A Trip of a Lifetime

The legendary Dian Fossey once said, “When you realize the value of all life, you dwell less on what is past and concentrate on the preservation of the future”. Every time I read or hear these words, I feel a sense of inspiration and duty. Ever since I was a child, I have always been fascinated by animals and wildlife. Before I was born, my parents lived in Africa for several years. They would tell me stories about herds of elephants just walking past the local villages, Giraffes nibbling on snacks from trees and snakes devouring very large prey, all of which were out in the open and very close to where they were staying. As a young impressionable child, I would imagine myself in their shoes witnessing a frame out of David Attenborough’s ‘Life on Earth’.

I recently had the privilege of visiting the great continent of Africa. This was my fourth visit. I had previously visited South Africa and Egypt. While I enjoyed those trips for their own merits, this trip touched my heart very deeply. A couple of years ago, my best friend’s uncle, whom we fondly refer to as “Jenny Mama”, told me about his trip to Rwanda and how he spent time with a Gorilla family. The very mention of this took me back to a memory of watching the movie ‘Gorillas in the Mist’ with my parents. I recalled the special bond formed between Dian Fossey and her best friend ‘Digit’ – a large Silverback Gorilla. I teared up thinking about how Digit died fighting poachers protecting his family. I immediately started planning this trip with my best friend who is also named Arjun. He is currently based in Kenya and I took the opportunity to visit him in Nairobi with the plan of spending some time there and then visiting Rwanda together.

We were in Rwanda for four days. Four…very busy days! The first day we visited the Genocide Memorial Museum. It is unimaginable that only 30 years ago, the nation of Rwanda, experienced what no nation should ever endure i.e. its own people turning against one another. Refer to the following source for some history. On the way to the museum, we stopped by the famous (or infamous) Hotel Rwanda, now called Hotel des Mille Collines. I recall watching the movie several years ago where Don Cheadle played the role of Paul Rusesabagina, a hero who saved several people during these trying times. Not the story you hear when you speak with the locals!! According to them, Paul being a hero was Hollywood’s version of the story. According to the locals, Paul selfishly used the opportunity to provide a safe- haven for the rich people while several of his fellow-citizens were beaten, raped, tortured and slaughtered. It was hard to walk through this memorial. You can almost hear the cries of children as they were made to kill their own family members and witness their own mothers and sisters being raped and killed in front of their very eyes. Imagine the damage this does to someone at a very tender age, let alone losing loved ones via unpardonable acts. The kids that did survive, live with awful memories everyday of their lives.

The second day, Arjun and I set out to The Volcanoes National Park, the home of the cute Golden Monkeys and the fascinating Silverback Gorillas! We made a stop and a short-trek up one of the mountains to visit the Golden Monkeys. They are located only in 3 countries worldwide i.e. Rwanda, Uganda and the Congo. There are only a few thousand of them left. So worth paying them a visit if you are ever in the region. Shortly after this trek we visited the Dian Fossey Museum and experienced her life’s work and some fun activities such as practicing Gorilla Sounds etc.

The third day was the moment that we had been waiting for. We set out early in the morning to meet our guide, Rukondoe. We then took a drive for about one and a half hours towards the mountain to begin our trek. We met up with a group of 6 other enthusiasts (like us), all eager to visit the great apes in their natural habitat. Rukondoe spent some time briefing us about the do’s and don’ts, what’s smart and what’s not, Arjun 1 (me) or Arjun 2 (my friend) – just kidding – that was all me! We commenced our trek up the mountain at a fast pace. The elevation was already over 2000m. which made the trek a lot more strenuous. I had done several challenging treks before e.g. The Beehive trail at Banff National Park, The Walk of the Gods in the Amalfi Coast, but this one felt different! I found my wheeze kicking in very quickly (thanks to my Asthma) from the pace of our hike, the constant maneuvering and bending to navigate the thick and dense maze I had found myself in. High-altitude training is a real thing indeed! “Well…too late now! Gotta keep pushing forward”, I told myself. I checked the analytics on my watch to see what progress had been made. The heart-rate was up, the steps were up, the elevation was around 2600m. but the time spent trekking thus far had been only 30 minutes – good lord! How long is this trek? Felt like it had been hours! After a lot of complaining and motivating myself to move forward, I found myself within a few yards of where the trackers said that they had found the family for us to spend some time with. We were 1.5 hours into our trek by this point. We started gearing up with only the bear essentials i.e. mask (to protect the apes from diseases) and our trusty cameras. The moment we had been waiting for after 2 years of planning was just a few yards away! We slowly made our way further up the thick forest, almost like a scene out of Jurassic Park. Chopping branches, getting stung by nettles and tripping and slipping over hidden roots and slushy soil respectively – but we made it! The ISIMBI family appeared in front of our eyes!

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a very tiny organism in a very large salad bowl? Well, neither have I! However, this is exactly what I felt the moment we entered the Isimbi family’s natural habitat! It was green all over. All kinds of plants, fruits, roots, twigs, thorns, bushes, you name it – it was there! One gigantic salad bowl with a family of great apes! They were about eight of them with three children and the youngest of which was only three months old. However, the one that caught our attention was Muturengere, the largest Silveback in the area! Weighing approximately 440lbs, Muturengere was a sight to behold. Our guide and trackers were constantly making a specific sound like “uhhh-guummmbbhhhh” almost like how it sounds coupled with a deep throaty sound coming right from your core. We heard this constantly and what was more interesting, is that Muturengere responded with the same sound. This was a way for the trackers and guide to let the lord of the manor (Muturengere) know that we mean no harm and that all is well. Muturengere responded in kind with the same that, all was well. Arjun and I thought about this for a moment and joked about the situation. How accommodating are these Gorillas? Would we be ok if a bunch of apes showed up in our houses with funny gadgets that went “click click click” and kept turning their backs on us for selfies? I firmly believe that these amazing creatures are far more accommodating than we humans can ever be. We watched a little gorilla playing around while one of the mother’s nurtured the three-month-old. The large Silverback would just laze around the entire time. One specific ape caught my attention. I tried taking pictures of her and she would keep covering her face the instant I focused on her. The minute I withdrew my camera, she would reveal her face! This went on for a few minutes. She was playing with me! I felt goosebumps! What an amazing experience with these extremely intelligent, playful and beautiful primates. What added to the fun was the little gorilla who was playing around earlier, climbed up very high on one of the bamboo trees and due to its weight, cracked the tree in half sending him crashing down to only plop on top of Muturengere’s large belly! The look on his face was priceless! However, being that it was his child, “daddy”, seemed to be ok with it!

What came next was utterly frightening! One of the trackers was chopping the thick branches and bamboo trees nearby and was getting close to one of the juvenile apes. In a fraction of a second, the 440lbs Muturengere was on his feet, pounding his chest, growling and charging towards the tracker! The tracker moved backwards carefully and made the same sound that I mentioned earlier. Credit to him for his quick thinking and remaining calm. I imagine he has possibly experienced this and done this before – however, maintaining that composure with an incredibly strong ape charging at you is something to be admired! As soon as the Sliverback realized that the tracker posed no threat, he sat down in his spot and started munching on bamboo like nothing had happened! Arjun and I were shocked, somewhat scared and laughed! This was like a scene out of a comedy skit!

After about an hour with these lovely creatures, we bid the family farewell. If I could thank them for their hospitality, I would have. It is amazing how these creatures are so welcoming of us humans into their natural habitat. Honestly, we have no business there, but I am so glad that they were ok with it. I made a promise to myself that I would one day come back. This time with my daughter, Aria. She is only 3 years old, and the park requires children to be at least 15 or older to visit. So, Aria will need to wait another 12 years. I will be back with her but this time with high-altitude training!

Going back to Dian Fossey’s quote and what I meant by a “sense of duty”. If you are reading this article and you have made it this far, I truly appreciate you. My goal is to be an ambassador for these extraordinary beings, and I hope this article has inspired you to take notice of them as well as motivate you to visit them someday. If you are an adventurer like me, do take the time to make it happen. It is worth every penny and moment. What’s more is that you get to see life for what it is. Humans are selfish beings. We are, there are no two ways about this. We have harmed animals and ourselves (just look at what happened in Rwanda). However, some of us can help make the change for the better and help preserve life. Just know that when you plan a trip to Rwanda, a large portion of that money goes to the conservation of this species. Thanks to the hard work started by Dian Fossey and many others who have been inspired by her. She lies buried in Rwanda next to her best friend Digit. May they both rest in peace.