My encounter with the Habinyanja family.

by Irit Raz McBride (United States of America)

A leap into the unknown Uganda

It is pitch black on our porch overlooking the impenetrable rainforest in Bwindi National Park, when we get up to go for our gorilla trekking. A local women's band performs songs and dances for us as we walk in through the gate for our orientation. I am jet lagged, irritable and anxious about the anticipated strenuous hike ahead of me. On top of that, I have a severe reaction to the malaria pills I just started taking. They put me in a weird headspace and I feel nauseous. We are divided into groups of eight, with a guide and two armed guards to protect us in case a herd of elephants start roaming the forest towards us. This part of the Rift Valley in the southwestern part of Uganda, is the habitat for more than half the world’s population of Mountain Gorillas. We are assigned to the Habinyanja group, a family of sixteen led by Makara the silverback. Knowing that It is slippery, steep, muddy terrain, I am unsure of how rough the roughing is going to be and how fit I really am. I hire a porter. A girl porter. A very young, shy girl name Treasure. She carries my backpack with water, rain gear and a lunch box. She holds one of my hands while I am leaning on a walking stick with the other. This morning the gorillas were spotted by the trackers 25 minutes away from our starting point. I sigh a sigh of relief, but my relief is premature. As we reach the 25 minute mark, the gorillas have had a change of mind and they've decided to move down through the rainforest. Down and down we go, descending deep into the forest, searching for the elusive gorillas. The forest is dense with foliage and storms of red ants are seeking an opening between my socks and my shoes to get onto my bare skin. In my head, I calculate "What goes down, must come up..." My legs are a bit shaky, I break out in a sweat and I hold Treasure's hand so tight I am afraid It will leave a permanent mark. About ninety minutes into our downhill march, our guide signals us to stop, drop all our belongings and be completely silent. We have finally found the gorillas. Gone is my headache, my nausea, my anxiety. I am alert. I am so ready. At first, we spot one juvenile gorilla coming down a tree chewing on leaves. I am mesmerized, my first encounter with a gorilla in the wild. Then the alpha silverback emerges from the bushes and monitors us; the big ape. I am so close that I can hear him as he expels air from his nostrils, making a small waaaaaah sound. Taking his time, he observes us to see if we are cool enough for him to accept. Once he approves of us, the others come along, interact with each other and mind their own business. Surprisingly, they are not at all shy around us. A female gorilla carrying a two year old baby, perplexed with our presence, passes by us while the alpha male keeps a watchful eye. After a while they all got tired of us and sat down less than two meters away from us. We could take selfies with them in the background: quite a miracle! It was great to see them In the wild, in their own habitat, on their terms. I felt completely at ease among them and not at all threatened. Did you know gorillas are vegetarians? At exactly one hour, we are told by our guide that our time is over and we say our good byes and start our ascent uphill to have our much deserved lunch. Lunch felt especially good as a reward for my efforts. And I was thinking what was it like for Treasure. Did it feel good working for the first time in her life? Was it weird holding my hand? I left her a generous tip, probably a month worth of an average salary. I saw her waving good buy to us as our car went off on it's way, waving and waving.