Mountain Gorillas

[melody]

Amazing animals and an amazing experience to be so close to them in their own environment.


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[G]

Amazing as usual!

[dyzio]

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[sv4me]

That little guy is cuuuute :D the big silverback not so much!

[Dave20046]

Amazing.
Where was this melody?
Would love to do this

[Biker Biggles]

Rwanda?
Id love to do that too.

[Geodude]

Cool you must have such alot of experiences im so jealous. I hope this doesnt come across as strange but i do love seeing what your doing, it really gets me through my mundane days :)

[Luckypants]

WOW!!!! That is something I would love to experience! Have you won the lottery? You have the most amazing holidays!

[melody]

Yes, this is in Ruhengeri, Rwanda, in the Volcanoes National Park, but you can also do it in Uganda.

I can't recommend this enough. It is such a humbling experience. We trekked for a good hour and a half and then suddenly you're face to face with a hulk of a silverback. The pain of the arduous walk fades immediately.There's just no words for it.

Cool you must have such alot of experiences im so jealous. I hope this doesnt come across as strange but i do love seeing what your doing, it really gets me through my mundane days :)

Thanks Geodude. :D

Flew into Nairobi and travelled through Kenya, then into Uganda and finally Rwanda. I'll post up some more photos later.

[melody]

WOW!!!! That is something I would love to experience! Have you won the lottery? You have the most amazing holidays!

I wish!
I just live on bread and water.:D

[Bluepete]

Mel,

You are my hero!

You travel all over, have fantastic times and let us know about it.

Where next? It would have to be amazing to top those wondefull Gorillas. To think, the film of Sir David Attenborough is still used to demonstate the animals, and there you are, douing the same thing!

If you need a driver, give me first dibs please.

Pete ;)

[missyburd]

Woooo fantastic, lucky thing. And dyzio, my jaw dropped too when I found out she was going, amazing. Would like to draw a couple of those pics Mel if I could pweeease, will PM you my email :-)

And Pete was going to say, that first photo with Mel in the foreground looks JUST like the famous scene with Sir David when he did the same thing :D

[Jdubya]

Bloomin heck Mel!

You been travelling again! I'm not jealous...not one bit....

[dizzyblonde]

Another jaw drop from meee:smt103

Once in a lifetime experience Mel, wondered where you had gone this time, did send you a message last week, but days and weeks are blending into one lately, and thought you'd been away longer than thought.

You've brightened my day.:p


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Although I haven't quite decided if this fella is having a joke and poking his tongue or is getting a bit shirty!

[darylB]

Wow, what an experience, please stay at home and stop making everyone pig sick and jealous. Where next, perhaps you ought to have a competition as to where you're going next, winner gets to join you, i will certanly make space in my calendar to join you.

Daryl.

[Quiff Wichard]

Mel.. think of the carbon footprint!

not jealous at all..

yea right..


WOW

that wee guy is soooo cute..


my immediate thought was the same as Luckpants..

[melody]

Mel,

You are my hero!

You travel all over, have fantastic times and let us know about it.

Where next? It would have to be amazing to top those wondefull Gorillas. To think, the film of Sir David Attenborough is still used to demonstate the animals, and there you are, douing the same thing!

If you need a driver, give me first dibs please.

Pete ;)

Oh wow! Thanks Pete.:D

Next time, I'll need a porter, not a driver.

You deffo have first dibs.:D

Wow, what an experience, please stay at home and stop making everyone pig sick and jealous. Where next, perhaps you ought to have a competition as to where you're going next, winner gets to join you, i will certanly make space in my calendar to join you.

Daryl.

I'll let you know for the next one. It certainly wont be fun and games though.:smt103



Although I haven't quite decided if this fella is having a joke and poking his tongue or is getting a bit shirty!

He wasn't being shirty at all, just tired and yawning.

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[dizzyblonde]

:smt103 dats a biiiiiiig mouth!

They yawn and then play dead. cool:-)

[timwilky]

Life is just one big holiday for you.

Jealous me? Of course I am. That must have been a wonderful experience to be so close to the big fella in his natural habitat.

Now why does he remind me of the wife? I don't understand it, an uncanny resemblance, but he is not as hairy!

OK I guess he is a she

[fenjer]

They are stunning!

[BanannaMan]

Awesome pics!
Thanks for sharing.
Not sure I'd want to be that close to those beasts.
You are quite brave.

[Bluefish]

brilliant pics melody, would love to do the same. :D:D

[pete m]

Who took the pix with you in Mel? What group was it you saw - were they descendants of Dijit , the Fossey favourite - Titus is the latest silverback king , isnt he ....?

I would love to do this, can you give us an idea of the practicalities..money, jabs, travel time, towns you need to go thru etc....

[gruntygiggles]

+1 to pete m

Fabulous pics Mel, I am very jealous!

[melody]

We visited the Hirwa group which only has one male, Lucky the Silverback. He's called Lucky because he has his own hareem of beautiful gorillas to choose from.

Titus died last September, aged 35.:(

So, about gorilla trekking.

It's so easy to do.

You can do it in Uganda, Rwanda or for the very brave, the Congo.:rolleyes:

I did this in Rwanda. Very easy to get to and very safe.

Return flight to Kigali, Rwanda will set you back about £600. From Kigali you then need to travel to Ruhengeri (now renamed Musanze) which is in the north west. It's about 2 hours by road. You could fly, but I would definitely recommend road as the scenery is spectacular.

The gorilla tracking is done from Volcanoes National Park in Ruhengeri. It currently costs US$500 for a permit. It's highly unlikely that you could just turn up on the morning you want to see the gorillas and get a permit. They are in demand and you need to book in advance. Easily done through a tour operator.

A permit will allow you to visit the gorillas for ONE hour only. If you have a cough,cold, diarrhoea, vomiting etc on the day, you can't to do the trek. The trek always starts first thing in the morning. We left our hotel at 0630 to get to the centre for 07.00

There are seven habituated goups in the Volcanoes National Park. 56 gorilla permits are issued a day, so each family of gorillas gets 8 visitors. On the day, you are split into 7 groups of 8 and off you go. Each group has a guide with a rifle and a man weilding a machete :D . You travel through thick rainforest and sometimes need to hack your way through.

My group walked for about and hour and a half. It could be less. It could be more. It all depends on the whereabouts of the group of gorillas you're visiting. It is pretty tough going to be honest. Not to say you have to be superfit, but it's a pretty steep ascent. Once you cross the boundary wall and you're in the jungle its quite eerie. Thick vegetation, dark,wet and slippy, huge stinging nettles, creepy crawlies, buffalo, etc etc etc:D

You can hire a porter to carry your rucksack if you wish. It costs US$10. I carried my own.:D You need to have about 2-3 litres water and a packed lunch, rain gear, and it can get nippy up in the mountains so a fleece or two. You are provided with hand made walking sticks, which you can buy after the event for US$10.

The gorilla treks take place every single day, rain or shine. It's just luck of the draw what the weather will be like on the day.

Rwanda is a small country. It's main attraction is the gorillas, so you don't really need a lot of time there. Another attraction would be the Genocide Museum in Kigali which we visited. A harrowing experience.

On a British passport you don't need a visa for Rwanda. But while in the area, you may as well visit Kenya, Uganda,Tanzania.

We flew into Nairobi then travelled through Kenya, then into Uganda and finally to Rwanda. On a British passport you will need a visa for Kenya US$25 and for Uganda US$65, both obtainable easily at the border.

Prep wise, you need vaccination against Yellow Fever. This costs £55 and lasts for 10 years. You must carry your Yellow Fever Vaccination Certificate with you. Also recommended is malaria prophylaxis. There are different drugs, but highly recommended is malarone, which costs £60 ish .

For the actual gorilla trek, you don't need fancy walking gear, except for proper walking shoes. A long sleeved shirt and gloves (gardening gloves will suffice) to protect from the nettles.

That's about it really. Rwanda is a beautiful country. You wont get any hassle. You will feel safe. It is however an expensive country, compared to Uganda and Kenya. You will need to change your currency into Rwandan Franc, easily done at any bank.

That's all I can think of at the moment.

I'll post some more photos shortly.

Apologies for the long post.

[Speedy Claire]

Fantastic pics... sounds a brilliant trip and what a fantastic experience

[melody]

On the way to the gorillas.

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Over the boundary wall and into the National Park

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The volcanoes
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Ruhengeri, just before the heavens opened.
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Kigali
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[missyburd]

Oh wow, the places looks amazing and did you all have the same walking stick? I want one!! :-D Really fantastic. Chris and I are hoping for Kenya next year, it would be bloody amazing!

[BernardBikerchick]

OMG you blow me away hun !!! totally gobsmackingly amazing wowo wowo wowow !! wsow wo w and they got lovely hair too !!!!!!!!!!!!

[startrek.steve]

Must have been hitting the overtime hard again Mel!!
You're having far too much fun! its high time you settled down and got married young lady!
Steve

[melody]

Must have been hitting the overtime hard again Mel!!
You're having far too much fun! its high time you settled down and got married young lady!
Steve

LOL Steve. :D

Oh wow, the places looks amazing and did you all have the same walking stick? I want one!! :-D Really fantastic. Chris and I are hoping for Kenya next year, it would be bloody amazing!

Shame about the walking stick. I didn't want mine so didn't buy it. Could have brought it back for you.

Go for it next year. You'll love Kenya. A feast for the senses.

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[anna]

Amazing photos, and what an amazing experience to have. You sure are living life, a true inspiration to us all to live every moment!!

[pete m]

Whats the best time of year toi go Mel ? ie not too hot ...

whos up for the Org 2011 Africa trip ???