Day 2 - Gorillas (not) in the mist

I have a dream or rather a bucket list full of travel dreams. Isn't it a blessing that I can travel and can dream of travelling so much? Or is perhaps a bucket list rather a curse? What does a bucket list mean to you, anyway? Is it a list of activities that you still want to do while you are still  alive on our blue planet? Or is it a list of things we dream about, things we want to do when…. when the children are out of the house, ... when we have saved enough, ... when we have the time, ... when we can still do it physically. The proverbial fish that we keep in front of us and that makes us dream of spectacular adventures, paradise destinations, almost unrealizable expeditions or fun trips. It is important that we have it, to dream about it in difficult moments, but perhaps finishing the list itself is secondary to the dream. And maybe that's how it should be. Dreaming about things instead of trying frantically to pursue them. Let it be a blessing instead of a curse. Lists are always useful in my eyes, they help to get life and work organized and structured. I have never had a real bucket list, but I already had a travel bucket list, long before a bucket list became trendy. Already in school I dreamed of countries I learned about, read about or heard of from others. When I turned 40, I made a promise to myself to finish the top three before my 50th birthday. I just missed that deadline but today number one is on the program. My absolute dream.

There are currently a little over a thousand of them. And that is quite an achievement. Not long ago, the census was stuck at just 880, and Dian Fossey's life's work was at risk of extinction: the mountain gorillas. There are more gorilla species in Africa (such as the lowland gorilla), but the mountain gorilla lives in only one place in the world: on the flanks of the volcanoes of the Virunga mountains along the border triangle of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda, the so-called Virungas. Half of these gorillas live in the Bwindi Impenetrable Forrest in southwest Uganda. Bwindi is therefore called the capital of the mountain gorillas. It was a close call because I almost had to delete the number one on my bucket list because of its extinction. It is mainly thanks to Dian Fossey that I am here today. In Rwanda she fought against poachers, something she in the end paid for with her own life. But also diseases, habitat loss and the war in the three countries also nearly ended their existence. A  hike to the mountain gorillas requires courage, self-sacrifice and above all an excellent condition. The gorillas live on volcanic flanks at an altitude of about 2,000 m where you have to drag yourself up to through the impenetrable forest. And that is not  for everyone feasable. And just as Edmund Hillary was not alone at the time when climbing Mount Everest, I am also assisted today by my own Tensing Norgay. Caroline is her name, one of the many young students who assist reckless and untrained adventurers in their quest for the gorilla walhalla. But it is not only a personal helper that escorts us today. First, there is the ranger / guide who will lead us through this wasteland, aided by several trackers and a battalion of security personnel carrying an AK47 to protect us from aggressive animals such as the elephant and wild gorillas. No worries, in case of emergency, you will only shoot in the air.

In Bwindi there are six gorilla families that have become accustomed to the presence of tourists over the years. A gorilla is aggressive by nature, but through habituation these animals seem extremely comfortable around humans. It is one of these families that we are looking for today. Since you don't know where they are in advance, a hike can range from one to seven hours. How unfortunate if you belong to this last group. With a lot of courage, a backpack packed with water, food and photo and film material and carried by Caroline, we grind the first meters up into the deep jungle. The height is felt  immediately when  my breath is cut off instantly. Extremely thin air. Altitude is very relative on the equator. We start at 1,700 m but due to the fact that we are in the equatorial area, the air is much tinner than, for example, at 1,700 m in the Alps. At my own pace I proceed steadily. I pay close attention to my breathing and occasionally I take a break. For the time being there is no trace of gorillas yet. But we do get company from uninvited guests. With long sleeves, long pants and with the pants tucked in our socks, we try to repel the attacks of particularly exotic insects. Hundreds of colonies of red ants crawl on the ground, not immediately our best friends because a bite is viciously sharp. Around our heads a concert is given of buzzing insects with high and low tones, with the soloists varying in size from barely visible to flying giants. The deeper we go into the jungle, the denser the vegetation. Stinging nettles are threatening us in our path, and the prickly thorns of some plants are also trying to unbalance us. With every footstep we take, we have to watch out for protruding tree roots and fallen trunks that are not always easy to take for someone-of 1,6 m tall. Our hiking boots get caught in lianas and other vegetation more times than we like. Every now and then you have to climb and I am not talking about an ascending path. Fortunately Caroline is there to lift me up. Because besides carrying my backpack, she is literally my helping hand. Here you lose your balance rather quickly with all the obstacles we have to overcome. Our ranger cuts branches and lianas here and there. After two hours of splattering, our guide decides to take a break. The trackers have been able to locate our group of gorillas, but the latter are still in full swing. And believe me, we can not follow gorillas on the move. At this time of the year, different types of fruits are available for these giants, a welcome change from all those green leaves they normally eat. And so they are looking for their party table for the time being. We use the rest that we are granted to eat some sugars. It is not going to be an easy day, that is already certain. An hour later we hear the trackers' liberating voice over the walkie-talkie. The gorillas have sat down to fill their bellies. As fast as we can and purely on adrenaline we make our way through the wilderness towards the gorillas. When I hear the deafening roar from them after half an hour, I can hardly believe that the big moment has finally arrived. The gorillas are beneath us in a dense valley and to get to them we have to go down a steep slope. Caroline must stay behind because only a limited number of people are allowed to join the gorillas. To really finish our calvary tour, it has started to rain. During the descent I fall on my butt and I decide to slide down the last few meters. In the right corner of my eye I suddenly see a dark shape hidden in the green foliage. I am shocked when I suddenly come face to face with a gorilla at perhaps three meters from me. My god, I'm here, I see them !!! No more gorillas on National Geographic.

They are sitting here in front of me, enjoying their meal quietly. How they look like us. With their human fingers they pull off leaves from branches and chew with pleasure. The little ones are fighting in a tree. Our alpha male, the silverback, also wants to put on a show for us. The tiny tree is no match for him. The trunk bends under its impressive weight. What a giant. About three times the build of an average man. We have the privilege of observing the gorillas for an hour.

And although I am not the first and not the last,  I now join a relatively select club that has had the privilege of being in the vicinity of the gorillas.

The Mishaya family consists of eight members. Mama gorillas Bakunzi and Mwiza each take care of a baby gorilla; papa Mwine, the silverback, leaves the other little ones, Rutaro and Mize, to play.

They clearly enjoy their lunch with delicious fresh greenery and tasty fruits. Every now and then they move around as if they are giving us the best camera shots. It is not easy to take good photos. Keeping the balance on a steep slope is difficult, and with every footstep we take, those irritating plants are in our way. The gorillas are clearly at ease with people… and we too with them. An extraordinary experience by the way. There is no threat, only serenity among the primates and endless admiration among us. The hour flies. And then it is time to say goodbye to them.  To say goodbye to this wonderful family who, after several tense hours, chose to give me my ‘I have a dream’ moment. Number one on my bucket list: check !!!!

We hope for a slightly easier way back, but that is not taken into account the weather conditions of the past weeks. The way down is sometimes more difficult than the way up. Moreover, it runs along small splashing streams and our feet get immediately wet. The abundant rainfall of the past few weeks (even if it is the dry season) have turned the soil into a muddy slide. Soon our walking shoes lose all grip and I, helped by Caroline, skate through the wilderness of Bwindi. Our shoes, and consequently ourselves, get stuck in the mud from which we get out with great difficulty. There is still as much scramble, lost balance and stumble as on the way over. In the distance, a thunder storm rages as if the gods want to say goodbye in a festive way. With the gorillas burned on our retina, we call upon our last strenght. An ultimate effort that will bring us back to the assembly point. In the end, our hike lasts no less than seven hours. Seven hours of hope, despair and physical exertion in which I encounter myself a hundred times mentally and physically, and ultimately of supreme pleasure.

My epic adventure of today will always stay with me. And even though I didn't climb Mount Everest, I feel the way Edmund Hillary must have felt back then. The story about my heroic journey will undoubtedly be exagerated over the years. The  mud flow will easily turn into a murderous, swirling river. Volcanic slopes, so steep that you barely get up without mountaineering equipment, a jungle so densely covered that you barely got through and trees needed to be cut. Poisonous insects that attacked us. A deadly storm that broke loose in a sound and light show to celebrate the success of the day .Oh, I will never forget my epic journey of today. But it is my epic journey with myself in a heroic role. A victory on myself even though I had to go in the red a hundred times. Today I didn't get the number one on my bucket list for free. An unlikely achievement, a great effort, an ‘I don't know what happens’ moment of pure disbelief. And that's why meeting the gorillas is rightfully the number one on my travel bucket list. Check.