NandaContributed by We Love It Wild
From October 9th to 12th, 2015 (3 days trip)
Rwanda is where my real “Africa adventure” starts. I trek with Mountain Gorillas in the wild and get inspired by habitats that changed the way I look at the world.
We arrive in Kigali and go to the Serena hotel. Although not very charming, it has a lot of character. It’s exactly the type of hotel where I imagine UN employees and diplomats stay in cities like Kigali.
Our first adventure starts the next early morning, at 4:30am, when our guide Eric picks us up and drive us towards the Parc National des Volcans. The journey takes 3 hours until we arrive at Africa’s oldest national park, established in 1925 with the purpose of protecting its population of Mountain Gorillas. Nowadays, this park is an important party on a cross-border conservation policy that includes Uganda’s Virunga National Park and Congo’s Mgahinga National Park. The Gorillas are critically endangered, and their precise habitat requirements means this is the only place in the world where we can still find them. There are only about 800 left.
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Situated in the North-Western borderlands, and dominated by 6 extinct volcanos, Le Parc National is home to a variety of flora, constituting an ecosystem capable of supporting the Mountain Gorilla – as well as 200 species of bird, herds of mountain elephant, forest hog, buffalo, spotted hyena and golden monkey.
Before going wild in the forest we have a briefing session with our ranger. We are accompanied by armed guards and Trackers who guarantee our safety. The trekking takes place at an altitude of 3000 meters. As we walk towards the forest, we look upon what is surely one of the Earth’s most gorgeous landscapes – The Virunga volcanoes. We expect to see the big animals at any minute. After 3 or 4 hours tracking we spot the first Gorilla family – Isabukuru. They are around 18, among females, babies and Silver Blacks (male).
Following the ranger’s safety instructions, whenever the Gorillas get closer to us we have to show them submission by sitting and looking down and behave like them by making some weird noise. I could have spent the entire day there just observing them. Love being in the company of wildlife that have this level of confidence where they know I am not a threat. We portray these charismatic and intelligent species in their true light.
After one hour with the Gorillas (time is restricted) we walk back to the starting point, where we meet our driver. We stay at the Virunga Lodge. The location, on a peak between Lake Burera and Lake Ruhondo, magnificent inland seas untouched tourism, is just splendid. The main lodge, with the common area, is built of stone like some fortified castle, from it there are stunning views of five of the national park’s volcanoes, impertinent -looking peaks lined up in a grand procession. Also, everyone staying at the lodge is there to see the Gorillas, which adds a sense of shared purpose to dinner at the candle-lit, communal table. I love it.
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We do a second Gorilla trek in the next day. For my surprise, it is even more spectacular. Max and I are completely alone with the rangers (usually you’re in a group of up to eight people) as we trek on a different part of the forest. The vegetation and landscape are very different from what we saw the day before. The whole experience is completely new. We encounter the Gorilla Umubano family just after 1 hour trekking and follow them around the forest. Staring at these amazing creatures gave me a glimpse into our very nature.
We head back to Kigali and visit the Genocide museum in order to learn about the war that took place in Rwanda in 1994. In just 100 days, some 800,000 people were slaughtered in Rwanda by ethnic Hutu extremists. They targeted members of the minority Tutsi community, as well their political opponents. Those events were too unthinkable. As I am aware of the context of the genocide I am able to understand Rwanda today.
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I hope to encourage more people to visit this breathtaking country while understanding the challenging context out of which renewal was born. It reminded me what really matters in the Africa conservation crisis: the people, not only the animals.
We travelled for three days in Rwanda with Journeys by Design, luxury travel agency specialised in trips to Africa. The highlight of our trip was the trekking with Gorillas with Primate Safaris. Stayed at Serena hotel and Virunga lodge. In Kigali, had dinner at Heaven restaurant. We flew from Seyshelles to Kigali via Nairobi with Air Kenya and Rwanda Air.
In the bag: Mosquito repellent; Sunscreen; Trekking shoes (I wore the Timberlands); Gloves; Raining jacket; Long sleeves and comfortable pants. Avoid black clothes because they attract mosquitos.
