what he’s done since to help Rwanda grow out of that terrible past. He founded an organization which helps children- all children (both children of victims and children of perpetrators) go to school. His story and work are incredibly moving and impactful.

Our last impactful and moving experience in Rwanda (because we truly had so many) was meeting President Kagame. President Kagame has served as Rwanda’s president for the last 20 years. He’s been instrumental in rebuilding Rwanda, and creating peace and prosperity within the country. It was an honor to get to speak with him and hear what he’s been able to accomplish.

For Bryce and I it was incredibly powerful that this man was able to take a nation from genocide to peace in a relatively short amount of time. It was a moment of great reflection for us for how torn apart our country seems at times and how can we aim to be a nation of more peace and forgiveness, rather than strife.

President Kagame’s main message was if we want to help Rwanda, then help by giving to areas that the country is focusing on. They don’t need to be told what to do, or how to do it, but need to be given the opportunity to do what they know is best for Rwanda.

Our time in Rwanda was absolutely tremendous! Due to its history, it’s a country that has a bit of a negative reputation, but it is a gorgeous country full of the most incredibly welcoming, kind, and peaceful people.