It was an early morning but we were excited to see the mountain gorillas. We checked in at 7am and enjoyed some dancing from a local group as we waited to be assigned to a trekking group.  Groups are limited to 8 and ours included a couple from Sweden, a German woman, and an American woman who was in Rwanda working for two months on a study for an aid group.

We then drove an hour and a half to the start of our hike with our guide Emma (a local guy who kept us very entertained).  The gorillas are in the Volcanoes National Park (the oldest national park in Africa).  There are 5 volcanoes in the area.  We were climbing in the foot hills of Sabyinyo which is the 3rd highest and is divided between Rwanda, Congo and Uganda.

After parking we hiked for an hour up to the entrance to the park.  We took the Kabwende trail where we met our guard who carried a gun to protect us in case we came across elephant or buffalo.  We hiked for 2 more hours all uphill for a total of over 5 miles and about 3500 vertical feet to see the Pablo family of gorillas.  It is the largest family with over 30 members including Kantsbi (pronounced like can’ts be) the alpha Silverback who was studied by Dian Fossey and is the head of the family.  There are 2 other silverbacks (adult males), a bunch of females and younger males as well as 5 or 6 babies.  It was a tough hike but worth it to spend an intimate hour with them.  They were amazing creatures.  Many seemed to be posing for us.  They came close at times and were several feet and even inches away.  One even touched me!

Our guide Emma and our guard to protect us from buffalo and elephant.

Close up of a female gorilla

The alpha silverback Kantsbi who was studied by Dian Fossey and is the head of the Pablo family

Charlie and Sarah with Kantsbi in the background

Kantsbi scratching and thinking

Sarah photographing the gorillas

Female and baby gorilla

youngest baby (3 months old)

Black Back (adolescent male) showing his teeth

Casey and Tyler with the gorillas

Tyler with a gorilla

Casey with a gorilla

another baby

baby riding a female gorilla’s back

with the trekkers and guide

A resting stop after our hike down from the mountain.