Gorilla Tracking in Rwanda and Uganda

Tracking gorillas through misty, seemingly impenetrable forests can be an exhausting process as the paths are often slippery, entangled and wet. However, this effort is quickly forgotten the minute you encounter these beautiful creatures. They instantly capture your full attention with their acrobatic antics and cacophony of grunts, screeches and chest beating.

Mountain gorillas do not survive in captivity, which is why they are not seen in zoos. Tracking the mountain gorilla through the misty forests requires patience and stamina, often walking for hours in the mud and the wet. Finally meeting them in the undergrowth is an inspiring moment. Quietly chewing away at their vegetarian delicacies, they seem like a marooned human family. The tender grooming and firm disciplining of their offspring seems all too familiar. The gorilla family cast a wary glance at the sudden human intrusion into their private world, but is comforted by the clucking made by the trackers. When provoked, the noisy but harmless silverback grunts, screeches, bares his fangs and beats his chest, before slithering off with attendant females, offspring and other mature males.