Rwanda’s Mountain Gorillas Photo Tour
Trip Report
October 2010
Read a Trip Report from one of our Participants
Wide, wild eyes, flared nostrils, panting breathes, descriptive of several of our participants, not the Mountain Gorillas as the first minutes of our first gorilla trek transpired. That experience marked one of the true ‘dream shoots’ we’ve wished for, with a troop of gorillas, a cooperative Silverback, and a crazy, semi-aggressive subadult male pausing in a lawn-like mountain clearing. It was the beginning of a great trip.
Day 1.
We left Nairobi early, arriving in Kilgali by 11AM after a stopover in Burundi’s capital, which marked our first fly-over of this tiny country to Rwanda’s south. After lunch, we arrived at our lodge, The Gorilla’s Nest, by 5, where we were met by our old friends, the hotel manager, assistant, and various staff members. Getting ready for the next day’s trek took a few hours, as we debated over which camera, lenses, and clothing, but despite this had an early time to bed. By dinner, a raging storm had started, and through much of the night it rained heavily, a not atypical event at this time of year.
Day 2. Our first Trek, Sabyinyo.
Breakfast was at 6 and by 6:50 we were at the Park entrance where, again, we met all of our old friends, the guides, warden, and personnel of the park. We discovered, then, that we’d also have our favorite guide, which we hadn’t expected until the following day. Within minutes, we were assigned our first group, Sabyinyo, and assembled for our meeting.
The trek to the Sabyinyo group went smoothly, with every member of the group being in shape and speedy. En route we spotted several small Flap-necked Chameleons, which Mary and I always look for, competing as to who will find one first. As it was, several of our porters picked out chameleons before I finally saw my first one without help, a brown-colored lizard huddled upon a length of dead twig, matching the limb exactly.
We arrived at a mountain clearing called ‘Agasha Motes,’ at least that being the phonetic spelling, meaning ‘mountain clearing where smoke isn’t visible from below,’ although that’s my wordy translation. The clearing lies in a natural hollow where, 40 years before, the Twa, or Pigmies, hunted and made camp and where, because of the sunken clearing amidst a ring of hills and mountains, smoke would not be visible from the valley below, or to the Rangers or Wardens. This clearing, just a few hundred yards above one of our favorite calderas, ‘Guamacuri,’ is surrounded by moss-covered trees and bamboo stands, and it is here that we’ve always hoped we’d someday see gorillas.
The Trackers greeted us here, and we prepared our gear, but our guide had only entered a short distance into the forest when we were told to wait, at the forest edge. We could see bamboo shaking and one large stem crash to the ground after a piercing ‘snap,’ and dimly we could make out the shape of a few gorillas. Seconds later, a black form materialized along the trail we were on, and we were told to back up. The gorilla charged our guide, flailing for a moment with both arms and pushing him back, almost toppling Leslie who was a few feet behind him. We knew this gorilla, now a 6-8 year old large male subadult, for even as a 2-year old he was curious and bold, almost to the point of aggression even at that age. Now, he was a domineering terror!
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The subadult backed off and sat down for a few minutes, as we shot pictures, but soon after he resumed his antics. For the next ten minutes or so he charged across the clearing multiple times, keeping to all-fours but pounding the ground with resounding slaps with all four legs as he pranced about, demonstrating his power and dominance. Another, larger Silverback entered the clearing, and he acted as some sort of check upon the subadult, which retreated into the forest. The silverback did a few half-hearted charges as well, but never stood completely upright as he raced forward. Nonetheless, throughout all of this we were scrambling, not only to get shots but to also keep out of the path of either gorilla as they raced about. For our first-timers, Petra, Leslie, and Helen particularly, it was a scary experience, filled with wide-eyes and, at times, squeaks and squeals of momentary fright.
The entire family group entered the clearing and passed by us, all congregating beneath a large tree that some climbed and others scratched against, before all disappeared into the thick bamboo forest. We followed, and for the next forty minutes or so scrambled about, getting angles and moving from the path of gorillas weaving through the thicket. The light is always low inside the bamboo forest, but it virtually disappeared, and all of us were shooting at high ISOs, or not shooting at all. I’d swear we had two hours with the group, as we had multiple angles and our time outside, in the clearing, seemed so long, but Mary keeps a record of all of our times, and, incredibly, we were with the gorillas for exactly one full hour.
We headed back, quite satisfied, as heavy clouds continued to gather over the volcanoes. Thunderstorms rolled past throughout the afternoon, and as I write this all of the volcanoes are masked in clouds.
Day 3. Hirwa Group
We headed to the Hirwa Group, which boasts one of the, if not the, largest Silverback Mountain Gorilla in the park. Alex drove us up some very bumpy, erratic tracks not designed for a vehicle, and from there we hiked up a steep hillside to the Park boundary.
As is typical, our trek took us through several levels of vegetation, starting with a thin strip of woodland, followed by low shrub growth and weeds, and through a dense belt of bamboo. While very pretty to see, with a greenish cast tinting the row upon row, and continuous tall columns of bamboo, we always dread shooting in the bamboo forest as the canopy simply blacks out any light. As we hiked, our very bright and sunny sky gradually clouded over, and we had hopes that we’d have perfect light – a veil of light clouds – when we found the gorillas. Our trek continued through the soft, leaf-littered trail through the bamboo and out, where we entered a zone of scattered bamboo stands, scattered trees, and a broad meadow of head-high herbaceous growth. The gorillas were here, almost invisible at first in the thicket of weed-like growth, but eventually we found some spots where some young gorillas played in a clearing.
The hour went quite successfully, with two juveniles playing, another ‘crazy’ juvenile that, if its habits continue, will result in a virtual clone of the nut-case subadult we had yesterday. In one clearing we had the large silverback lying on his belly, surrounded by a few juveniles playing, while behind us, but too hidden for good shots, a mother nursed a less-than-month-old baby. Towards the end of the shoot the silverback lumbered by us, quite close, then crashed into the vegetation where, eventually, it settled in a sitting position to feed, offering great shots.
We made it back to the lodge before the rain began, but in the valley we could see a huge, black storm brewing. It enveloped our lodge while we had lunch, so we suspended any afternoon activities to simply download, but within an hour the weather cleared and the afternoon was beautiful. Nonetheless, we stayed at the lodge, as our guide had left and we had plenty of images to edit.
Day 4. Amahoro Group
An incredibly complete and rewarding day, that encompassed great Gorilla shooting, a hole of Golf, and a wonderful performance of Rwanda dancers.
The day dawned crystal clear, and only odd, and very prominent lenticular clouds over Karasimbi, the tallest of the volcanic peaks at 14,000, gave a clue as to any change in weather. By the time we reached the departure point for Amahoro, the skies were mostly cloudy, promising either ideal shooting conditions or rain. The road to this departure point was little more than a bumpy cattle track, with a lot of jostling as we bounced about, and with kids selling their gorilla art work running along side. One boy, who could not have been older than 9, ran beside us for at least ¼ mile, perhaps even a half, until I stopped Alex so that I could buy a picture. I was curious whether or not the kid would run along side our vehicle for what would have ended up to be a 2 mile run, but pity took over and that experiment ended.
The hike to Amahoro took about 45 minutes of continuous uphill hike through the bamboo forest, and towards the end we could hear the ‘pok, pok, pok’ of chest beating. As we unpacked and readied ourselves for the gorilla shoot, two large Black-backs entered our clearing, and one, as it raced by grabbed and knocked over Helen. The two were in a constant chase-wrestle-dominance contest, and the pair ran by frequently, although never offering another great shot as they charged by us. Helen ended up with bruise on her leg from the grab, but was otherwise OK.
Shortly after, as we started our shoot, one of the two black-backs rose from the vegetation and charged towards us, chest beating. For me, this was the dream shot I’ve been lusting for, but as I shot it stomping towards me I thought my thumb had left the back focus button, and the shots would be soft and out-of-focus. As it turned out, whatever my impression was was wrong, and the shots ended up in pretty good focus. Later, we had another chance when one of the two spun in a circle while chest-beating, and later still, another did likewise while sitting down.
Looking for the entire family group we descended through a bamboo belt and arrived on a steep hillside and ledge where a family group of four, with a silverback and female and two young, lay in the open. The going was tough, and John, just before reaching the safety of relatively flat footing on the ledge, tripped on a vine and plummeted headfirst towards me. As best I could I tried to stop his fall while moving my gear, but his momentum knocked me down the slope where, for a scary second as my leg went back in a true split, I was worried I’d break my leg. As it was, I twisted and avoided that tension, although for the next instant my hamstring cramped painfully, but that too passed quickly. I was unhurt, and so was John, who landed next to a sharp machete, and within a few seconds both of us were back on our feet and photographing the family.
Our guide wanted us to see the other gorillas and from there we headed down a snaking route through slick weeds and dark, confining bamboo corridors where we found an even bigger family, which included a very young gorilla, complete with spiked out hair. One of the Silverbacks here had lost a hand, but functioned well with one good arm and an abbreviated stump for the other.
The route down went fairly smoothly, through stinging nettles that caught very few of us, and we arrived back to our vehicle before a light sprinkle began.
After lunch, Gilbert, from the Gorilla’s Nest, had organized a Golf Tournament between the “McDonald group” and the hotel staff. All of us attended, and some of us had never wielded a golf club before. Those novices, by the way, did quite well! Mercifully, however, a looming thunderstorm climbed overhead, and our game was cut short.
At 4:30PM, the hotel had organized a great dance display of traditional Tutsi dances. Some of these dancers we’ve known for years, as little girls and boys, and it was wonderful to see them developing as consummate actors as they danced. Leslie and Petra joined in, outfitted in Tutsi lion-like head-dresses, and the shooting was fun, followed by speeches of appreciation by the dancers for our long-time support. It capped a great afternoon.
Day 5 Group 13, Agushya
The day started cloudy and brooding, and our worry was that it would start raining before we would get in our trek. At our departure point it did indeed begin to rain, but we no sooner had our rain gear unpacked when the rain stopped, and as we began to hike the skies were literally swept clean of any clouds. Now, our worry was whether or not we’d have the gorillas in deep shade or bright, contrasty light.
We ascended up the volcano slope until we reached the rim of one of the lower calderas, where we met our trackers. The gorillas, we learned, were down inside the caldera, and for the first time we would be descending the steep slope, entering a fairy land of Middle-Earth landscapes of moss-draped trees, orchids, and hanging goats-beard lichens. We hoped that the gorillas would be amongst these trees, and as we walked I envisioned the wide-angle images I’d compose to take advantage of this wonderful scene. Instead, we climbed, going up the slope on the opposite side of the caldera.
The gorillas were in their first morning siesta, where close to a dozen of the 25 gorillas making up this group had gathered in an opening. The bank was steep, and we had to dig our toes or heels into the soft earth to anchor ourselves, dodging stinging nettles that carpeted some of the slope. Action varied, with three-year-olds climbing atop a tall spike of vegetation to play ‘king of the mountain,’ and mothers sitting upon day beds. One mother cuddled her 18 month old, and then laid upon her back in a Madonna-like pose that I couldn’t stop shooting.
The big silverback stayed hidden, although we could occasionally hear his grunts, and toward the end of our session we sought him out, sitting in deep shade beneath an umbrella of bamboo. I was out of position, hoping that he might look back over his shoulder and give me a glance, but instead he ambled off, leading several of his family group to follow behind. We followed, too, where he settled to feed on some bamboo, and where another 18 month old came out to greet us, pounding his chest and bobbing about, extremely curious by our presence.
To leave, we had to descend the crater slope again, where we spent nearly an hour in this beautiful forest, as the light varied from shade to shafts of sun. The scene was exquisite to the eye, and I just hoped I could give it some sort of justice with a lens. The hike out followed the path we’d use to climb down, and took about 20 minutes to ascend, up steep, loamy steps, but everyone made it with only a bit of exertion.
After lunch, we headed to the Volcanoes Lodge that overlooks the Twin Lakes where we planned on shooting scenic. En route, overlooking one of the lakes, we did a lengthy but spontaneous portrait session with some children and women, who delighted in seeing their pictures on our LCD screens. Whatever shyness they started with quickly vanished, and I ended up hugging, and being hugged, by several of our subjects for a final round of portraits.
At we neared the mountain top a black cloud quickly advanced, and we had only a few minutes of shooting before the rain began with force. Mary worked on some landscapes in the dramatic light, and I posed a boy named Robert who I silhouetted against the volcano background. With a deluge upon us, we headed back to the lodge.
Day 5. Kwitonda
Another brilliant dawn, with virtually no clouds in the sky, including over the volcanoes, but as we went through our briefing at Park Headquarters clouds began to build. Our hike to the Park boundary was the steepest and hardest part of the trek, and within fifteen minutes we were at our site, having passed through a series of bamboo belts.
The Kwitonda group is comprised of 20, with three silverbacks, including the largest, the namesake of the group. This group had emigrated from the Congo, and had the scars to prove it, with missing digits on several of the older gorillas. The gorillas were clustered in a fairly open glade of bamboo, with large clearings between stands of dense bamboo. Our first, a silverback, sat in the open, with harsh sunlight streaming down upon it, and shooting was tough. Within a few minutes the gorilla moved into the shade, and seconds later, a cloud obscured the sun, and the lights literally went out it seemed so dark.
Over the next hour the gorillas moved frequently, and several times we had one or more of the huge silverbacks lumbering by us, sometimes within feet of us as they passed. Several babies teased us, but at the end of the shoot we were led to a mother in an open area that was playing with, and then nursing, her year-old baby. The scene was so peaceful and tranquil, a fitting ending for our experience with the gorillas, especially when contrasted with our first encounter, with the crazy black-back and the silverback that had run about and stomped through an open glade.
Returning to the lodge we changed, grabbed cameras, and headed for the Twin Lakes area again where we shot landscapes, dramatic with the storms that raged around us, and people, including three men that we posed with tools with the volcanoes as a backdrop. We returned to the lodge by 5, after a very exhausting but rewarding day.
Day 6.
Mary awoke in the middle of the night with terrible stomach cramps, an affliction she’d had one other time in Kenya. She was almost incapacitated, but fortunately today was a travel/shooting day back to Kilgali and we were finished with our trekking. Getting some medicine from a pharmacy that was, fortunately, open on Sunday, Mary and I headed to Kilgali with a driver and the luggage while the rest of the group went on with our guide to do a very rewarding day of landscape photography before returning to the hotel in Kilgali in late afternoon. We had our final dinner in Kilgali, turning in early for our flight back to Nairobi.
Day 7.
In contrast to previous departure days, our flight today was mid-morning so we had a leisurely breakfast at a decent hour, a no-rush trip to the airport, and an easy flight back to Nairobi. With a great deal of sadness the trip ended, marking one of the most successful, productive visits we’ve had to Rwanda and the mountain gorillas.
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Rwanda’s Mountain Gorillas Photo Tour
Trip Report
October 2010
Read a Trip Report from one of our Participants
Wide, wild eyes, flared nostrils, panting breathes, descriptive of several of our participants, not the Mountain Gorillas as the first minutes of our first gorilla trek transpired. That experience marked one of the true ‘dream shoots’ we’ve wished for, with a troop of gorillas, a cooperative Silverback, and a crazy, semi-aggressive subadult male pausing in a lawn-like mountain clearing. It was the beginning of a great trip.
Day 1.
We left Nairobi early, arriving in Kilgali by 11AM after a stopover in Burundi’s capital, which marked our first fly-over of this tiny country to Rwanda’s south. After lunch, we arrived at our lodge, The Gorilla’s Nest, by 5, where we were met by our old friends, the hotel manager, assistant, and various staff members. Getting ready for the next day’s trek took a few hours, as we debated over which camera, lenses, and clothing, but despite this had an early time to bed. By dinner, a raging storm had started, and through much of the night it rained heavily, a not atypical event at this time of year.
Day 2. Our first Trek, Sabyinyo.
Breakfast was at 6 and by 6:50 we were at the Park entrance where, again, we met all of our old friends, the guides, warden, and personnel of the park. We discovered, then, that we’d also have our favorite guide, which we hadn’t expected until the following day. Within minutes, we were assigned our first group, Sabyinyo, and assembled for our meeting.
The trek to the Sabyinyo group went smoothly, with every member of the group being in shape and speedy. En route we spotted several small Flap-necked Chameleons, which Mary and I always look for, competing as to who will find one first. As it was, several of our porters picked out chameleons before I finally saw my first one without help, a brown-colored lizard huddled upon a length of dead twig, matching the limb exactly.
We arrived at a mountain clearing called ‘Agasha Motes,’ at least that being the phonetic spelling, meaning ‘mountain clearing where smoke isn’t visible from below,’ although that’s my wordy translation. The clearing lies in a natural hollow where, 40 years before, the Twa, or Pigmies, hunted and made camp and where, because of the sunken clearing amidst a ring of hills and mountains, smoke would not be visible from the valley below, or to the Rangers or Wardens. This clearing, just a few hundred yards above one of our favorite calderas, ‘Guamacuri,’ is surrounded by moss-covered trees and bamboo stands, and it is here that we’ve always hoped we’d someday see gorillas.
The Trackers greeted us here, and we prepared our gear, but our guide had only entered a short distance into the forest when we were told to wait, at the forest edge. We could see bamboo shaking and one large stem crash to the ground after a piercing ‘snap,’ and dimly we could make out the shape of a few gorillas. Seconds later, a black form materialized along the trail we were on, and we were told to back up. The gorilla charged our guide, flailing for a moment with both arms and pushing him back, almost toppling Leslie who was a few feet behind him. We knew this gorilla, now a 6-8 year old large male subadult, for even as a 2-year old he was curious and bold, almost to the point of aggression even at that age. Now, he was a domineering terror!
The subadult backed off and sat down for a few minutes, as we shot pictures, but soon after he resumed his antics. For the next ten minutes or so he charged across the clearing multiple times, keeping to all-fours but pounding the ground with resounding slaps with all four legs as he pranced about, demonstrating his power and dominance. Another, larger Silverback entered the clearing, and he acted as some sort of check upon the subadult, which retreated into the forest. The silverback did a few half-hearted charges as well, but never stood completely upright as he raced forward. Nonetheless, throughout all of this we were scrambling, not only to get shots but to also keep out of the path of either gorilla as they raced about. For our first-timers, Petra, Leslie, and Helen particularly, it was a scary experience, filled with wide-eyes and, at times, squeaks and squeals of momentary fright.
The entire family group entered the clearing and passed by us, all congregating beneath a large tree that some climbed and others scratched against, before all disappeared into the thick bamboo forest. We followed, and for the next forty minutes or so scrambled about, getting angles and moving from the path of gorillas weaving through the thicket. The light is always low inside the bamboo forest, but it virtually disappeared, and all of us were shooting at high ISOs, or not shooting at all. I’d swear we had two hours with the group, as we had multiple angles and our time outside, in the clearing, seemed so long, but Mary keeps a record of all of our times, and, incredibly, we were with the gorillas for exactly one full hour.
We headed back, quite satisfied, as heavy clouds continued to gather over the volcanoes. Thunderstorms rolled past throughout the afternoon, and as I write this all of the volcanoes are masked in clouds.
Day 3. Hirwa Group
We headed to the Hirwa Group, which boasts one of the, if not the, largest Silverback Mountain Gorilla in the park. Alex drove us up some very bumpy, erratic tracks not designed for a vehicle, and from there we hiked up a steep hillside to the Park boundary.
As is typical, our trek took us through several levels of vegetation, starting with a thin strip of woodland, followed by low shrub growth and weeds, and through a dense belt of bamboo. While very pretty to see, with a greenish cast tinting the row upon row, and continuous tall columns of bamboo, we always dread shooting in the bamboo forest as the canopy simply blacks out any light. As we hiked, our very bright and sunny sky gradually clouded over, and we had hopes that we’d have perfect light – a veil of light clouds – when we found the gorillas. Our trek continued through the soft, leaf-littered trail through the bamboo and out, where we entered a zone of scattered bamboo stands, scattered trees, and a broad meadow of head-high herbaceous growth. The gorillas were here, almost invisible at first in the thicket of weed-like growth, but eventually we found some spots where some young gorillas played in a clearing.
The hour went quite successfully, with two juveniles playing, another ‘crazy’ juvenile that, if its habits continue, will result in a virtual clone of the nut-case subadult we had yesterday. In one clearing we had the large silverback lying on his belly, surrounded by a few juveniles playing, while behind us, but too hidden for good shots, a mother nursed a less-than-month-old baby. Towards the end of the shoot the silverback lumbered by us, quite close, then crashed into the vegetation where, eventually, it settled in a sitting position to feed, offering great shots.
We made it back to the lodge before the rain began, but in the valley we could see a huge, black storm brewing. It enveloped our lodge while we had lunch, so we suspended any afternoon activities to simply download, but within an hour the weather cleared and the afternoon was beautiful. Nonetheless, we stayed at the lodge, as our guide had left and we had plenty of images to edit.
Day 4. Amahoro Group
An incredibly complete and rewarding day, that encompassed great Gorilla shooting, a hole of Golf, and a wonderful performance of Rwanda dancers.
The day dawned crystal clear, and only odd, and very prominent lenticular clouds over Karasimbi, the tallest of the volcanic peaks at 14,000, gave a clue as to any change in weather. By the time we reached the departure point for Amahoro, the skies were mostly cloudy, promising either ideal shooting conditions or rain. The road to this departure point was little more than a bumpy cattle track, with a lot of jostling as we bounced about, and with kids selling their gorilla art work running along side. One boy, who could not have been older than 9, ran beside us for at least ¼ mile, perhaps even a half, until I stopped Alex so that I could buy a picture. I was curious whether or not the kid would run along side our vehicle for what would have ended up to be a 2 mile run, but pity took over and that experiment ended.
The hike to Amahoro took about 45 minutes of continuous uphill hike through the bamboo forest, and towards the end we could hear the ‘pok, pok, pok’ of chest beating. As we unpacked and readied ourselves for the gorilla shoot, two large Black-backs entered our clearing, and one, as it raced by grabbed and knocked over Helen. The two were in a constant chase-wrestle-dominance contest, and the pair ran by frequently, although never offering another great shot as they charged by us. Helen ended up with bruise on her leg from the grab, but was otherwise OK.
Shortly after, as we started our shoot, one of the two black-backs rose from the vegetation and charged towards us, chest beating. For me, this was the dream shot I’ve been lusting for, but as I shot it stomping towards me I thought my thumb had left the back focus button, and the shots would be soft and out-of-focus. As it turned out, whatever my impression was was wrong, and the shots ended up in pretty good focus. Later, we had another chance when one of the two spun in a circle while chest-beating, and later still, another did likewise while sitting down.
Looking for the entire family group we descended through a bamboo belt and arrived on a steep hillside and ledge where a family group of four, with a silverback and female and two young, lay in the open. The going was tough, and John, just before reaching the safety of relatively flat footing on the ledge, tripped on a vine and plummeted headfirst towards me. As best I could I tried to stop his fall while moving my gear, but his momentum knocked me down the slope where, for a scary second as my leg went back in a true split, I was worried I’d break my leg. As it was, I twisted and avoided that tension, although for the next instant my hamstring cramped painfully, but that too passed quickly. I was unhurt, and so was John, who landed next to a sharp machete, and within a few seconds both of us were back on our feet and photographing the family.
Our guide wanted us to see the other gorillas and from there we headed down a snaking route through slick weeds and dark, confining bamboo corridors where we found an even bigger family, which included a very young gorilla, complete with spiked out hair. One of the Silverbacks here had lost a hand, but functioned well with one good arm and an abbreviated stump for the other.
The route down went fairly smoothly, through stinging nettles that caught very few of us, and we arrived back to our vehicle before a light sprinkle began.
After lunch, Gilbert, from the Gorilla’s Nest, had organized a Golf Tournament between the “McDonald group” and the hotel staff. All of us attended, and some of us had never wielded a golf club before. Those novices, by the way, did quite well! Mercifully, however, a looming thunderstorm climbed overhead, and our game was cut short.
At 4:30PM, the hotel had organized a great dance display of traditional Tutsi dances. Some of these dancers we’ve known for years, as little girls and boys, and it was wonderful to see them developing as consummate actors as they danced. Leslie and Petra joined in, outfitted in Tutsi lion-like head-dresses, and the shooting was fun, followed by speeches of appreciation by the dancers for our long-time support. It capped a great afternoon.
Day 5 Group 13, Agushya
The day started cloudy and brooding, and our worry was that it would start raining before we would get in our trek. At our departure point it did indeed begin to rain, but we no sooner had our rain gear unpacked when the rain stopped, and as we began to hike the skies were literally swept clean of any clouds. Now, our worry was whether or not we’d have the gorillas in deep shade or bright, contrasty light.
We ascended up the volcano slope until we reached the rim of one of the lower calderas, where we met our trackers. The gorillas, we learned, were down inside the caldera, and for the first time we would be descending the steep slope, entering a fairy land of Middle-Earth landscapes of moss-draped trees, orchids, and hanging goats-beard lichens. We hoped that the gorillas would be amongst these trees, and as we walked I envisioned the wide-angle images I’d compose to take advantage of this wonderful scene. Instead, we climbed, going up the slope on the opposite side of the caldera.
The gorillas were in their first morning siesta, where close to a dozen of the 25 gorillas making up this group had gathered in an opening. The bank was steep, and we had to dig our toes or heels into the soft earth to anchor ourselves, dodging stinging nettles that carpeted some of the slope. Action varied, with three-year-olds climbing atop a tall spike of vegetation to play ‘king of the mountain,’ and mothers sitting upon day beds. One mother cuddled her 18 month old, and then laid upon her back in a Madonna-like pose that I couldn’t stop shooting.
The big silverback stayed hidden, although we could occasionally hear his grunts, and toward the end of our session we sought him out, sitting in deep shade beneath an umbrella of bamboo. I was out of position, hoping that he might look back over his shoulder and give me a glance, but instead he ambled off, leading several of his family group to follow behind. We followed, too, where he settled to feed on some bamboo, and where another 18 month old came out to greet us, pounding his chest and bobbing about, extremely curious by our presence.
To leave, we had to descend the crater slope again, where we spent nearly an hour in this beautiful forest, as the light varied from shade to shafts of sun. The scene was exquisite to the eye, and I just hoped I could give it some sort of justice with a lens. The hike out followed the path we’d use to climb down, and took about 20 minutes to ascend, up steep, loamy steps, but everyone made it with only a bit of exertion.
After lunch, we headed to the Volcanoes Lodge that overlooks the Twin Lakes where we planned on shooting scenic. En route, overlooking one of the lakes, we did a lengthy but spontaneous portrait session with some children and women, who delighted in seeing their pictures on our LCD screens. Whatever shyness they started with quickly vanished, and I ended up hugging, and being hugged, by several of our subjects for a final round of portraits.
At we neared the mountain top a black cloud quickly advanced, and we had only a few minutes of shooting before the rain began with force. Mary worked on some landscapes in the dramatic light, and I posed a boy named Robert who I silhouetted against the volcano background. With a deluge upon us, we headed back to the lodge.
Day 5. Kwitonda
Another brilliant dawn, with virtually no clouds in the sky, including over the volcanoes, but as we went through our briefing at Park Headquarters clouds began to build. Our hike to the Park boundary was the steepest and hardest part of the trek, and within fifteen minutes we were at our site, having passed through a series of bamboo belts.
The Kwitonda group is comprised of 20, with three silverbacks, including the largest, the namesake of the group. This group had emigrated from the Congo, and had the scars to prove it, with missing digits on several of the older gorillas. The gorillas were clustered in a fairly open glade of bamboo, with large clearings between stands of dense bamboo. Our first, a silverback, sat in the open, with harsh sunlight streaming down upon it, and shooting was tough. Within a few minutes the gorilla moved into the shade, and seconds later, a cloud obscured the sun, and the lights literally went out it seemed so dark.
Over the next hour the gorillas moved frequently, and several times we had one or more of the huge silverbacks lumbering by us, sometimes within feet of us as they passed. Several babies teased us, but at the end of the shoot we were led to a mother in an open area that was playing with, and then nursing, her year-old baby. The scene was so peaceful and tranquil, a fitting ending for our experience with the gorillas, especially when contrasted with our first encounter, with the crazy black-back and the silverback that had run about and stomped through an open glade.
Returning to the lodge we changed, grabbed cameras, and headed for the Twin Lakes area again where we shot landscapes, dramatic with the storms that raged around us, and people, including three men that we posed with tools with the volcanoes as a backdrop. We returned to the lodge by 5, after a very exhausting but rewarding day.
Day 6.
Mary awoke in the middle of the night with terrible stomach cramps, an affliction she’d had one other time in Kenya. She was almost incapacitated, but fortunately today was a travel/shooting day back to Kilgali and we were finished with our trekking. Getting some medicine from a pharmacy that was, fortunately, open on Sunday, Mary and I headed to Kilgali with a driver and the luggage while the rest of the group went on with our guide to do a very rewarding day of landscape photography before returning to the hotel in Kilgali in late afternoon. We had our final dinner in Kilgali, turning in early for our flight back to Nairobi.
Day 7.
In contrast to previous departure days, our flight today was mid-morning so we had a leisurely breakfast at a decent hour, a no-rush trip to the airport, and an easy flight back to Nairobi. With a great deal of sadness the trip ended, marking one of the most successful, productive visits we’ve had to Rwanda and the mountain gorillas.
Contact us by e-mail at
info@hoothollow.com
Call us at (717) 543-6423 Or FAX us at: (717) 543-5342
About Your Leaders
Contact our Office to REGISTER for this Photo Shoot
Return to HomePage or to photo tours general information.
Rwanda’s Mountain Gorillas Photo Tour
Trip Report
October 2010
Read a Trip Report from one of our Participants
Wide, wild eyes, flared nostrils, panting breathes, descriptive of several of our participants, not the Mountain Gorillas as the first minutes of our first gorilla trek transpired. That experience marked one of the true ‘dream shoots’ we’ve wished for, with a troop of gorillas, a cooperative Silverback, and a crazy, semi-aggressive subadult male pausing in a lawn-like mountain clearing. It was the beginning of a great trip.
Day 1.
We left Nairobi early, arriving in Kilgali by 11AM after a stopover in Burundi’s capital, which marked our first fly-over of this tiny country to Rwanda’s south. After lunch, we arrived at our lodge, The Gorilla’s Nest, by 5, where we were met by our old friends, the hotel manager, assistant, and various staff members. Getting ready for the next day’s trek took a few hours, as we debated over which camera, lenses, and clothing, but despite this had an early time to bed. By dinner, a raging storm had started, and through much of the night it rained heavily, a not atypical event at this time of year.
Day 2. Our first Trek, Sabyinyo.
Breakfast was at 6 and by 6:50 we were at the Park entrance where, again, we met all of our old friends, the guides, warden, and personnel of the park. We discovered, then, that we’d also have our favorite guide, which we hadn’t expected until the following day. Within minutes, we were assigned our first group, Sabyinyo, and assembled for our meeting.
The trek to the Sabyinyo group went smoothly, with every member of the group being in shape and speedy. En route we spotted several small Flap-necked Chameleons, which Mary and I always look for, competing as to who will find one first. As it was, several of our porters picked out chameleons before I finally saw my first one without help, a brown-colored lizard huddled upon a length of dead twig, matching the limb exactly.
We arrived at a mountain clearing called ‘Agasha Motes,’ at least that being the phonetic spelling, meaning ‘mountain clearing where smoke isn’t visible from below,’ although that’s my wordy translation. The clearing lies in a natural hollow where, 40 years before, the Twa, or Pigmies, hunted and made camp and where, because of the sunken clearing amidst a ring of hills and mountains, smoke would not be visible from the valley below, or to the Rangers or Wardens. This clearing, just a few hundred yards above one of our favorite calderas, ‘Guamacuri,’ is surrounded by moss-covered trees and bamboo stands, and it is here that we’ve always hoped we’d someday see gorillas.
The Trackers greeted us here, and we prepared our gear, but our guide had only entered a short distance into the forest when we were told to wait, at the forest edge. We could see bamboo shaking and one large stem crash to the ground after a piercing ‘snap,’ and dimly we could make out the shape of a few gorillas. Seconds later, a black form materialized along the trail we were on, and we were told to back up. The gorilla charged our guide, flailing for a moment with both arms and pushing him back, almost toppling Leslie who was a few feet behind him. We knew this gorilla, now a 6-8 year old large male subadult, for even as a 2-year old he was curious and bold, almost to the point of aggression even at that age. Now, he was a domineering terror!
The subadult backed off and sat down for a few minutes, as we shot pictures, but soon after he resumed his antics. For the next ten minutes or so he charged across the clearing multiple times, keeping to all-fours but pounding the ground with resounding slaps with all four legs as he pranced about, demonstrating his power and dominance. Another, larger Silverback entered the clearing, and he acted as some sort of check upon the subadult, which retreated into the forest. The silverback did a few half-hearted charges as well, but never stood completely upright as he raced forward. Nonetheless, throughout all of this we were scrambling, not only to get shots but to also keep out of the path of either gorilla as they raced about. For our first-timers, Petra, Leslie, and Helen particularly, it was a scary experience, filled with wide-eyes and, at times, squeaks and squeals of momentary fright.
The entire family group entered the clearing and passed by us, all congregating beneath a large tree that some climbed and others scratched against, before all disappeared into the thick bamboo forest. We followed, and for the next forty minutes or so scrambled about, getting angles and moving from the path of gorillas weaving through the thicket. The light is always low inside the bamboo forest, but it virtually disappeared, and all of us were shooting at high ISOs, or not shooting at all. I’d swear we had two hours with the group, as we had multiple angles and our time outside, in the clearing, seemed so long, but Mary keeps a record of all of our times, and, incredibly, we were with the gorillas for exactly one full hour.
We headed back, quite satisfied, as heavy clouds continued to gather over the volcanoes. Thunderstorms rolled past throughout the afternoon, and as I write this all of the volcanoes are masked in clouds.
Day 3. Hirwa Group
We headed to the Hirwa Group, which boasts one of the, if not the, largest Silverback Mountain Gorilla in the park. Alex drove us up some very bumpy, erratic tracks not designed for a vehicle, and from there we hiked up a steep hillside to the Park boundary.
As is typical, our trek took us through several levels of vegetation, starting with a thin strip of woodland, followed by low shrub growth and weeds, and through a dense belt of bamboo. While very pretty to see, with a greenish cast tinting the row upon row, and continuous tall columns of bamboo, we always dread shooting in the bamboo forest as the canopy simply blacks out any light. As we hiked, our very bright and sunny sky gradually clouded over, and we had hopes that we’d have perfect light – a veil of light clouds – when we found the gorillas. Our trek continued through the soft, leaf-littered trail through the bamboo and out, where we entered a zone of scattered bamboo stands, scattered trees, and a broad meadow of head-high herbaceous growth. The gorillas were here, almost invisible at first in the thicket of weed-like growth, but eventually we found some spots where some young gorillas played in a clearing.
The hour went quite successfully, with two juveniles playing, another ‘crazy’ juvenile that, if its habits continue, will result in a virtual clone of the nut-case subadult we had yesterday. In one clearing we had the large silverback lying on his belly, surrounded by a few juveniles playing, while behind us, but too hidden for good shots, a mother nursed a less-than-month-old baby. Towards the end of the shoot the silverback lumbered by us, quite close, then crashed into the vegetation where, eventually, it settled in a sitting position to feed, offering great shots.
We made it back to the lodge before the rain began, but in the valley we could see a huge, black storm brewing. It enveloped our lodge while we had lunch, so we suspended any afternoon activities to simply download, but within an hour the weather cleared and the afternoon was beautiful. Nonetheless, we stayed at the lodge, as our guide had left and we had plenty of images to edit.
Day 4. Amahoro Group
An incredibly complete and rewarding day, that encompassed great Gorilla shooting, a hole of Golf, and a wonderful performance of Rwanda dancers.
The day dawned crystal clear, and only odd, and very prominent lenticular clouds over Karasimbi, the tallest of the volcanic peaks at 14,000, gave a clue as to any change in weather. By the time we reached the departure point for Amahoro, the skies were mostly cloudy, promising either ideal shooting conditions or rain. The road to this departure point was little more than a bumpy cattle track, with a lot of jostling as we bounced about, and with kids selling their gorilla art work running along side. One boy, who could not have been older than 9, ran beside us for at least ¼ mile, perhaps even a half, until I stopped Alex so that I could buy a picture. I was curious whether or not the kid would run along side our vehicle for what would have ended up to be a 2 mile run, but pity took over and that experiment ended.
The hike to Amahoro took about 45 minutes of continuous uphill hike through the bamboo forest, and towards the end we could hear the ‘pok, pok, pok’ of chest beating. As we unpacked and readied ourselves for the gorilla shoot, two large Black-backs entered our clearing, and one, as it raced by grabbed and knocked over Helen. The two were in a constant chase-wrestle-dominance contest, and the pair ran by frequently, although never offering another great shot as they charged by us. Helen ended up with bruise on her leg from the grab, but was otherwise OK.
Shortly after, as we started our shoot, one of the two black-backs rose from the vegetation and charged towards us, chest beating. For me, this was the dream shot I’ve been lusting for, but as I shot it stomping towards me I thought my thumb had left the back focus button, and the shots would be soft and out-of-focus. As it turned out, whatever my impression was was wrong, and the shots ended up in pretty good focus. Later, we had another chance when one of the two spun in a circle while chest-beating, and later still, another did likewise while sitting down.
Looking for the entire family group we descended through a bamboo belt and arrived on a steep hillside and ledge where a family group of four, with a silverback and female and two young, lay in the open. The going was tough, and John, just before reaching the safety of relatively flat footing on the ledge, tripped on a vine and plummeted headfirst towards me. As best I could I tried to stop his fall while moving my gear, but his momentum knocked me down the slope where, for a scary second as my leg went back in a true split, I was worried I’d break my leg. As it was, I twisted and avoided that tension, although for the next instant my hamstring cramped painfully, but that too passed quickly. I was unhurt, and so was John, who landed next to a sharp machete, and within a few seconds both of us were back on our feet and photographing the family.
Our guide wanted us to see the other gorillas and from there we headed down a snaking route through slick weeds and dark, confining bamboo corridors where we found an even bigger family, which included a very young gorilla, complete with spiked out hair. One of the Silverbacks here had lost a hand, but functioned well with one good arm and an abbreviated stump for the other.
The route down went fairly smoothly, through stinging nettles that caught very few of us, and we arrived back to our vehicle before a light sprinkle began.
After lunch, Gilbert, from the Gorilla’s Nest, had organized a Golf Tournament between the “McDonald group” and the hotel staff. All of us attended, and some of us had never wielded a golf club before. Those novices, by the way, did quite well! Mercifully, however, a looming thunderstorm climbed overhead, and our game was cut short.
At 4:30PM, the hotel had organized a great dance display of traditional Tutsi dances. Some of these dancers we’ve known for years, as little girls and boys, and it was wonderful to see them developing as consummate actors as they danced. Leslie and Petra joined in, outfitted in Tutsi lion-like head-dresses, and the shooting was fun, followed by speeches of appreciation by the dancers for our long-time support. It capped a great afternoon.
Day 5 Group 13, Agushya
The day started cloudy and brooding, and our worry was that it would start raining before we would get in our trek. At our departure point it did indeed begin to rain, but we no sooner had our rain gear unpacked when the rain stopped, and as we began to hike the skies were literally swept clean of any clouds. Now, our worry was whether or not we’d have the gorillas in deep shade or bright, contrasty light.
We ascended up the volcano slope until we reached the rim of one of the lower calderas, where we met our trackers. The gorillas, we learned, were down inside the caldera, and for the first time we would be descending the steep slope, entering a fairy land of Middle-Earth landscapes of moss-draped trees, orchids, and hanging goats-beard lichens. We hoped that the gorillas would be amongst these trees, and as we walked I envisioned the wide-angle images I’d compose to take advantage of this wonderful scene. Instead, we climbed, going up the slope on the opposite side of the caldera.
The gorillas were in their first morning siesta, where close to a dozen of the 25 gorillas making up this group had gathered in an opening. The bank was steep, and we had to dig our toes or heels into the soft earth to anchor ourselves, dodging stinging nettles that carpeted some of the slope. Action varied, with three-year-olds climbing atop a tall spike of vegetation to play ‘king of the mountain,’ and mothers sitting upon day beds. One mother cuddled her 18 month old, and then laid upon her back in a Madonna-like pose that I couldn’t stop shooting.
The big silverback stayed hidden, although we could occasionally hear his grunts, and toward the end of our session we sought him out, sitting in deep shade beneath an umbrella of bamboo. I was out of position, hoping that he might look back over his shoulder and give me a glance, but instead he ambled off, leading several of his family group to follow behind. We followed, too, where he settled to feed on some bamboo, and where another 18 month old came out to greet us, pounding his chest and bobbing about, extremely curious by our presence.
To leave, we had to descend the crater slope again, where we spent nearly an hour in this beautiful forest, as the light varied from shade to shafts of sun. The scene was exquisite to the eye, and I just hoped I could give it some sort of justice with a lens. The hike out followed the path we’d use to climb down, and took about 20 minutes to ascend, up steep, loamy steps, but everyone made it with only a bit of exertion.
After lunch, we headed to the Volcanoes Lodge that overlooks the Twin Lakes where we planned on shooting scenic. En route, overlooking one of the lakes, we did a lengthy but spontaneous portrait session with some children and women, who delighted in seeing their pictures on our LCD screens. Whatever shyness they started with quickly vanished, and I ended up hugging, and being hugged, by several of our subjects for a final round of portraits.
At we neared the mountain top a black cloud quickly advanced, and we had only a few minutes of shooting before the rain began with force. Mary worked on some landscapes in the dramatic light, and I posed a boy named Robert who I silhouetted against the volcano background. With a deluge upon us, we headed back to the lodge.
Day 5. Kwitonda
Another brilliant dawn, with virtually no clouds in the sky, including over the volcanoes, but as we went through our briefing at Park Headquarters clouds began to build. Our hike to the Park boundary was the steepest and hardest part of the trek, and within fifteen minutes we were at our site, having passed through a series of bamboo belts.
The Kwitonda group is comprised of 20, with three silverbacks, including the largest, the namesake of the group. This group had emigrated from the Congo, and had the scars to prove it, with missing digits on several of the older gorillas. The gorillas were clustered in a fairly open glade of bamboo, with large clearings between stands of dense bamboo. Our first, a silverback, sat in the open, with harsh sunlight streaming down upon it, and shooting was tough. Within a few minutes the gorilla moved into the shade, and seconds later, a cloud obscured the sun, and the lights literally went out it seemed so dark.
Over the next hour the gorillas moved frequently, and several times we had one or more of the huge silverbacks lumbering by us, sometimes within feet of us as they passed. Several babies teased us, but at the end of the shoot we were led to a mother in an open area that was playing with, and then nursing, her year-old baby. The scene was so peaceful and tranquil, a fitting ending for our experience with the gorillas, especially when contrasted with our first encounter, with the crazy black-back and the silverback that had run about and stomped through an open glade.
Returning to the lodge we changed, grabbed cameras, and headed for the Twin Lakes area again where we shot landscapes, dramatic with the storms that raged around us, and people, including three men that we posed with tools with the volcanoes as a backdrop. We returned to the lodge by 5, after a very exhausting but rewarding day.
Day 6.
Mary awoke in the middle of the night with terrible stomach cramps, an affliction she’d had one other time in Kenya. She was almost incapacitated, but fortunately today was a travel/shooting day back to Kilgali and we were finished with our trekking. Getting some medicine from a pharmacy that was, fortunately, open on Sunday, Mary and I headed to Kilgali with a driver and the luggage while the rest of the group went on with our guide to do a very rewarding day of landscape photography before returning to the hotel in Kilgali in late afternoon. We had our final dinner in Kilgali, turning in early for our flight back to Nairobi.
Day 7.
In contrast to previous departure days, our flight today was mid-morning so we had a leisurely breakfast at a decent hour, a no-rush trip to the airport, and an easy flight back to Nairobi. With a great deal of sadness the trip ended, marking one of the most successful, productive visits we’ve had to Rwanda and the mountain gorillas.
Contact us by e-mail at
info@hoothollow.com
Call us at (717) 543-6423 Or FAX us at: (717) 543-5342
About Your Leaders
Contact our Office to REGISTER for this Photo Shoot
Return to HomePage or to photo tours general information.
Rwanda’s Mountain Gorillas Photo Tour
Trip Report
October 2010
Read a Trip Report from one of our Participants
Wide, wild eyes, flared nostrils, panting breathes, descriptive of several of our participants, not the Mountain Gorillas as the first minutes of our first gorilla trek transpired. That experience marked one of the true ‘dream shoots’ we’ve wished for, with a troop of gorillas, a cooperative Silverback, and a crazy, semi-aggressive subadult male pausing in a lawn-like mountain clearing. It was the beginning of a great trip.
Day 1.
We left Nairobi early, arriving in Kilgali by 11AM after a stopover in Burundi’s capital, which marked our first fly-over of this tiny country to Rwanda’s south. After lunch, we arrived at our lodge, The Gorilla’s Nest, by 5, where we were met by our old friends, the hotel manager, assistant, and various staff members. Getting ready for the next day’s trek took a few hours, as we debated over which camera, lenses, and clothing, but despite this had an early time to bed. By dinner, a raging storm had started, and through much of the night it rained heavily, a not atypical event at this time of year.
Day 2. Our first Trek, Sabyinyo.
Breakfast was at 6 and by 6:50 we were at the Park entrance where, again, we met all of our old friends, the guides, warden, and personnel of the park. We discovered, then, that we’d also have our favorite guide, which we hadn’t expected until the following day. Within minutes, we were assigned our first group, Sabyinyo, and assembled for our meeting.
The trek to the Sabyinyo group went smoothly, with every member of the group being in shape and speedy. En route we spotted several small Flap-necked Chameleons, which Mary and I always look for, competing as to who will find one first. As it was, several of our porters picked out chameleons before I finally saw my first one without help, a brown-colored lizard huddled upon a length of dead twig, matching the limb exactly.
We arrived at a mountain clearing called ‘Agasha Motes,’ at least that being the phonetic spelling, meaning ‘mountain clearing where smoke isn’t visible from below,’ although that’s my wordy translation. The clearing lies in a natural hollow where, 40 years before, the Twa, or Pigmies, hunted and made camp and where, because of the sunken clearing amidst a ring of hills and mountains, smoke would not be visible from the valley below, or to the Rangers or Wardens. This clearing, just a few hundred yards above one of our favorite calderas, ‘Guamacuri,’ is surrounded by moss-covered trees and bamboo stands, and it is here that we’ve always hoped we’d someday see gorillas.
The Trackers greeted us here, and we prepared our gear, but our guide had only entered a short distance into the forest when we were told to wait, at the forest edge. We could see bamboo shaking and one large stem crash to the ground after a piercing ‘snap,’ and dimly we could make out the shape of a few gorillas. Seconds later, a black form materialized along the trail we were on, and we were told to back up. The gorilla charged our guide, flailing for a moment with both arms and pushing him back, almost toppling Leslie who was a few feet behind him. We knew this gorilla, now a 6-8 year old large male subadult, for even as a 2-year old he was curious and bold, almost to the point of aggression even at that age. Now, he was a domineering terror!
The subadult backed off and sat down for a few minutes, as we shot pictures, but soon after he resumed his antics. For the next ten minutes or so he charged across the clearing multiple times, keeping to all-fours but pounding the ground with resounding slaps with all four legs as he pranced about, demonstrating his power and dominance. Another, larger Silverback entered the clearing, and he acted as some sort of check upon the subadult, which retreated into the forest. The silverback did a few half-hearted charges as well, but never stood completely upright as he raced forward. Nonetheless, throughout all of this we were scrambling, not only to get shots but to also keep out of the path of either gorilla as they raced about. For our first-timers, Petra, Leslie, and Helen particularly, it was a scary experience, filled with wide-eyes and, at times, squeaks and squeals of momentary fright.
The entire family group entered the clearing and passed by us, all congregating beneath a large tree that some climbed and others scratched against, before all disappeared into the thick bamboo forest. We followed, and for the next forty minutes or so scrambled about, getting angles and moving from the path of gorillas weaving through the thicket. The light is always low inside the bamboo forest, but it virtually disappeared, and all of us were shooting at high ISOs, or not shooting at all. I’d swear we had two hours with the group, as we had multiple angles and our time outside, in the clearing, seemed so long, but Mary keeps a record of all of our times, and, incredibly, we were with the gorillas for exactly one full hour.
We headed back, quite satisfied, as heavy clouds continued to gather over the volcanoes. Thunderstorms rolled past throughout the afternoon, and as I write this all of the volcanoes are masked in clouds.
Day 3. Hirwa Group
We headed to the Hirwa Group, which boasts one of the, if not the, largest Silverback Mountain Gorilla in the park. Alex drove us up some very bumpy, erratic tracks not designed for a vehicle, and from there we hiked up a steep hillside to the Park boundary.
As is typical, our trek took us through several levels of vegetation, starting with a thin strip of woodland, followed by low shrub growth and weeds, and through a dense belt of bamboo. While very pretty to see, with a greenish cast tinting the row upon row, and continuous tall columns of bamboo, we always dread shooting in the bamboo forest as the canopy simply blacks out any light. As we hiked, our very bright and sunny sky gradually clouded over, and we had hopes that we’d have perfect light – a veil of light clouds – when we found the gorillas. Our trek continued through the soft, leaf-littered trail through the bamboo and out, where we entered a zone of scattered bamboo stands, scattered trees, and a broad meadow of head-high herbaceous growth. The gorillas were here, almost invisible at first in the thicket of weed-like growth, but eventually we found some spots where some young gorillas played in a clearing.
The hour went quite successfully, with two juveniles playing, another ‘crazy’ juvenile that, if its habits continue, will result in a virtual clone of the nut-case subadult we had yesterday. In one clearing we had the large silverback lying on his belly, surrounded by a few juveniles playing, while behind us, but too hidden for good shots, a mother nursed a less-than-month-old baby. Towards the end of the shoot the silverback lumbered by us, quite close, then crashed into the vegetation where, eventually, it settled in a sitting position to feed, offering great shots.
We made it back to the lodge before the rain began, but in the valley we could see a huge, black storm brewing. It enveloped our lodge while we had lunch, so we suspended any afternoon activities to simply download, but within an hour the weather cleared and the afternoon was beautiful. Nonetheless, we stayed at the lodge, as our guide had left and we had plenty of images to edit.
Day 4. Amahoro Group
An incredibly complete and rewarding day, that encompassed great Gorilla shooting, a hole of Golf, and a wonderful performance of Rwanda dancers.
The day dawned crystal clear, and only odd, and very prominent lenticular clouds over Karasimbi, the tallest of the volcanic peaks at 14,000, gave a clue as to any change in weather. By the time we reached the departure point for Amahoro, the skies were mostly cloudy, promising either ideal shooting conditions or rain. The road to this departure point was little more than a bumpy cattle track, with a lot of jostling as we bounced about, and with kids selling their gorilla art work running along side. One boy, who could not have been older than 9, ran beside us for at least ¼ mile, perhaps even a half, until I stopped Alex so that I could buy a picture. I was curious whether or not the kid would run along side our vehicle for what would have ended up to be a 2 mile run, but pity took over and that experiment ended.
The hike to Amahoro took about 45 minutes of continuous uphill hike through the bamboo forest, and towards the end we could hear the ‘pok, pok, pok’ of chest beating. As we unpacked and readied ourselves for the gorilla shoot, two large Black-backs entered our clearing, and one, as it raced by grabbed and knocked over Helen. The two were in a constant chase-wrestle-dominance contest, and the pair ran by frequently, although never offering another great shot as they charged by us. Helen ended up with bruise on her leg from the grab, but was otherwise OK.
Shortly after, as we started our shoot, one of the two black-backs rose from the vegetation and charged towards us, chest beating. For me, this was the dream shot I’ve been lusting for, but as I shot it stomping towards me I thought my thumb had left the back focus button, and the shots would be soft and out-of-focus. As it turned out, whatever my impression was was wrong, and the shots ended up in pretty good focus. Later, we had another chance when one of the two spun in a circle while chest-beating, and later still, another did likewise while sitting down.
Looking for the entire family group we descended through a bamboo belt and arrived on a steep hillside and ledge where a family group of four, with a silverback and female and two young, lay in the open. The going was tough, and John, just before reaching the safety of relatively flat footing on the ledge, tripped on a vine and plummeted headfirst towards me. As best I could I tried to stop his fall while moving my gear, but his momentum knocked me down the slope where, for a scary second as my leg went back in a true split, I was worried I’d break my leg. As it was, I twisted and avoided that tension, although for the next instant my hamstring cramped painfully, but that too passed quickly. I was unhurt, and so was John, who landed next to a sharp machete, and within a few seconds both of us were back on our feet and photographing the family.
Our guide wanted us to see the other gorillas and from there we headed down a snaking route through slick weeds and dark, confining bamboo corridors where we found an even bigger family, which included a very young gorilla, complete with spiked out hair. One of the Silverbacks here had lost a hand, but functioned well with one good arm and an abbreviated stump for the other.
The route down went fairly smoothly, through stinging nettles that caught very few of us, and we arrived back to our vehicle before a light sprinkle began.
After lunch, Gilbert, from the Gorilla’s Nest, had organized a Golf Tournament between the “McDonald group” and the hotel staff. All of us attended, and some of us had never wielded a golf club before. Those novices, by the way, did quite well! Mercifully, however, a looming thunderstorm climbed overhead, and our game was cut short.
At 4:30PM, the hotel had organized a great dance display of traditional Tutsi dances. Some of these dancers we’ve known for years, as little girls and boys, and it was wonderful to see them developing as consummate actors as they danced. Leslie and Petra joined in, outfitted in Tutsi lion-like head-dresses, and the shooting was fun, followed by speeches of appreciation by the dancers for our long-time support. It capped a great afternoon.
Day 5 Group 13, Agushya
The day started cloudy and brooding, and our worry was that it would start raining before we would get in our trek. At our departure point it did indeed begin to rain, but we no sooner had our rain gear unpacked when the rain stopped, and as we began to hike the skies were literally swept clean of any clouds. Now, our worry was whether or not we’d have the gorillas in deep shade or bright, contrasty light.
We ascended up the volcano slope until we reached the rim of one of the lower calderas, where we met our trackers. The gorillas, we learned, were down inside the caldera, and for the first time we would be descending the steep slope, entering a fairy land of Middle-Earth landscapes of moss-draped trees, orchids, and hanging goats-beard lichens. We hoped that the gorillas would be amongst these trees, and as we walked I envisioned the wide-angle images I’d compose to take advantage of this wonderful scene. Instead, we climbed, going up the slope on the opposite side of the caldera.
The gorillas were in their first morning siesta, where close to a dozen of the 25 gorillas making up this group had gathered in an opening. The bank was steep, and we had to dig our toes or heels into the soft earth to anchor ourselves, dodging stinging nettles that carpeted some of the slope. Action varied, with three-year-olds climbing atop a tall spike of vegetation to play ‘king of the mountain,’ and mothers sitting upon day beds. One mother cuddled her 18 month old, and then laid upon her back in a Madonna-like pose that I couldn’t stop shooting.
The big silverback stayed hidden, although we could occasionally hear his grunts, and toward the end of our session we sought him out, sitting in deep shade beneath an umbrella of bamboo. I was out of position, hoping that he might look back over his shoulder and give me a glance, but instead he ambled off, leading several of his family group to follow behind. We followed, too, where he settled to feed on some bamboo, and where another 18 month old came out to greet us, pounding his chest and bobbing about, extremely curious by our presence.
To leave, we had to descend the crater slope again, where we spent nearly an hour in this beautiful forest, as the light varied from shade to shafts of sun. The scene was exquisite to the eye, and I just hoped I could give it some sort of justice with a lens. The hike out followed the path we’d use to climb down, and took about 20 minutes to ascend, up steep, loamy steps, but everyone made it with only a bit of exertion.
After lunch, we headed to the Volcanoes Lodge that overlooks the Twin Lakes where we planned on shooting scenic. En route, overlooking one of the lakes, we did a lengthy but spontaneous portrait session with some children and women, who delighted in seeing their pictures on our LCD screens. Whatever shyness they started with quickly vanished, and I ended up hugging, and being hugged, by several of our subjects for a final round of portraits.
At we neared the mountain top a black cloud quickly advanced, and we had only a few minutes of shooting before the rain began with force. Mary worked on some landscapes in the dramatic light, and I posed a boy named Robert who I silhouetted against the volcano background. With a deluge upon us, we headed back to the lodge.
Day 5. Kwitonda
Another brilliant dawn, with virtually no clouds in the sky, including over the volcanoes, but as we went through our briefing at Park Headquarters clouds began to build. Our hike to the Park boundary was the steepest and hardest part of the trek, and within fifteen minutes we were at our site, having passed through a series of bamboo belts.
The Kwitonda group is comprised of 20, with three silverbacks, including the largest, the namesake of the group. This group had emigrated from the Congo, and had the scars to prove it, with missing digits on several of the older gorillas. The gorillas were clustered in a fairly open glade of bamboo, with large clearings between stands of dense bamboo. Our first, a silverback, sat in the open, with harsh sunlight streaming down upon it, and shooting was tough. Within a few minutes the gorilla moved into the shade, and seconds later, a cloud obscured the sun, and the lights literally went out it seemed so dark.
Over the next hour the gorillas moved frequently, and several times we had one or more of the huge silverbacks lumbering by us, sometimes within feet of us as they passed. Several babies teased us, but at the end of the shoot we were led to a mother in an open area that was playing with, and then nursing, her year-old baby. The scene was so peaceful and tranquil, a fitting ending for our experience with the gorillas, especially when contrasted with our first encounter, with the crazy black-back and the silverback that had run about and stomped through an open glade.
Returning to the lodge we changed, grabbed cameras, and headed for the Twin Lakes area again where we shot landscapes, dramatic with the storms that raged around us, and people, including three men that we posed with tools with the volcanoes as a backdrop. We returned to the lodge by 5, after a very exhausting but rewarding day.
Day 6.
Mary awoke in the middle of the night with terrible stomach cramps, an affliction she’d had one other time in Kenya. She was almost incapacitated, but fortunately today was a travel/shooting day back to Kilgali and we were finished with our trekking. Getting some medicine from a pharmacy that was, fortunately, open on Sunday, Mary and I headed to Kilgali with a driver and the luggage while the rest of the group went on with our guide to do a very rewarding day of landscape photography before returning to the hotel in Kilgali in late afternoon. We had our final dinner in Kilgali, turning in early for our flight back to Nairobi.
Day 7.
In contrast to previous departure days, our flight today was mid-morning so we had a leisurely breakfast at a decent hour, a no-rush trip to the airport, and an easy flight back to Nairobi. With a great deal of sadness the trip ended, marking one of the most successful, productive visits we’ve had to Rwanda and the mountain gorillas.
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Rwanda’s Mountain Gorillas Photo Tour
Trip Report
October 2010
Read a Trip Report from one of our Participants
Wide, wild eyes, flared nostrils, panting breathes, descriptive of several of our participants, not the Mountain Gorillas as the first minutes of our first gorilla trek transpired. That experience marked one of the true ‘dream shoots’ we’ve wished for, with a troop of gorillas, a cooperative Silverback, and a crazy, semi-aggressive subadult male pausing in a lawn-like mountain clearing. It was the beginning of a great trip.
Day 1.
We left Nairobi early, arriving in Kilgali by 11AM after a stopover in Burundi’s capital, which marked our first fly-over of this tiny country to Rwanda’s south. After lunch, we arrived at our lodge, The Gorilla’s Nest, by 5, where we were met by our old friends, the hotel manager, assistant, and various staff members. Getting ready for the next day’s trek took a few hours, as we debated over which camera, lenses, and clothing, but despite this had an early time to bed. By dinner, a raging storm had started, and through much of the night it rained heavily, a not atypical event at this time of year.
Day 2. Our first Trek, Sabyinyo.
Breakfast was at 6 and by 6:50 we were at the Park entrance where, again, we met all of our old friends, the guides, warden, and personnel of the park. We discovered, then, that we’d also have our favorite guide, which we hadn’t expected until the following day. Within minutes, we were assigned our first group, Sabyinyo, and assembled for our meeting.
The trek to the Sabyinyo group went smoothly, with every member of the group being in shape and speedy. En route we spotted several small Flap-necked Chameleons, which Mary and I always look for, competing as to who will find one first. As it was, several of our porters picked out chameleons before I finally saw my first one without help, a brown-colored lizard huddled upon a length of dead twig, matching the limb exactly.
We arrived at a mountain clearing called ‘Agasha Motes,’ at least that being the phonetic spelling, meaning ‘mountain clearing where smoke isn’t visible from below,’ although that’s my wordy translation. The clearing lies in a natural hollow where, 40 years before, the Twa, or Pigmies, hunted and made camp and where, because of the sunken clearing amidst a ring of hills and mountains, smoke would not be visible from the valley below, or to the Rangers or Wardens. This clearing, just a few hundred yards above one of our favorite calderas, ‘Guamacuri,’ is surrounded by moss-covered trees and bamboo stands, and it is here that we’ve always hoped we’d someday see gorillas.
The Trackers greeted us here, and we prepared our gear, but our guide had only entered a short distance into the forest when we were told to wait, at the forest edge. We could see bamboo shaking and one large stem crash to the ground after a piercing ‘snap,’ and dimly we could make out the shape of a few gorillas. Seconds later, a black form materialized along the trail we were on, and we were told to back up. The gorilla charged our guide, flailing for a moment with both arms and pushing him back, almost toppling Leslie who was a few feet behind him. We knew this gorilla, now a 6-8 year old large male subadult, for even as a 2-year old he was curious and bold, almost to the point of aggression even at that age. Now, he was a domineering terror!
The subadult backed off and sat down for a few minutes, as we shot pictures, but soon after he resumed his antics. For the next ten minutes or so he charged across the clearing multiple times, keeping to all-fours but pounding the ground with resounding slaps with all four legs as he pranced about, demonstrating his power and dominance. Another, larger Silverback entered the clearing, and he acted as some sort of check upon the subadult, which retreated into the forest. The silverback did a few half-hearted charges as well, but never stood completely upright as he raced forward. Nonetheless, throughout all of this we were scrambling, not only to get shots but to also keep out of the path of either gorilla as they raced about. For our first-timers, Petra, Leslie, and Helen particularly, it was a scary experience, filled with wide-eyes and, at times, squeaks and squeals of momentary fright.
The entire family group entered the clearing and passed by us, all congregating beneath a large tree that some climbed and others scratched against, before all disappeared into the thick bamboo forest. We followed, and for the next forty minutes or so scrambled about, getting angles and moving from the path of gorillas weaving through the thicket. The light is always low inside the bamboo forest, but it virtually disappeared, and all of us were shooting at high ISOs, or not shooting at all. I’d swear we had two hours with the group, as we had multiple angles and our time outside, in the clearing, seemed so long, but Mary keeps a record of all of our times, and, incredibly, we were with the gorillas for exactly one full hour.
We headed back, quite satisfied, as heavy clouds continued to gather over the volcanoes. Thunderstorms rolled past throughout the afternoon, and as I write this all of the volcanoes are masked in clouds.
Day 3. Hirwa Group
We headed to the Hirwa Group, which boasts one of the, if not the, largest Silverback Mountain Gorilla in the park. Alex drove us up some very bumpy, erratic tracks not designed for a vehicle, and from there we hiked up a steep hillside to the Park boundary.
As is typical, our trek took us through several levels of vegetation, starting with a thin strip of woodland, followed by low shrub growth and weeds, and through a dense belt of bamboo. While very pretty to see, with a greenish cast tinting the row upon row, and continuous tall columns of bamboo, we always dread shooting in the bamboo forest as the canopy simply blacks out any light. As we hiked, our very bright and sunny sky gradually clouded over, and we had hopes that we’d have perfect light – a veil of light clouds – when we found the gorillas. Our trek continued through the soft, leaf-littered trail through the bamboo and out, where we entered a zone of scattered bamboo stands, scattered trees, and a broad meadow of head-high herbaceous growth. The gorillas were here, almost invisible at first in the thicket of weed-like growth, but eventually we found some spots where some young gorillas played in a clearing.
The hour went quite successfully, with two juveniles playing, another ‘crazy’ juvenile that, if its habits continue, will result in a virtual clone of the nut-case subadult we had yesterday. In one clearing we had the large silverback lying on his belly, surrounded by a few juveniles playing, while behind us, but too hidden for good shots, a mother nursed a less-than-month-old baby. Towards the end of the shoot the silverback lumbered by us, quite close, then crashed into the vegetation where, eventually, it settled in a sitting position to feed, offering great shots.
We made it back to the lodge before the rain began, but in the valley we could see a huge, black storm brewing. It enveloped our lodge while we had lunch, so we suspended any afternoon activities to simply download, but within an hour the weather cleared and the afternoon was beautiful. Nonetheless, we stayed at the lodge, as our guide had left and we had plenty of images to edit.
Day 4. Amahoro Group
An incredibly complete and rewarding day, that encompassed great Gorilla shooting, a hole of Golf, and a wonderful performance of Rwanda dancers.
The day dawned crystal clear, and only odd, and very prominent lenticular clouds over Karasimbi, the tallest of the volcanic peaks at 14,000, gave a clue as to any change in weather. By the time we reached the departure point for Amahoro, the skies were mostly cloudy, promising either ideal shooting conditions or rain. The road to this departure point was little more than a bumpy cattle track, with a lot of jostling as we bounced about, and with kids selling their gorilla art work running along side. One boy, who could not have been older than 9, ran beside us for at least ¼ mile, perhaps even a half, until I stopped Alex so that I could buy a picture. I was curious whether or not the kid would run along side our vehicle for what would have ended up to be a 2 mile run, but pity took over and that experiment ended.
The hike to Amahoro took about 45 minutes of continuous uphill hike through the bamboo forest, and towards the end we could hear the ‘pok, pok, pok’ of chest beating. As we unpacked and readied ourselves for the gorilla shoot, two large Black-backs entered our clearing, and one, as it raced by grabbed and knocked over Helen. The two were in a constant chase-wrestle-dominance contest, and the pair ran by frequently, although never offering another great shot as they charged by us. Helen ended up with bruise on her leg from the grab, but was otherwise OK.
Shortly after, as we started our shoot, one of the two black-backs rose from the vegetation and charged towards us, chest beating. For me, this was the dream shot I’ve been lusting for, but as I shot it stomping towards me I thought my thumb had left the back focus button, and the shots would be soft and out-of-focus. As it turned out, whatever my impression was was wrong, and the shots ended up in pretty good focus. Later, we had another chance when one of the two spun in a circle while chest-beating, and later still, another did likewise while sitting down.
Looking for the entire family group we descended through a bamboo belt and arrived on a steep hillside and ledge where a family group of four, with a silverback and female and two young, lay in the open. The going was tough, and John, just before reaching the safety of relatively flat footing on the ledge, tripped on a vine and plummeted headfirst towards me. As best I could I tried to stop his fall while moving my gear, but his momentum knocked me down the slope where, for a scary second as my leg went back in a true split, I was worried I’d break my leg. As it was, I twisted and avoided that tension, although for the next instant my hamstring cramped painfully, but that too passed quickly. I was unhurt, and so was John, who landed next to a sharp machete, and within a few seconds both of us were back on our feet and photographing the family.
Our guide wanted us to see the other gorillas and from there we headed down a snaking route through slick weeds and dark, confining bamboo corridors where we found an even bigger family, which included a very young gorilla, complete with spiked out hair. One of the Silverbacks here had lost a hand, but functioned well with one good arm and an abbreviated stump for the other.
The route down went fairly smoothly, through stinging nettles that caught very few of us, and we arrived back to our vehicle before a light sprinkle began.
After lunch, Gilbert, from the Gorilla’s Nest, had organized a Golf Tournament between the “McDonald group” and the hotel staff. All of us attended, and some of us had never wielded a golf club before. Those novices, by the way, did quite well! Mercifully, however, a looming thunderstorm climbed overhead, and our game was cut short.
At 4:30PM, the hotel had organized a great dance display of traditional Tutsi dances. Some of these dancers we’ve known for years, as little girls and boys, and it was wonderful to see them developing as consummate actors as they danced. Leslie and Petra joined in, outfitted in Tutsi lion-like head-dresses, and the shooting was fun, followed by speeches of appreciation by the dancers for our long-time support. It capped a great afternoon.
Day 5 Group 13, Agushya
The day started cloudy and brooding, and our worry was that it would start raining before we would get in our trek. At our departure point it did indeed begin to rain, but we no sooner had our rain gear unpacked when the rain stopped, and as we began to hike the skies were literally swept clean of any clouds. Now, our worry was whether or not we’d have the gorillas in deep shade or bright, contrasty light.
We ascended up the volcano slope until we reached the rim of one of the lower calderas, where we met our trackers. The gorillas, we learned, were down inside the caldera, and for the first time we would be descending the steep slope, entering a fairy land of Middle-Earth landscapes of moss-draped trees, orchids, and hanging goats-beard lichens. We hoped that the gorillas would be amongst these trees, and as we walked I envisioned the wide-angle images I’d compose to take advantage of this wonderful scene. Instead, we climbed, going up the slope on the opposite side of the caldera.
The gorillas were in their first morning siesta, where close to a dozen of the 25 gorillas making up this group had gathered in an opening. The bank was steep, and we had to dig our toes or heels into the soft earth to anchor ourselves, dodging stinging nettles that carpeted some of the slope. Action varied, with three-year-olds climbing atop a tall spike of vegetation to play ‘king of the mountain,’ and mothers sitting upon day beds. One mother cuddled her 18 month old, and then laid upon her back in a Madonna-like pose that I couldn’t stop shooting.
The big silverback stayed hidden, although we could occasionally hear his grunts, and toward the end of our session we sought him out, sitting in deep shade beneath an umbrella of bamboo. I was out of position, hoping that he might look back over his shoulder and give me a glance, but instead he ambled off, leading several of his family group to follow behind. We followed, too, where he settled to feed on some bamboo, and where another 18 month old came out to greet us, pounding his chest and bobbing about, extremely curious by our presence.
To leave, we had to descend the crater slope again, where we spent nearly an hour in this beautiful forest, as the light varied from shade to shafts of sun. The scene was exquisite to the eye, and I just hoped I could give it some sort of justice with a lens. The hike out followed the path we’d use to climb down, and took about 20 minutes to ascend, up steep, loamy steps, but everyone made it with only a bit of exertion.
After lunch, we headed to the Volcanoes Lodge that overlooks the Twin Lakes where we planned on shooting scenic. En route, overlooking one of the lakes, we did a lengthy but spontaneous portrait session with some children and women, who delighted in seeing their pictures on our LCD screens. Whatever shyness they started with quickly vanished, and I ended up hugging, and being hugged, by several of our subjects for a final round of portraits.
At we neared the mountain top a black cloud quickly advanced, and we had only a few minutes of shooting before the rain began with force. Mary worked on some landscapes in the dramatic light, and I posed a boy named Robert who I silhouetted against the volcano background. With a deluge upon us, we headed back to the lodge.
Day 5. Kwitonda
Another brilliant dawn, with virtually no clouds in the sky, including over the volcanoes, but as we went through our briefing at Park Headquarters clouds began to build. Our hike to the Park boundary was the steepest and hardest part of the trek, and within fifteen minutes we were at our site, having passed through a series of bamboo belts.
The Kwitonda group is comprised of 20, with three silverbacks, including the largest, the namesake of the group. This group had emigrated from the Congo, and had the scars to prove it, with missing digits on several of the older gorillas. The gorillas were clustered in a fairly open glade of bamboo, with large clearings between stands of dense bamboo. Our first, a silverback, sat in the open, with harsh sunlight streaming down upon it, and shooting was tough. Within a few minutes the gorilla moved into the shade, and seconds later, a cloud obscured the sun, and the lights literally went out it seemed so dark.
Over the next hour the gorillas moved frequently, and several times we had one or more of the huge silverbacks lumbering by us, sometimes within feet of us as they passed. Several babies teased us, but at the end of the shoot we were led to a mother in an open area that was playing with, and then nursing, her year-old baby. The scene was so peaceful and tranquil, a fitting ending for our experience with the gorillas, especially when contrasted with our first encounter, with the crazy black-back and the silverback that had run about and stomped through an open glade.
Returning to the lodge we changed, grabbed cameras, and headed for the Twin Lakes area again where we shot landscapes, dramatic with the storms that raged around us, and people, including three men that we posed with tools with the volcanoes as a backdrop. We returned to the lodge by 5, after a very exhausting but rewarding day.
Day 6.
Mary awoke in the middle of the night with terrible stomach cramps, an affliction she’d had one other time in Kenya. She was almost incapacitated, but fortunately today was a travel/shooting day back to Kilgali and we were finished with our trekking. Getting some medicine from a pharmacy that was, fortunately, open on Sunday, Mary and I headed to Kilgali with a driver and the luggage while the rest of the group went on with our guide to do a very rewarding day of landscape photography before returning to the hotel in Kilgali in late afternoon. We had our final dinner in Kilgali, turning in early for our flight back to Nairobi.
Day 7.
In contrast to previous departure days, our flight today was mid-morning so we had a leisurely breakfast at a decent hour, a no-rush trip to the airport, and an easy flight back to Nairobi. With a great deal of sadness the trip ended, marking one of the most successful, productive visits we’ve had to Rwanda and the mountain gorillas.
Rwanda’s Mountain Gorillas Photo Tour
Trip Report
October 2010
Read a Trip Report from one of our Participants
Wide, wild eyes, flared nostrils, panting breathes, descriptive of several of our participants, not the Mountain Gorillas as the first minutes of our first gorilla trek transpired. That experience marked one of the true ‘dream shoots’ we’ve wished for, with a troop of gorillas, a cooperative Silverback, and a crazy, semi-aggressive subadult male pausing in a lawn-like mountain clearing. It was the beginning of a great trip.
Day 1.
We left Nairobi early, arriving in Kilgali by 11AM after a stopover in Burundi’s capital, which marked our first fly-over of this tiny country to Rwanda’s south. After lunch, we arrived at our lodge, The Gorilla’s Nest, by 5, where we were met by our old friends, the hotel manager, assistant, and various staff members. Getting ready for the next day’s trek took a few hours, as we debated over which camera, lenses, and clothing, but despite this had an early time to bed. By dinner, a raging storm had started, and through much of the night it rained heavily, a not atypical event at this time of year.
Day 2. Our first Trek, Sabyinyo.
Breakfast was at 6 and by 6:50 we were at the Park entrance where, again, we met all of our old friends, the guides, warden, and personnel of the park. We discovered, then, that we’d also have our favorite guide, which we hadn’t expected until the following day. Within minutes, we were assigned our first group, Sabyinyo, and assembled for our meeting.
The trek to the Sabyinyo group went smoothly, with every member of the group being in shape and speedy. En route we spotted several small Flap-necked Chameleons, which Mary and I always look for, competing as to who will find one first. As it was, several of our porters picked out chameleons before I finally saw my first one without help, a brown-colored lizard huddled upon a length of dead twig, matching the limb exactly.
We arrived at a mountain clearing called ‘Agasha Motes,’ at least that being the phonetic spelling, meaning ‘mountain clearing where smoke isn’t visible from below,’ although that’s my wordy translation. The clearing lies in a natural hollow where, 40 years before, the Twa, or Pigmies, hunted and made camp and where, because of the sunken clearing amidst a ring of hills and mountains, smoke would not be visible from the valley below, or to the Rangers or Wardens. This clearing, just a few hundred yards above one of our favorite calderas, ‘Guamacuri,’ is surrounded by moss-covered trees and bamboo stands, and it is here that we’ve always hoped we’d someday see gorillas.
The Trackers greeted us here, and we prepared our gear, but our guide had only entered a short distance into the forest when we were told to wait, at the forest edge. We could see bamboo shaking and one large stem crash to the ground after a piercing ‘snap,’ and dimly we could make out the shape of a few gorillas. Seconds later, a black form materialized along the trail we were on, and we were told to back up. The gorilla charged our guide, flailing for a moment with both arms and pushing him back, almost toppling Leslie who was a few feet behind him. We knew this gorilla, now a 6-8 year old large male subadult, for even as a 2-year old he was curious and bold, almost to the point of aggression even at that age. Now, he was a domineering terror!
The subadult backed off and sat down for a few minutes, as we shot pictures, but soon after he resumed his antics. For the next ten minutes or so he charged across the clearing multiple times, keeping to all-fours but pounding the ground with resounding slaps with all four legs as he pranced about, demonstrating his power and dominance. Another, larger Silverback entered the clearing, and he acted as some sort of check upon the subadult, which retreated into the forest. The silverback did a few half-hearted charges as well, but never stood completely upright as he raced forward. Nonetheless, throughout all of this we were scrambling, not only to get shots but to also keep out of the path of either gorilla as they raced about. For our first-timers, Petra, Leslie, and Helen particularly, it was a scary experience, filled with wide-eyes and, at times, squeaks and squeals of momentary fright.
The entire family group entered the clearing and passed by us, all congregating beneath a large tree that some climbed and others scratched against, before all disappeared into the thick bamboo forest. We followed, and for the next forty minutes or so scrambled about, getting angles and moving from the path of gorillas weaving through the thicket. The light is always low inside the bamboo forest, but it virtually disappeared, and all of us were shooting at high ISOs, or not shooting at all. I’d swear we had two hours with the group, as we had multiple angles and our time outside, in the clearing, seemed so long, but Mary keeps a record of all of our times, and, incredibly, we were with the gorillas for exactly one full hour.
We headed back, quite satisfied, as heavy clouds continued to gather over the volcanoes. Thunderstorms rolled past throughout the afternoon, and as I write this all of the volcanoes are masked in clouds.
Day 3. Hirwa Group
We headed to the Hirwa Group, which boasts one of the, if not the, largest Silverback Mountain Gorilla in the park. Alex drove us up some very bumpy, erratic tracks not designed for a vehicle, and from there we hiked up a steep hillside to the Park boundary.
As is typical, our trek took us through several levels of vegetation, starting with a thin strip of woodland, followed by low shrub growth and weeds, and through a dense belt of bamboo. While very pretty to see, with a greenish cast tinting the row upon row, and continuous tall columns of bamboo, we always dread shooting in the bamboo forest as the canopy simply blacks out any light. As we hiked, our very bright and sunny sky gradually clouded over, and we had hopes that we’d have perfect light – a veil of light clouds – when we found the gorillas. Our trek continued through the soft, leaf-littered trail through the bamboo and out, where we entered a zone of scattered bamboo stands, scattered trees, and a broad meadow of head-high herbaceous growth. The gorillas were here, almost invisible at first in the thicket of weed-like growth, but eventually we found some spots where some young gorillas played in a clearing.
The hour went quite successfully, with two juveniles playing, another ‘crazy’ juvenile that, if its habits continue, will result in a virtual clone of the nut-case subadult we had yesterday. In one clearing we had the large silverback lying on his belly, surrounded by a few juveniles playing, while behind us, but too hidden for good shots, a mother nursed a less-than-month-old baby. Towards the end of the shoot the silverback lumbered by us, quite close, then crashed into the vegetation where, eventually, it settled in a sitting position to feed, offering great shots.
We made it back to the lodge before the rain began, but in the valley we could see a huge, black storm brewing. It enveloped our lodge while we had lunch, so we suspended any afternoon activities to simply download, but within an hour the weather cleared and the afternoon was beautiful. Nonetheless, we stayed at the lodge, as our guide had left and we had plenty of images to edit.
Day 4. Amahoro Group
An incredibly complete and rewarding day, that encompassed great Gorilla shooting, a hole of Golf, and a wonderful performance of Rwanda dancers.
The day dawned crystal clear, and only odd, and very prominent lenticular clouds over Karasimbi, the tallest of the volcanic peaks at 14,000, gave a clue as to any change in weather. By the time we reached the departure point for Amahoro, the skies were mostly cloudy, promising either ideal shooting conditions or rain. The road to this departure point was little more than a bumpy cattle track, with a lot of jostling as we bounced about, and with kids selling their gorilla art work running along side. One boy, who could not have been older than 9, ran beside us for at least ¼ mile, perhaps even a half, until I stopped Alex so that I could buy a picture. I was curious whether or not the kid would run along side our vehicle for what would have ended up to be a 2 mile run, but pity took over and that experiment ended.
The hike to Amahoro took about 45 minutes of continuous uphill hike through the bamboo forest, and towards the end we could hear the ‘pok, pok, pok’ of chest beating. As we unpacked and readied ourselves for the gorilla shoot, two large Black-backs entered our clearing, and one, as it raced by grabbed and knocked over Helen. The two were in a constant chase-wrestle-dominance contest, and the pair ran by frequently, although never offering another great shot as they charged by us. Helen ended up with bruise on her leg from the grab, but was otherwise OK.
Shortly after, as we started our shoot, one of the two black-backs rose from the vegetation and charged towards us, chest beating. For me, this was the dream shot I’ve been lusting for, but as I shot it stomping towards me I thought my thumb had left the back focus button, and the shots would be soft and out-of-focus. As it turned out, whatever my impression was was wrong, and the shots ended up in pretty good focus. Later, we had another chance when one of the two spun in a circle while chest-beating, and later still, another did likewise while sitting down.
Looking for the entire family group we descended through a bamboo belt and arrived on a steep hillside and ledge where a family group of four, with a silverback and female and two young, lay in the open. The going was tough, and John, just before reaching the safety of relatively flat footing on the ledge, tripped on a vine and plummeted headfirst towards me. As best I could I tried to stop his fall while moving my gear, but his momentum knocked me down the slope where, for a scary second as my leg went back in a true split, I was worried I’d break my leg. As it was, I twisted and avoided that tension, although for the next instant my hamstring cramped painfully, but that too passed quickly. I was unhurt, and so was John, who landed next to a sharp machete, and within a few seconds both of us were back on our feet and photographing the family.
Our guide wanted us to see the other gorillas and from there we headed down a snaking route through slick weeds and dark, confining bamboo corridors where we found an even bigger family, which included a very young gorilla, complete with spiked out hair. One of the Silverbacks here had lost a hand, but functioned well with one good arm and an abbreviated stump for the other.
The route down went fairly smoothly, through stinging nettles that caught very few of us, and we arrived back to our vehicle before a light sprinkle began.
After lunch, Gilbert, from the Gorilla’s Nest, had organized a Golf Tournament between the “McDonald group” and the hotel staff. All of us attended, and some of us had never wielded a golf club before. Those novices, by the way, did quite well! Mercifully, however, a looming thunderstorm climbed overhead, and our game was cut short.
At 4:30PM, the hotel had organized a great dance display of traditional Tutsi dances. Some of these dancers we’ve known for years, as little girls and boys, and it was wonderful to see them developing as consummate actors as they danced. Leslie and Petra joined in, outfitted in Tutsi lion-like head-dresses, and the shooting was fun, followed by speeches of appreciation by the dancers for our long-time support. It capped a great afternoon.
Day 5 Group 13, Agushya
The day started cloudy and brooding, and our worry was that it would start raining before we would get in our trek. At our departure point it did indeed begin to rain, but we no sooner had our rain gear unpacked when the rain stopped, and as we began to hike the skies were literally swept clean of any clouds. Now, our worry was whether or not we’d have the gorillas in deep shade or bright, contrasty light.
We ascended up the volcano slope until we reached the rim of one of the lower calderas, where we met our trackers. The gorillas, we learned, were down inside the caldera, and for the first time we would be descending the steep slope, entering a fairy land of Middle-Earth landscapes of moss-draped trees, orchids, and hanging goats-beard lichens. We hoped that the gorillas would be amongst these trees, and as we walked I envisioned the wide-angle images I’d compose to take advantage of this wonderful scene. Instead, we climbed, going up the slope on the opposite side of the caldera.
The gorillas were in their first morning siesta, where close to a dozen of the 25 gorillas making up this group had gathered in an opening. The bank was steep, and we had to dig our toes or heels into the soft earth to anchor ourselves, dodging stinging nettles that carpeted some of the slope. Action varied, with three-year-olds climbing atop a tall spike of vegetation to play ‘king of the mountain,’ and mothers sitting upon day beds. One mother cuddled her 18 month old, and then laid upon her back in a Madonna-like pose that I couldn’t stop shooting.
The big silverback stayed hidden, although we could occasionally hear his grunts, and toward the end of our session we sought him out, sitting in deep shade beneath an umbrella of bamboo. I was out of position, hoping that he might look back over his shoulder and give me a glance, but instead he ambled off, leading several of his family group to follow behind. We followed, too, where he settled to feed on some bamboo, and where another 18 month old came out to greet us, pounding his chest and bobbing about, extremely curious by our presence.
To leave, we had to descend the crater slope again, where we spent nearly an hour in this beautiful forest, as the light varied from shade to shafts of sun. The scene was exquisite to the eye, and I just hoped I could give it some sort of justice with a lens. The hike out followed the path we’d use to climb down, and took about 20 minutes to ascend, up steep, loamy steps, but everyone made it with only a bit of exertion.
After lunch, we headed to the Volcanoes Lodge that overlooks the Twin Lakes where we planned on shooting scenic. En route, overlooking one of the lakes, we did a lengthy but spontaneous portrait session with some children and women, who delighted in seeing their pictures on our LCD screens. Whatever shyness they started with quickly vanished, and I ended up hugging, and being hugged, by several of our subjects for a final round of portraits.
At we neared the mountain top a black cloud quickly advanced, and we had only a few minutes of shooting before the rain began with force. Mary worked on some landscapes in the dramatic light, and I posed a boy named Robert who I silhouetted against the volcano background. With a deluge upon us, we headed back to the lodge.
Day 5. Kwitonda
Another brilliant dawn, with virtually no clouds in the sky, including over the volcanoes, but as we went through our briefing at Park Headquarters clouds began to build. Our hike to the Park boundary was the steepest and hardest part of the trek, and within fifteen minutes we were at our site, having passed through a series of bamboo belts.
The Kwitonda group is comprised of 20, with three silverbacks, including the largest, the namesake of the group. This group had emigrated from the Congo, and had the scars to prove it, with missing digits on several of the older gorillas. The gorillas were clustered in a fairly open glade of bamboo, with large clearings between stands of dense bamboo. Our first, a silverback, sat in the open, with harsh sunlight streaming down upon it, and shooting was tough. Within a few minutes the gorilla moved into the shade, and seconds later, a cloud obscured the sun, and the lights literally went out it seemed so dark.
Over the next hour the gorillas moved frequently, and several times we had one or more of the huge silverbacks lumbering by us, sometimes within feet of us as they passed. Several babies teased us, but at the end of the shoot we were led to a mother in an open area that was playing with, and then nursing, her year-old baby. The scene was so peaceful and tranquil, a fitting ending for our experience with the gorillas, especially when contrasted with our first encounter, with the crazy black-back and the silverback that had run about and stomped through an open glade.
Returning to the lodge we changed, grabbed cameras, and headed for the Twin Lakes area again where we shot landscapes, dramatic with the storms that raged around us, and people, including three men that we posed with tools with the volcanoes as a backdrop. We returned to the lodge by 5, after a very exhausting but rewarding day.
Day 6.
Mary awoke in the middle of the night with terrible stomach cramps, an affliction she’d had one other time in Kenya. She was almost incapacitated, but fortunately today was a travel/shooting day back to Kilgali and we were finished with our trekking. Getting some medicine from a pharmacy that was, fortunately, open on Sunday, Mary and I headed to Kilgali with a driver and the luggage while the rest of the group went on with our guide to do a very rewarding day of landscape photography before returning to the hotel in Kilgali in late afternoon. We had our final dinner in Kilgali, turning in early for our flight back to Nairobi.
Day 7.
In contrast to previous departure days, our flight today was mid-morning so we had a leisurely breakfast at a decent hour, a no-rush trip to the airport, and an easy flight back to Nairobi. With a great deal of sadness the trip ended, marking one of the most successful, productive visits we’ve had to Rwanda and the mountain gorillas.
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Call us at (717) 543-6423 Or FAX us at: (717) 543-5342
About Your Leaders
Contact our Office to REGISTER for this Photo Shoot
Return to HomePage or to photo tours general information.
