Rushegura Gorilla Family of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest

I got up excited to finally begin my adventure, had some breakfast, and then Martian brought me to the park entrance. There are only six gorilla families in Uganda that people are allowed to visit, with another three families existing in Rwanda. Each day only eight people are allowed to search for a family, and if they are lucky enough to find them, you are only allowed to spend an hour with them. So for those math savvy people, only 72 people get to try and find the gorillas each day. Which means the first thing you have to do in planning your trip is to secure gorilla permits, and you better plan well in advance with an open wallet. And the permit in no way guarantees you will actually see them, it only allows you to search for them.

The way gorilla trekking works is that each day the drivers from the various lodges bring their guests to the park. Then they get together to work with the park rangers to assign each to a group and decide which group would go in search of which gorilla family. This means each group only looks for that gorilla family, if you don’t find them then you are out of luck. If another group finds their family before you it does not mean you get to visit them afterwards, you either find the family you are assigned and spend an hour with them or you return having seeing nothing.

Mahogany Spring is the place to stay for gorilla trekking. Martin, the driver that takes you to the park, not only does his own reconnaissance on where the gorillas are, but he clearly has an “in” with the park rangers to ensure the Mahogany Springs guests get the best experience.

We arrived and were briefed on what to expect. Don’t touch them, we are close relatives, they can catch our germs just as we can catch theirs. No flash photography unless you want to see a really pissed off gorilla. They made it very clear that if we did something wrong and the gorilla attacked they would do nothing to stop them. It was not the gorilla’s fault, so I listened with my full attention.

Martin got me in the group that would go in search of the Rushegura family. At the end of the day this was clearly the best group to be in, not only did we find them hours before others found their family, but we also found them in a fairly open area, allowing us to get decent pictures without having to shoot through trees and branches. Our group was made up of 5 Australians, 2 Americans, and me. We also had one guide, two trail cutters with machetes, two park rangers, and two police escorts.

We were right on the border of the Congo, and were told the two police escorts were in case we encountered rebels. I thought “Wait, rebels? You didn't brief us on them, is it O.K. to use a flash when taking a photo of them?” We also had two park rangers armed with similar firearms as the police, however they were in case we encountered elephants, they would shoot in the air to scare them away, instead of the police who shoot to kill. In dark green the park ranger, in light tan the police.


The Congo just over the ridge


We began hiking, traveling through a village.


Tea leaves.


The locals.


I have hiked greater distances, I have hiked in higher temperatures, I have hiked at greater elevations, but this hike would prove to be one of the more challenging with the simple fact that all my past hikes were on trails. Today we were following a fresh “path” cut by the two guys with machetes in front. They suggested we bring old gardening gloves as we would be crawling across the mountain side, and they were right.

I hired a porter to carry my small back pack. They told us that it not only helps the community but also helps keep the kids from joining the rebels. I originally felt I don’t really need someone to carry my pack containing my cameras, water, and a few other items like sunscreen and bug spray. 15 minutes later I forgot all about that and was glad to have someone hand me water from my pack as I struggled to just get myself up the mountain jungle. I thought to myself, I’m hot, tired, but with all this exercise today I can double up on my Nile Special consumption tonight.

After about two hours in the heat we found our gorilla family. Everyone pulled out their cameras and started taking shot after shot at the first gorilla not realizing there would be many more to come.






Before you know it you are sitting side by side with them. It’s both terrifying and wonderful, it could kill you at any moment, but you are feeling the presence of an ancestor. You are coming back to something you long ago forgot and are only now starting to remember. It’s one of the most powerful experiences I have ever had.






Like father.

Like son.

There was a young child who was very curious and would come up and grab your leg.







I knew not to touch him and looked at one of the rangers for help and advice. The ranger nudged him off my leg with his foot. Of course when baby did the same thing with the Americans, who clearly didn't listen, they reached out with their hand to touch the baby. I thought, oh great that, moron is going to wipe out the family by getting them all sick, and that’s one less family for everyone to visit.






It’s easy to get caught up in trying to capture that perfect shot on camera, but you have to remember where you are and what you are doing. It’s a life changing experience and if you spend all your time looking at them through your viewfinder you are missing the point. It was not until I put down the camera that I finally saw them for the first time.














They are just like us, same mannerisms, same emotions, except they know their place in the world and live with in it. The silverback watching over his family










They eat a lot and they fart a lot, in fact it’s kind of one continuous fart.








I struggle to find the words to define the experience, but here away from everything you know, away from everything you have ever learned, you find peace and harmony.








Our time was quickly ending so I took a few last shots in hopes of preserving the memory.












I was glad that this fella did not see much action.


On our way back we found school was in session and they were having class outside today.


I got back to Mahogany Spring and the staff all inquired about my day, expressing genuine enthusiasm in my response.








I had dinner, put on my headlamp and found my way back to my room to find a hot water bottle under the covers warming up my bed. Glad they put it in the right bed, or left depending on your point of view.

VIDEO: Uganda - Day 2 - Rushegura Gorilla Family