Day 14 - Gorilla Trek Day 2
Monday, September 21 - Our last full day in Africa!
6 months old!
5:30 Wake up - 6:00 Breakfast - 6:30 Depart - The same routine as yesterday…going to the meet point to check in and meet our guide and group for the day. Today’s gorilla family is the Umubano Family. There are 6 silverbacks in this family (though only 1 of them is the king).
This morning we drove 45 minutes to meet our porters at the trailhead. Thirty minutes was on the roughest, rockiest road we’ve been on yet. Up and up and up! Again, we were on the trail at 8:30. The weather was sunny, clear, and warm. Like yesterday, we hiked up through locals’ farm land, crops, and by some houses. The views in all directions were beautiful! The hiking was 90% up and 90% in the sun, for an hour and 15 minutes.
Finally we went “over the wall” and into the official park. Very quickly we left our bags and walking sticks
with our porters, put on our gloves and jackets and followed our trackers into the forest. It was thick bush, but not forested; open, and the tracker was whacking away with the machete. Not 2 minutes in we saw the first gorilla just sitting there. The 3 trackers fanned out and waved at us to follow. The gorillas kept moving away from us, but we kept following them. And we had BITING ANTS and STINGING NETTLES to contend with! How they had gotten to my shins and calves so quickly through my gaiters was beyond me. I even pulled an ant off of my back! Yuck! Still we kept climbing higher and higher up the vines and shrubs and downed tree logs covered in roots and vines. (It was a lot!) The trackers kept waving us on.
Eventually we made our way into a protected den-like space in the trees where several gorillas were lounging about and we joined them in there. As we were walking towards it, the tracker pulled on my sleeve and said, “Over here,” so I stepped off the path. I though he was taking me to see something else, but it turns out one of the silverbacks was walking up the path behind me! We then enjoyed the remained of our time in the little tree den. There was a mama and baby (6 months old), the king silverback, another silverback and a few females.
It was much more intimate than the day before which was out in the open. The gorillas would shift position some, but mostly they were simply lounging around after eating.
When our hour was up, we headed back to our porters, where we had a snack before hiking back down to our vehicle. We went down a different route than we went up so it was a little shorter, and so that our drive back was not on the rough road we took coming up. We were back at our lodge by 12:30!
We decided to skip lunch, and after our showers to go back out with Jovia, our guide, to visit some local markets in the village where we are staying.
First stop - Kinigi Women’s Center, where they make handcrafts and sell them as a way to empower young women and give them an income. It is funded in large part by three families (from NYC, the Netherlands, and Australia). We saw beading, wood carving, basket weaving, sewing, and painting. At the basket weaving room, they did a welcome dance and then had us join in. And of course we stopped in the shop to buy a few things.
Next Stop - The Market in Kinigi. Much of it is things being sold second hand, and a lot of food.
There were a lot of stalls with fabric and sewing machines at them. Jovia explained that families could get kids’ school uniforms made on the spot for them. There were also displays of the brightly colored/patterned fabrics that so many of the women’s clothing is made of with sewing machines out front, and so I asked Jovia if they could make me a skirt. She said yes, of course! We started asking at one of the shops/stalls how long it’d take… 1½ hour. So I started looking through the fabrics they had on display as Jovia was translating for me and explaining to them our situation. That’d we’d need it done right away etc…
They brought out a sample skirt to show me what it’d look like, and I said I wanted something a little less “poofy.” So Jovia started looking at designs on her phone. We found something pretty quickly that I liked, that they could easily do. (I made sure to ask for pockets!) Then we stepped inside so they could measure me. After the measuring and figuring of the cost ($45), we were off, followed by a small entourage which had gathered to watch the big doings that were taking place!
Figuring out the skirt!
Next Stop - The Market in Musanze. Musanze is the second largest city in Rwande (pop. 150,000+) and is the gateway to the gorilla tourist industry. They have a large and wonderful market: the first floor is all food (potatoes everywhere!), and the second floor is like a K-Mart of sorts (household items, clothes, miscellaneous things….)
Then it was time to head back to Kinigi to pick up my skirt! When we arrived they were having it ironed. And of course, our presence brought lots of commotion.
The skirt is beautiful! They took me to the back so I could try it on. It fit perfectly! And when I came out, there was cheering and clapping and hugging all around! We started posing for pictures in the cramped dark shop full of I don’t know how many people, before realized we should step outside into the light! Then I changed back into my other clothes and we figured out the cost…$20 for labor, $25 for the fabric (and I got to take the unused fabric with me), and I tipped her $5. We were all quite moved by the whole encounter, and quite a crowd had formed to share the joy with us! There were more hugs and some tears as we said good-bye.
Then back to the lodge for a quick rest before a Cultural Dance Show (on the property) before dinner. We enjoyed a delicious final meal before returning to our hut to pack up before going to bed.
Tomorrow will be driving back to Kigali and flying home, so I won’t be doing a blog post for our travel day home. So I’ll share a few random photos here that haven’t made it into the blog anywhere else. I’ve been quite taken (both in Tanzania and Rwanda) by the ability of the people here to balance/carry things on their heads and on their bikes.
We have thoroughly enjoyed our guide, Jovia!
Final Thoughts
Rwanda is an amazing place, especially when considering their recent history. That they are prioritizing healing and health, reconciliation and hospitality, is remarkable, and an inspiration (and aspiration).
Kilimanjaro was a 38 year old dream, now accomplished. I am grateful for the team of 11 that accomplished it with me, and especially Mike, Kelli and Pete who said “yes” two years ago! We’re changed for the better for sure!