Me and my favorite student- Zuzu - an Orphan at the Orphan & Deaf School

Gorilla Pic

Gorilla Picture- Mom and Baby

Mountain Gorilla Adventure!

Yesterday was an absolutely spectacular day, and quite possibly the best day of my African journey. I woke up at 5 am, had some breakfast, and then headed to the Gorilla Hotel, which is right down the street from where Elie lives. A driver met me there, and drove me to the Kinigi Headquarters, where all the Virunga National Park tours leave from. Once we got there, I told him that I would like to go on the longest walk possible, so that I get my “bang for the buck”, if you catch my drift. The drivers of all the people seeing the gorillas that day meet with the guides, and assign groups of 8 people per group, and which of the six volcanoes they will be going to. I was assigned to a group that was going to Visoke Mountain, and seeing the Amahoro group of gorillas, which consisted of 15 gorillas. Our guide, named Poppie, which I eventually referred to as Big Poppie, gave us some guidelines on our hike, and also told us about the members of the Amahoro group. In the group, there is a 3 month old baby, that Poppie said we most likely won’t see, since the mother is very protective of her newborn, but also three more babies that are in the 1 to 3 year-old range. Also in the group is the biggest Silverback gorilla in the entire National Park, weighing almost 600 pounds! I assumed I wasn’t going to see the tiny baby, but really wanted to see the big Silverback. My driver then drove me 45 minutes to the base of the volcano, through some brutally bumpy roads, and called it an “African massage.” We were the only hiking through this area, which was nice, and we started our hike through a local village and their crop fields. After about 45 minutes of hiking, we entered Virunga National Park. There was so much vegetation, that in many places, it was very difficult to maneuver from point A to B. Our guide, named Poppie, which I eventually referred to as Big Poppie, had a machete to clear the path in several instances. There was also a tracker, who ultimately led us to the gorillas, and porters that carried a couple of the women’s backpacks. The tracker carried an AK-47, in case of an animal or potential guerrilla attack… I just didn’t ask questions about the gun, and just presumed it was for our safety. Anyways, in our three track to the area where the Amahoro group of gorillas were spotted, we saw a group of male Golden Monkeys, and the porters and I saw a buffalo. The rest of the group didn’t see the buffalo, because I was in the back of the line taking pictures, and soaking up the incredible views. Once we got 100 meters from the gorillas, Poppie told us all to take all the gear we needed to view the gorillas (camera, batteries, video camera) and take our backpacks off. We were told to do this, because the gorillas could become interested in what is inside the backpack if it is on our backs. So, we took our backpacks off, and bushwhacked about 40 meters through some thick bamboo, and literally the first thing we saw was the 3 month old baby gorilla suckling on her mother. The mom took off about a minute after we arrived, but that minute was ridiculously incredible. We then kept up with the Amahoro group, which was in the process of eating, and stayed with them for an hour, which is all that is allowed by the park authorities. We hadn’t seen the big Silverback for the entire hour, until as we were leaving, Poppie spotted him out, and he took us around an area of thick bamboo to try and get a view of him. He struggled to find out exactly where this huge male was heading, until all of the sudden, with zero warning, the massive Silverback came bursting through the vegetation straight at Poppie with a shrieking noise I will never forget. It scared the absolute Buh-Jesus out of the entire group, and had to of given Poppie a freight, as the gorilla came only a few feet from him. I asked him afterwards what happened, and he told me that he startled the male, and since he is literally the king of the jungle, he came up to him in a hurry to see who was intruding his space. Once the Silverback saw Poppie, he still seemed upset, but once Poppie knelt down, it showed the Silverback that he was in control, and everything was okay. Before we saw the gorillas, Poppie gave us a few guidelines on how we should behave, and what we should and shouldn’t do. He told us that the closest we can get in 7 meters from the gorillas, and also that if one of the gorillas should by chance charge someone in the group, DO NOT RUN. For that hour that we observed the gorillas, we were in very thick brush, and most if not all times we were viewing the gorillas we were only 3 meters from them—Rule #1 broken—Also, when Big Poppie was charged by the 600 pound Silverback, one of the group members took off running for her life—Rule # 2 broken. All 8 of us arrived back at the starting point three hours later… A day I’ll never forget!

I will put pictures up tomorrow... Internet is deathly slow right now

Pictures

Trip to Gisenyi- Gorillas next week!

This week has gone pretty slowly. Monday was a holiday because Rwanda was swearing in their president. Tuesday and Wednesday I was typing out midterm exams for the primary school, and Thursday the kids took exams all day. Thursday afternoon, I went to a local gorilla veterinary school, and talked to the lady who started the center. She’s an So far this week, I’ve been at the primary school teaching English, and helping teacher Peter with his Science lessons. Thursday was a very long, but action packed day that began at 5 am in the morning. Monique, Cat, and I got to school at 6, and I was given a Wisdom Primary School collar shirt by Elie, which I immediately put on for our school trip to Gisenyi. After I put my shirt on, I got on the bus and headed off to Gisenyi with the kids. The trip took an hour and a half to get there, and I sat with teacher Janette, who is very nice, and is originally from Uganda. The first stop on our trip was to Hotel Lake-Kivu Serena. There, the kids were shown around by hotel staff, and were told what everything was in hotel, including: reception desk, fitness center, meeting room, poop area, bar, bedrooms, and restaurant. It was interesting to see the kids’ reactions to seeing a vacuum cleaner, and a salt shacker for the first time. After we saw the hotel, we went to Bralirwa, in hopes of seeing how Primus, the local Rwandan beer, was brewed. Once we go there the man in charge of the brewery told Elie that we all couldn’t come in, so we left instead. Next we walked to the local docking area, where the Primus beer was shipped off on Lake Kivu to other areas. Lake Kivu has an area of 2,700 kilometers, and the majority of the Lake is owned by the Democratic Republic of Congo. At the dock, a marine guard talked to the kids about how he patrols the lake, which was quite interesting. After we heard about the boats, we headed off to the hot springs, which were near by, but we were only there for about ten minutes, because we were behind schedule. Then for lunch time we headed back to Lake Kivu and ate on the beach. One of the teachers piece of bread was stolen by a hungry kid watching us eat. There were lots of observers as we had a well-prepared picnic. I felt sorry for the starving people, but was told not to give them anything. After lunch, we went to the Grande Barriere, where the border between Rwanda and Congo is. We were allowed to go into the “no man’s zone” in-between the two, but weren’t allowed into the Congo, for obvious reasons. After this stop, we headed to Rwandan’s weather tracking place called Gisenyi aerodome. The kids saw all the weather instruments, and then we got back on the bus and headed back to Musanze. We got back at around 6:30, and were all exhausted! Today (Friday) I went to the deaf school, and taught English with Cat. It has been a good day so far. I booked my trip to see the mountain gorillas for next Wednesday, and I’m very excited!

Great White Footage on YOUTUBE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7g-8b1x214&feature=player_embedded

Also, things are going well in Rwanda. I am signing up to see the mountain gorillas today, so hopefully I'll see them within the next week! I will post more pictures up to show everyone what Rwanda looks like from where I teach. Beautiful volcanoes in surrounding the school, and lots of vegitation.