Ene 19 2011 Uganda: the last refuge of gorillas

• Entrance to Bwindi for Nkuringo

  https://www.viajesalpasado.com/wp-content/uploads/Entrada-a-Bwindi-por-Nkuringo.jpg

  In a corner of the world, in tropical forests that engulf borders, the last gorillas survive land. Go on your quest is a huge experience, unforgettable. We in Uganda, in Bwindi National Park, tracing the footsteps of these great primates to which, Ranger warns the Nkuringo, it is better not to make eye contact so they do not feel challenged. Here we go.

• Ranger with machete

  https://www.viajesalpasado.com/wp-content/uploads/Ranger-con-machete.jpg

  In a corner of the world, in tropical forests that engulf borders, the last gorillas survive land. Go on your quest is a huge experience, unforgettable. We in Uganda, in Bwindi National Park, tracing the footsteps of these great primates to which, Ranger warns the Nkuringo, it is better not to make eye contact so they do not feel challenged. Here we go.

• Back Nkuringo

  https://www.viajesalpasado.com/wp-content/uploads/Rangers-armados.jpg

  In a corner of the world, in tropical forests that engulf borders, the last gorillas survive land. Go on your quest is a huge experience, unforgettable. We in Uganda, in Bwindi National Park, tracing the footsteps of these great primates to which, Ranger warns the Nkuringo, it is better not to make eye contact so they do not feel challenged. Here we go.

• Gorillas-009

  https://www.viajesalpasado.com/wp-content/uploads/Gorilas-009.jpg

  In a corner of the world, in tropical forests that engulf borders, the last gorillas survive land. Go on your quest is a huge experience, unforgettable. We in Uganda, in Bwindi National Park, tracing the footsteps of these great primates to which, Ranger warns the Nkuringo, it is better not to make eye contact so they do not feel challenged. Here we go.

• Gorillas-050

  https://www.viajesalpasado.com/wp-content/uploads/Gorilas-0501.jpg

  In a corner of the world, in tropical forests that engulf borders, the last gorillas survive land. Go on your quest is a huge experience, unforgettable. We in Uganda, in Bwindi National Park, tracing the footsteps of these great primates to which, Ranger warns the Nkuringo, it is better not to make eye contact so they do not feel challenged. Here we go.

• Gorillas-086

  https://www.viajesalpasado.com/wp-content/uploads/Gorilas-086.jpg

  In a corner of the world, in tropical forests that engulf borders, the last gorillas survive land. Go on your quest is a huge experience, unforgettable. We in Uganda, in Bwindi National Park, tracing the footsteps of these great primates to which, Ranger warns the Nkuringo, it is better not to make eye contact so they do not feel challenged. Here we go.

• Gorilla-124

  https://www.viajesalpasado.com/wp-content/uploads/Gorilas-124.jpg

  In a corner of the world, in tropical forests that engulf borders, the last gorillas survive land. Go on your quest is a huge experience, unforgettable. We in Uganda, in Bwindi National Park, tracing the footsteps of these great primates to which, Ranger warns the Nkuringo, it is better not to make eye contact so they do not feel challenged. Here we go.

• Gorilla-205

  https://www.viajesalpasado.com/wp-content/uploads/Gorilas-205.jpg

  In a corner of the world, in tropical forests that engulf borders, the last gorillas survive land. Go on your quest is a huge experience, unforgettable. We in Uganda, in Bwindi National Park, tracing the footsteps of these great primates to which, Ranger warns the Nkuringo, it is better not to make eye contact so they do not feel challenged. Here we go.

• Gorilla-156

  https://www.viajesalpasado.com/wp-content/uploads/Gorilas-156.jpg

  In a corner of the world, in tropical forests that engulf borders, the last gorillas survive land. Go on your quest is a huge experience, unforgettable. We in Uganda, in Bwindi National Park, tracing the footsteps of these great primates to which, Ranger warns the Nkuringo, it is better not to make eye contact so they do not feel challenged. Here we go.

• Gorilla-151

  https://www.viajesalpasado.com/wp-content/uploads/Gorilas-151.jpg

  In a corner of the world, in tropical forests that engulf borders, the last gorillas survive land. Go on your quest is a huge experience, unforgettable. We in Uganda, in Bwindi National Park, tracing the footsteps of these great primates to which, Ranger warns the Nkuringo, it is better not to make eye contact so they do not feel challenged. Here we go.

In a corner of the world, in tropical forests that engulf borders, the last gorillas survive land. Go on your quest is a huge experience, unforgettable. We in Uganda, in Bwindi National Park, tracing the footsteps of these great primates to which, Ranger warns the Nkuringo, it is better not to make eye contact so they do not feel challenged. Here we go.

Kisoro is the starting point. The people of southern Uganda bordering the Congo and Rwanda is the best place to access Bwindi Impenetrable Park, a name that scares just place it on the map. Living there, according to the latest census of African Wildlife, 302 of 786 gorillas left on the planet.

We got up at night and we still enveloped in fog. The market town has long stretches. From the mist emerges a mother courage, Amen admirable balancing: loaded with a baby on her back and holding a bundle in the head with one hand while grasping a can of water and, with the other, an umbrella. And to think that often we complain when we have to go home with a few grocery bags…

The track is gaining height between banana palm, tea plantations, lonely cows, peasants with machetes and children screaming mzungu! (white man in swahili). The scenery is spectacular.

The walk may last up to nine hours if the gorillas are shown elusive. And the ultimate success is not guaranteed. This is not a theme park, are at the mercy of wild nature.

Jiggling ending one hour and a half later, at the offices of Nkuringo, one of the entrances to the park, where Herbert, the guide will accompany us along with two armed rangers gives a theory in which all the commandments are summed up in one: no eye contact, on no account, a "silverback", group leaders 19 gorillas are going to try to locate in the forest. And if by any chance our eyes meet, have to activate the emergency plan: head down in submission and pretend to eat grass, one of those photos which you never fully recover.

Go ahead should be no illusions. The walk may last up to nine hours if the gorillas are shown elusive. And the ultimate success is not guaranteed. This is not a theme park, are at the mercy of wild nature. A recommendation over any other: must be in good shape. Fool is useless. Jungle, sooner or later, His law dictates. And it is relentless.

The meeting with the primates

After a short ride on SUV Gorilla Tours (www.gorillatours.com), the company that brought us here and has successfully managed, of the labor Uganda Wildlife Authority, complicated permissions, must dismounting. Descend on a hit by a path through a village of orchards and crops of bananas. Sometimes it's hard not to lose his footing on the slippery hillside. In just twenty minutes went down 600 meters, to cross a creek from where we started to climb a cliff. We are lucky, for after 45 minutes of effort, the guide stops short near a giant tree branches, where six gorillas swallow sparingly kilos and kilos of fresh leaves. One, Safari, is the team leader.

We are located a few meters. It's a magical moment, of those who believe costs. The clothes are soaked with sweat and breathing, still broken, but the feeling of living a unique moment any discomfort comfort. Gorillas look a huge bellies, Sumo wrestlers appear in retreat. Safari in da la espalda carelessly, while completely ignoring his hand finger stretches morcilleros looking for branches that bends and breaks easily.

The clothes are soaked with sweat and breathing, still broken, but the feeling of living a unique moment any discomfort comfort.

The photograph of the right and reverse, Praying they will not skip the damn flash, for over half an hour. Then, led by Herbert and threading our way with machetes, descend into a ravine where any path is an illusion. We walked awkwardly on roots that look like traps, bushes that twist see the land while. Down there appears the tiny head of a baby, one of the few that survive in this hostile habitat (pasándoselas adults entertain one another as if they were balls and falls from trees are common). We are only a few feet of the calf and its mother, at the bottom of a ravine that has suddenly come to life. The branches become noisy like a panzer Advanced Degree for his heart was. It is an armored, but is the closest thing around here: Safari. The "silverback" comes ready to defend his flock, he suspects threatened by stupid white man.

The "Ranger" taxis "

"This is very dangerous", warns one of the rangers, as if we were able to do anything other than try to keep the balance not to roll downhill. We are in its territory, sandwiched between a female and her offspring and the dominant male, his eyes peeking out from the forest inquisitors. We must turn back. The emotions of this hour that looks like a sigh now start it rested.

But it remains around. Up there overlooking the mountain ridge where we left the car. From here it seems an eternity. The climb is exhausting. The backpack is heavier than ever and humidity wreaks havoc. No one knows exactly why, but the legs are blocked and the path seems to be stretched beyond repair, like those soft watches Dalí. The Rangers have become our shadow. Accompany us throughout the climb, culminated with a tremendous downpour that makes us fear for the photographic equipment. Faint now is a luxury that is very expensive. The Rangers loaded pallet with you, as their ancestors did with European explorers, but the rate can reach 400 U.S. dollars depending on the walk. This is what globalization has.

Fortunately, do not need roadside assistance. Soaked, but immensely happy, we got to the SUV, beset by cramps, while the large bathtub is emptying Ugandan sky over our heads.

The experience is assimilated Kisoro road while the driver's skill Gorilla Tours, Norbert, becomes a track in a peaceful infernal journey along the Lake Underpants. And in the comfort of Travellers Rest Hotel, that the very famous Diane Fosey defined as his "second home", a hot shower, an excellent lunch and a massage you back to civilization. In this corner of the world, the traveler knows a privileged.

Those who approach this week FITUR You can find all the details on this and other scenic routes in Uganda in flag stand 4A14 4 Ifema, which has representation from Tourism Uganda and Gorilla Tours.

More information on web pages:
www.gorillatours.com
www.visituganda.com
www.uwa.org