We were up for breakfast at 7:00 and on the way to the park entrance by 7:30. The lodge manager walked with us to the gate and helped us register with our permits. You need your passport to sign in (the limited permits are sold in advance), and the manager took them back to the lodge so we didn't have to lug them around on the trek.
We each hired a porter to carry our daypacks. It helps contribute to the local economy and at $15 USD a pretty good deal, what with 2L of water in addition to other gear in our packs.
Our guide gave us an intro briefing, and then we were off. It was pretty warm even at 8am -- about 18C. We wore our base layers and rain jackets - we had to prepare for both a downpour in the undergrowth, and the hot sun in open areas. There was a ranger at the front and back with AK47s (to protect us from unhabituated gorillas and other game), the guide, our porters and us. There were trackers out in the field to search for the gorilla family that our guide was in contact with so we knew where to head.
The trek started off easy enough, along a path used by villagers. Then it became more difficult, single file with the forest growth twice our height in both sides. Then we started going up and down inclines, sometimes with the guide hacking the path with his machete.
About an hour in, our guide got word from the trackers on the gorillas' location. It was about 90 minutes from us. The path became even more challenging. It was an uphill climb for 45 minutes and then along a ledge, with the path cut into a 60* slope. The path encouraged you to slip or step in the wrong place and send you falling down through the undergrowth.
We reached the trackers and then our guide gave us another briefing on how to behave around the gorillas. There's no food or drink allowed and so we had some water and then left our porters and carried on with guide and trackers.
We then pretty much crawled over top of the undergrowth for five minutes to reach an area to view the gorillas. It was the most challenging portion I've ever done.
Finally we could see the gorillas! Although, we were on a steep slope with lots of undergrowth between us and the gorillas. It was a family of ten, and we think we saw about six or seven of them. At first they were moving about in the low light, which didn't make for good pictures. The silverback had climbed up a tree with the bright sky in the background which made even worse pictures.
The gorilla visits are limited to one hour and our guide gave us updates as the visit proceeded. After 30 minutes the gorillas became accustomed to us and came down from the trees which made for better pictures. Then a year-old gorilla scampered over to Heather, touched her knees and then held her hand! It looked like the gorilla might hug her too, but then it went over to Marissa, touched her knees, and then did the same with me. It was almost like the baby gorilla was greeting the newcomers, because it only touched us and not the guide and trackers that it would see frequently. It was really cool.
We sat precariously perched on the slope for the remainder of the hour taking pictures and watching the gorillas. Finally the hour was up and we made our way back to the porters, had our packed lunches, and then started the trek back out.
We walked a different route on the way out. At points there wasn't even a path - we were walking through undergrowth twice our height and so thick I could barely see the person in front of me.
It took us over two hours to walk out. In all, we were trekking for 4 1/2 hours plus the hour with the gorillas. On a scale, I'd rate the trek as difficult, but it just depends on where the gorillas are that day. When Marissa and I saw the gorillas in Rwanda in 2005, it was a trek through a bamboo forest which I'd rate as easy to medium. I'm glad I had my new camera with manual focus, because the auto-focus picked up branches and leaves instead of the gorillas. The low light also needed a longer exposure and for the gorillas to stay motionless.
It was nice that our lodge was just a ten minute walk - we were tired and dirty and in need of a shower and food.
We had an early start the next day for our drive to Queen Elizabeth NP so we were in bed pretty early at 9pm.
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