Hello again everybody. We are back from our brief safari to the western part of Uganda. One of Mollie's biggest wishes for the past decade has been to visit Bwindi Impenetrable National Forest to get a glimpse of her favorite animal, the Mountain Gorilla. It may even be the reason we chose Uganda in the first place, but I'm not sure she would admit to that. We can say that it was just a wonderful coincidence. We were thrilled to get out of the city for a little while anyway, fresh air and cool breezes were needed. The bus ride took around 8 hours which is a story in itself. We stayed at a beautiful tent camp high in the Virunga Mountains in a town called Nkuringo and awaited our appointment to meet these mountain gorillas.
Mollie here. So, Bwindi Impenetrable. Jimbo is right, it has been my dream for years to visit Bwindi and see the Mountain Gorillas. One reason why Bwindi is so special is because it is the only National Park that is home to two of the great apes, the chimpanzee and the mountain gorilla, my most favorite animals in the world! These two great apes live side by side in this park along with over 150 different mammal species. Also, there are only about 700 wild mountain gorillas left in the world and it is a passion of mine to help their survival! And a mission with its rewards. These are some of the most incredible animals I have ever seen.
We traveled for 8 hours by bus to Kabale town and spent the night in a hostel. The following day we traveled 3 hours by taxi up and down very bumpy, curvy, scary mountain roads to our camp in Nkuringo. We stayed in a traditional banda with a panoramic view of the volcanoes, the jungles of Bwindi, the Congo, and the Albertine Rift Valley. Spectacular!
We trekked through the jungle to view the gorillas and had one hour with them. It was the shortest hour of my life, but also the most exciting! I love mountain gorillas! We also had the privilege of spotting the very illusive Forest Elephant, which I think means that we are the luckiest people in the world. AND we even heard our chimpanzee friends calling and shouting in the jungle. All in all it was the most amazing experience of my life, and I'm pretty sure that Jimbo is now an advocate for my best friends, the Mountain Gorillas. Save the Jungles!
More details to come.
3 comments:
That is a far cry from "Willy B" at the Atlanta zoo when you were a baby......you were terrified of him but I bought you a placemat with him on it........I think you fell in love him on that placemat...do you remember how he screamed and beat on the bars.....very bad habitat for him!!! This is a much more serene environment for them to live.
Look at that big gorilla! That is so awesome!:)
Dang. I'm jealous. I bet Karen Anne would be too . . .
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