Friday, February 26, 2016

Rwanda and the Mountain Gorillas


Before heading off in to the park and the gorillas all the visitors who enrolled for the day`s visit gather at the park headquarters office to get registered and to meet the guides. While waiting for the paperwork to be finished local people entertain the tourists. Even though this performance happens on a daily basis the enthusiasm of the performers is infectious.





Our first appointed Gorilla family was the Hirwa group which has around  11 members including a pair of twins, there are only two more twins in another family which makes them the only surviving mountain gorillas in the world.


Beautiful nature.


Well hidden and protected. We share 98% of our DNA with the gorillas and looking at this thumb sucking baby I can see why.


I was crouching down to eye level with her and we observed each other for a couple of minutes, a thrilling experience at least for me.


Mr Silverback was truly big!


Daydreaming.

We were lucky with the light during our visits as we had sun and no rain. The thick canopy of the rainforest makes it tricky taking pictures. Rain would have made the trekking into an even more serious hike. I took gardening gloves with me as a protection against the brambles and the nettles, sturdy hiking boots and long trousers.
















7 comments:

  1. So interesting! Thanks for digging in a little deeper to share with us! Oh gosh...nettle! I hate that plant. I've ended up with nettle in the past in my herb garden...it's a big pain for sure! Smart to take rubber gloves! So love the image with food in her mouth! Loved the one on Instagram too! I would have been a nervous wreck with the photography obstacles and this "chance" at capturing images!! Good job!!!

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  2. Ich kann gut verstehen, dass du Afrika so gern magst. Was du dort alles schon gesehen hast! Und wie nah du schon so oft an so vielen beeindruckenden Tieren warst. Großartig!

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  3. What a heart stopping experience.

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  4. Incredible captures of the gorillas CC.. An altogether unforgettable trip, merci beaucoup pour sharing.

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  5. Incredible captures of the gorillas CC.. An altogether unforgettable trip, merci beaucoup pour sharing.

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  6. Wow - not many people can so casually say they've eye-balled a gorilla in the wild AND got the picture to prove it!! You are so clever with your photography, the one with the baby hidden in the jungle leave is superb.
    Wren x

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