05/03/04: From Brian
When was the last time you took a ride in the back of a pickup truck with the barrel of an AK-47 inadvertently pointed at your head? Me? One week ago.
So much can happen in a week, especially with the schedule that Mark, Chris and I are attempting to keep pace with right now. Chris may have mentioned it, but I would also like to apologize for the delay in communication. Internet cafes are not as prevalent as one might like in this still developing country.
Let’s go back a week, though. From our lodge in Ruhungeri, Mark and I decided it would be fun to ride in the back of a pickup truck on the way to our conference at the Karisoke Research Center (base camp for the Dian Fossey team of gorilla researchers). It just so happens that we shared the truck bed with one of the group’s trackers; a man who’s English is bad, but his gun is large, so he gets by nicely. About twenty minutes into the drive, we stopped because the driver suspected that the breaks didn’t work. After a five minute study, he confirmed that indeed, the car was out of break fluid, then smiled and told us that it would decrease our commute time (now that’s optimism). Before driving off, another three men who were friends of the tracker piled into the back with us for a free lift up the mountain. I think it was as I was introducing myself to these men, that I noticed the barrel of the tracker’s gun had shifted down to draw a bead on my forehead. So I’m thinking, “OK, I’m in a weighted down car with no breaks, and if we hit a bump my face will look like a big Cheerio”. Obviously, we made it in one piece, but the funny thing is that life has been a bit more beautiful ever since.
For example, the ride back to Kigali after our successful Karisoke conference traipsed us past two gorgeous lakes that had islands within them. We stopped at one, and watched an anonymous Rwandan woman load sacks of grain into her canoe, then gracefully row herself out of sight. A little while later, our driver (Patrick this time) stopped in a small village and tried to auction me off to the locals. Loosely translated, he said that he had a hard working white man for sale to the highest bidder. The villagers were amused, but alas, I was just too skinny for the type of work that they’re used to. And of course, the whole four hour drive felt like a parade, with Chris and me as Grand Marshals waving to the throngs of excited children on the side of the road – each one cheering as we drifted past.
Back in Kigali, we rented a 4x4, and set out again, this time in the opposite direction, for the Nyungwe Forest. You might remember me telling you about our prior experience there (lack of proper documentation), but this time we came prepared. We didn’t have a signed letter from the ORTPN (Rwandan Board of Tourism), but instead brought our friend Ernest, one of the heads of the ORTPN. I’ll let Mark tell you about our experiences in the forest, since he is the trailblazer of our group, but I’ll just add that if you like a tough hike, Chimpanzee tracking in Nyungwe Forest is for you. I however don’t like a tough hike, and spent most of that day falling or standing up after falling. I’m still sore.
Finally, I’d like to put my two cents in on today, our first face-to-face experience with Mountain Gorillas. I think today might have been the greatest day of my life. You can try to prepare yourself for the encounter, you can listen to the stories of being three feet away from these magnificent placid animals, you can be told how human-like they are (which is, in retrospect, a put down), or how beautiful it is to watch them care for one another. You can build your expectations up as high as you’d like, and I promise you, the experience will exceed your wildest imagination. For me, to be as close as I was to these wise and powerful creatures felt like being in the presence of God. I know that sounds crazy, but that’s the best I can do to put it into words. It is true that they resemble us, but I can’t help but wonder if they got the better end of evolution. They live in perfect harmony with the Earth; eating, sleeping and traveling as they please. From their interaction with one another and their initial protective posturing at the sight of approaching humans, it was obvious that they love one another. They’re gender roles do not seem unfair as they sometimes do with man, but rather added to the synchronicity of their lifestyle. I’d even go so far as to call it chivalry.
I either have to stop now, or GNG will have to add more bandwidth to their website. I could talk about the gorillas for days, and let this be fair warning to my family and friends: Don’t get me started.
Tomorrow I’ll visit them again, and I plan to savor every minute of the hour that a tourist is allotted for observation. It’s great to be alive.
Posted by gng at May 3, 2004 09:46 PM
