Mountain Gorillas (Day 21)

Today, we hiked up a dormant volcano in Rwanda to find mountain gorillas.  They were magical: so big, so gentle, and so much like us.

Their facial expressions, the way children play, the way family members interact…. it is no surprise that gorillas share 98% of their DNA with humans. Humans and gorillas share a common ancestor and only separated about 7 million years ago.  To put that in context: if you view all life on earth as being a 24 hour day, we only split from the gorillas about 2 minutes ago.  They are our cousins for sure!

We were surprised by how big they were because we, like most people, had never seen a real mountain gorilla before. There are none in zoos. Mountain gorillas are bigger, darker, and hairier than the lowland gorillas you might see in zoos. They are the largest primate in the world. A male silverback can be 400-450 pounds. That is maybe 50% bigger than a professional body builder, NFL player, etc. — despite usually being only 5 and a half feet tall !

There are only about 1,000 mountain gorillas in the whole world, and all of them live on or pretty near the Virunga mountain range in East Africa. This is where Dian Fossey did her research and where the movie Gorillas in the Mist took place.

Some gorillas will come toward you, either because they are inquisitive — or to show you who is boss! Here, a silverback gorilla walks into our group.

The hiking to find gorillas was difficult. It was maybe 90 minutes each way on trails that were muddy and slippery. Many times, there was no trail at all. Some slopes were steep enough to be rated black diamond or double diamond on a ski mountain. They were also covered with stinging nettles and vines. Here is our guide cutting vines to clear the way.