Uganda 2025 Day 14

Uganda 2025 Day 14

Today is the day for safari! Last night we preordered breakfast. I did not want something heavy because we would be hiking, so I ordered the avocado toast with scrambled eggs and a strip of bacon. It was pretty good! Jeff stayed behind because he had a different permit than we did as it was purchased at a different time. He was able to sleep in and do the hike near that hotel and he ended pretty quick compared to us. Our group drove probably about an hour or more to get to the meeting point for our safari. Josh let me borrow his natural bug spray, but when one of the safari guides came over he suggested not putting on bug spray because there are not mosquitos and the wasps are attracted to the bug spray. I tried to use a wet wipe to wash it off, but I also put it on my clothes. Also, we were told to wear long pants and long sleeves, I assume because of all the plants that have thorns and other bugs. While waiting for our briefing to start we watched another group of locals sing, play drums, and dance. They gave a briefing that gave a history where we learned the safari prep started in 1991. They had to start going around the gorilla families to make it normal for them to be around humans without becoming aggressive. 1992 is when they first opened it to the public and they only had one person do it that year. Now they hand out a specific amount of permits for hikes each year. They send people out early in the morning to find the gorillas to inform the groups of where they are. We were also given safety instructions such as don’t look them in the eye and don’t run. In the end, they had walking sticks that we were able to use and bring back. I grabbed one even though I was not sure if I needed it. Each group only has 8 people on it and that was perfect for us to have two groups with no extra people. I went with the group that wanted the short trek. We were told the short, easy trek should be about 2 miles round trip and the longer, medium trek would be about 5 miles round trip. I picked the easy trek because I did not think I could do the longer one in the altitude and keep up with everyone… and breathe. In my group I had Papa Tony, Mama JoAnne, Dr David, Bethany, Algena, Sydney, Jodie, and photographer Ema.  We were part of the Posho group. They handed out masks and told us we only had to wear them when we were close to the gorillas so we don’t get them sick. After our group photo, we loaded in Sam’s vehicle and headed to our starting point. We were actually sent the wrong direction and had to reverse down the rode that has a drop off on one side. Sam was hugging that side which I was sitting on, so I leaned toward the middle and did not look. He did not have to far to reverse, but it was tense in the vehicle. He turned around and started going the other direction when our guide (Levi- pronounce levy) came riding up on a boda boda. We followed him to the trail head. Before we could start walking the porter (we paid to help us) filled a backpack with water that he carried for us to drink. We started by walk toward the rainforest down a steep hill. It was by/through some farmland. The guide stopped us at one point to talk to us about the crops that were there. There are wild elephants and other animals around so they plant tea plants on the boarder of their property to keep them away. I guess they don’t like them. On the way down the path, Algena fell at least one time because her shoes did not have tread. JoAnne also fell one time. It was so steep in a couple areas that they told us to walk down sideways. We finally made it to the jungle and not far in they asked us to stop talking. They heard noises in the trees like branches breaking. We had to be quiet in case it was elephants. They are actually another reason (other than the gorillas) that we have two people with guns with each team. The elephants should not be there, but they have come over from a nearby national park. Sadly we did not see any elephants. We continued walking. There was a decent amount of mud around, but also dryer spots after the rain from yesterday. We were coming close to a river and did find a big area of mud. JoAnne was in front of me and lost her shoe, but got it back. When I went, I stepped in a spot and sunk down into the mud that was 1/2-2/3 to my knee. I believe Jodie was behind me at that time and helped push me out. It was funny. Once we made it through the mud, we had to cross the river. Our guide and porter stood in the river helping us across. The moment we came across, we had to go directly up a steep hill. There was no room at the bottom to wait for everyone to go across and then go together. Not far from there we stopped for a rest while they waited to hear from the trackers. During this time we saw a gorilla nest on lower tree branches. Our guide explained about them to us. Not long after we started walking again, we started going uphill. Then they finally heard from the trackers, But we had gone up a lot. When they heard where the gorillas where. We ended up going back downhill in another direction. At this point, they were starting to cut their own trail with their machetes. We went across the river again in another area and through some ground that was soaked. The trackers on the guide were making noises to each other, so we know what direction to go. They finally had us stop and the gorillas were coming through the brush. The first one we saw was the silverback. He was so big we followed them and the trackers joined us. They cut down the brush around the gorillas when they stopped so we could see them better. I think one of the trackers cut down the brush too close to one of the females because at one point in time, the silverback ran over and grabbed a female by the leg to drag her further away from us. There were a couple of young gorillas that were playing, and the one that was climbing the tree. One of the trackers was standing next to me, and he pointed out the two week old baby. It was so little! We watched the Gorillas in the spot for around 40 minutes and took a bunch of photos and videos. Then we moved to where the silverback had moved to. Him and a couple others, including the mom and the newborn moved further away from us. We were able to get pretty close to them when we found where they moved to. The tracker had me sit down and some brush that he had cut on a slight slope. The photographer with us, Ema, sat on my right side. I suddenly realized that I had a better view of the baby than he did so I had him switch me spots so he could get good photos. We were there for a while and then it was time to leave. We were able to say goodbye to our trackers as they continued following the Gorillas. It was time to head out of the jungle now. The guide and the armed man in front walked so fast. The biggest problem with that was it was all uphill, and there were more slick spots in the mud. I walked up front most the time with David and Bethany while everyone else helped JoAnne and Algena in the back. David helped me up some slippery spots a few times. This part of the hike was very hard. We were not on a premade trail for probably half the hike. The branches that they were cutting down were slippery and the mud was slippery. I actually fell more on the trek out than the trek in because of the speed they were going and how slick like it was. We paused a few times for the back part of the group to catch up. We did pause a little longer a couple times to let them catch their breath before continuing. Not long after we were on an actual path again, we stopped and had lunch. Our hotel had packed wraps, an apple, a muffin and some g nuts for lunch that we carried with us. We asked how much further and the guide said at our pace it would be about 20 minutes to the main trail that was flat most of the way. The lunch break was good to have, but it was practically straight up from here on, and we were more in the mud than grass. At one point, the tracker with the gun, David, and Bethany were a little ways ahead of me and the rest of the group was behind me. I hit a slick spot and was not able to get up it. I was down on my hands and knees and anytime I tried to get my footing. I would slip backwards again. Thankfully, the group behind me was not too far. Our tracker came up beside me and helped me get up to an area that was not as slick. Then he went back down to the rest of the group. The very last couple feet to the main trail was kind of slick but I was able to make it up. Thankfully, David was there to help some of the other group members. Also, the guide was correct. It took us about 18 to 20 minutes to get to that point at our speed. The more flat walk was better. It was a good reprieve from the hike up and down the hills. Although we still had about a 20 minute walk with a little bit being uphill and downhill to get to where the car was going to pick us up. Normally we would drive back to the meeting area we started at, but the guide knew we were done. He had the guys who came to pick him and the other guides up bring the certificates that we get after the hike. They presented us our certificates before we got in the vehicle. JoAnne gave hers to the porter for all the hard work he did helping her and Algena. From there, we drove and met up with the other group who had finished already and had their certificate ceremony. Then we went to our new hotel. Algena and I stayed as roommates. After dinner, Arianna Ethan and I stayed in the dining room for a little bit with each other. I stayed to finish my milkshake. Arianna went back probably about 15 minutes before Ethan and I left. I tried to get to bed a little earlier this night because I knew I needed to sleep.