Mountain Gorillas in Ruhija...maybe try Rwanda?!

My main motivation to see the Mountain Gorillas was two fold. The first was that I worried that due to a very small range and specific habitat needs, the Mountain Gorillas could legitimately go extinct due to human pressures. Although they are well protected now, civil unrest (see Virunga National Park in the DRC) or a change in leadership or priorities could result in habitat being destroyed. I do not necessarily think this is imminent but it's always a risk that conservation takes a back seat to human development or stability issues. Or even sickness or some other unforeseen threat, after all there are only about 1,000 individuals left in the wild and a population of that size is extremely vulnerable to pressures. 

Pairing with this first point, my second point is that as much as I a believe the mountain gorillas are important to conserve, I need to put my money where my mouth is. Uganda is a country that could no doubt use the fertile land to grow cash crops but ensuring that the land is conserved costs money. And tourists should be willing to stump up the cash to encourage foreign governments to conserve their resources. 

Hard boundary going in.

Hard boundary.

 And don't get me wrong I also want to see the Mountain Gorillas as part of my wildlife loving side. But there is a kind of urgency to see the Mountain Gorillas and I suppose I put them in a category of being to impact conservation in a positive way through tourism. Luckily for us, there is a east African resident rate so at least we saved $100 off the normal rate of $700 per person. 

The surroundings of the park remind me of the Usambaras in Tanzania and only validated my motivations for coming. There were hard boundaries with the park, intensive agriculture on slopes, and the majority of lodges are not nested deep in the forest, rather they are on the outskirts of the village overlooking denuded hillsides. It was clear that the conservation efforts were needed. 

Now, I will preface this by saying the hour that we had with the Mountain Gorillas was incredibly special, a total highlight in my life's worth of wildlife experience. But this was unfortunately surrounded by the Uganda Wildlife Authority trying their hardest to ruin the experience. Some of this could have been reduced by clarifying what our plan was while other aspects of it were a complete lack of engagement by the staff except when it came time for receiving tips. 

The first thing that I found off-putting is that we were told to arrive at 7:30am. From 7:30am to 8:00am there was a community group drumming and dancing with the staff encouraging us to give tips to support the local community. I felt it was a little early for the performance and also thought it was unfortunate they did not mention anything about the park fees going towards community development rather they laid it on pretty thick that we should help the local community. They next had a briefing where they pushed a "local porter" for $15 that could help us with our bags as a group of sullen gentleman sat away from the group with a general mood that felt like they were waiting to be drafted for war. We were then split into groups and our group was told we would be driving 20 minutes to the starting point. This drive was closer to one hour and when we reached there was yet another group of willing porters. Even though they explicitly asked if we wanted a porter and everyone said no, here was yet another opportunity for us to feel obliged to hire a porter. It was distasteful and once again the porters were not friendly and engaging but rather looking like they were obligated to come and told to be still and quiet unless selected. This starting point was in the middle of a village and we walked up a small hill about 5 minutes to where we waited for another 1/2 hour before the guide started the trek. During this time we had a group of about 15 children viewing us and the guide communicated nothing with us. If I sound grumpy from all the standing around, I should mention that it was quite chilly this entire time (both at the main office and the hiking point) so standing in the cold and wind was not exactly the most comfortable. 

Finally, at about 10am we started off. By now all the excitement I had from 7:30am was unfortunately diminished though I was pleased to finally get into the forest. We went down a very steep slope and entered the forest, bushwhacking trails until we found the group of scouts no more than 400m from where the forest began. We spotted a group of gorillas but they had unfortunately crossed the river (which we had just crossed) so the rangers cut down a few ferns and made a make-shift bridge. They then broke up and surrounded the gorillas, essentially funneling them towards us on the steep slope. It was honestly incredibly hectic and felt a bit intrusive. Fortunately the gorillas settled down and we had an absolutely amazing hour with the gorillas. Although the main guide had told us to be quiet while trekking and to reduce our noise, the rangers chatted throughout the viewing. 

After an hour it was looking like heavy rain was threatening. We made our way outside of the forest and I asked if we could split up and make a run for it as there was still quite big slope to climb and some members of the group were quite slow. They instructed me to wait and I soon found out the reason for this was because they wanted the rangers and patrol to solicit for a tip. They were a little on the nose with how they groveled for the tip and it was honestly extremely off-putting, especially with the hefty price of the permit in the first place. We left the scouting group to continue their work and as predicted, heavy rains ensued. We had come with two rangers and we were with one in the front. He tried to make us literally stop and stand in the rain so that we could wait for the last ranger but we insisted that we continue to climb until the top and then head towards our vehicles. He kept trying to find excuses for us to wait, and I can not emphasize enough that it was pouring rain, and we continued to decline. I am sure we missed out on a solicitation for a tip but to be honest, the level of service and authenticity in their services did not warrant one. 

Reflecting on the experience I think there may be two factors at play. One is the reduction in tourism that has affected the industry in a dramatic away causing all the guides and rangers to have a reduced income. The second factor is that perhaps not all the gorilla treks take very long and the authorities want to stretch out the experience so that people feel like they got good value from their trip. Regardless, I also have to acknowledge that being someone that lives in east Africa and working with wildlife, perhaps I am just not their target audience and their approach is likely very effective for maximizing the spending of the guests. This is great for the tourism sector and those involved but unfortunately the experience was such a turn off for me that I would love to see the gorillas again but not Uganda given the current quality of services. Next stop will be Rwanda!