Gorillas in the Forest

First, I (Claire) will give you my account of meeting our long distant relatives, then Mum will tell her part. We were separated into two groups according to how far it was expected to trek to find the gorillas. I went to see the Kwitonda group which had 17 individuals, including a silver back (the boss) and two younger males and many females and little-uns.

We trekked for 1 1/4 hours into the forest, through terrain that was steep and very overgrown. The guide at the front was making a new path through the jungle with his machete.

We arrived at where the gorillas were having their "social time"- eating and playing with each other. We were able to get really close to them, especially when they decided they wanted to walk right past you; there wasn't much you could do but just let them pass. One girl on our trip got stroked by two of them!!

Mothers were carrying the babies in their arms or letting them stand on their heads and climb trees. Our guide told us a fascinating fact... normally Gorillas are complete vegetarians (maybe the odd fly) but if a baby dies at birth or in infancy when it is only a few weeks old, the mother doesnt let it go. She carries the baby for a further few weeks until it starts decomposing and then eats it! The behaviour cannot be explained but maybe shes showing such a strong maternal bond.

We met the Silverback, and were able to again get really close. It sat eating the whole time, whereas the others were more animated and just amazing to watch. The characteristic were so human; the way they inspected their food before they ate it, or had a scratch, or simply looked eye-to-eye with us.

I feel so lucky to have seen these most beautiful animals, and can completely understand why Dian Fossey fell in love with them.