Gorillas in the mist

A round up of our trip from the Rossyfer

A few of us took advantage of some down time to catch up with the local mountain residents….GORILLAS

The day started at 4:30am and by 4:32 we were all wide. Our driver, on his debut, managed to take out a traffic cone the police had placed ahead of their check point. Apparent he hadn’t spotted the flashing light on top of the the multi coloured cone. Needless to say the rest of our journey went swimmingly … no police stops, close calls, blind corner overtaking nor wrong side of the road driving WHAT SO EVER.

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At the pitstop at the trekking base we were introduced to our guide Eugene. A pro of 15 years experience a massive smile and modestly described himself as “Among the best”.

And then we began to climb. Modestly describing ourselves as relatively fit, we have to admit to struggling within 10 minutes. The upward trek lasted a further 2 hours, first through thick bamboo and then into the stinging nettles.

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However the pain was worth it once we met our prize. We had an hour with the gorillas that felt more like 5 minutes. Within meters of silver backs, mothers & babies and finally a fine display by 2 flighting toddlers.

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Needless to say we virtually skipped down the decent, high on joy after a once in a lifetime experience.

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