“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” I thought to myself as I buckled my seat belt ready to take off into the unknown.
After months of preparation and building up the courage to face up to my first solo voyage, I was on my way to deepest darkest Africa in search of the mystical mountain gorilla.
You would think I would have chosen somewhere a little less remote for my first trip on my own, but not me. I had chosen Uganda. I was testing the limits of my mind and body, having spent weeks training to get physically fit enough for the trek (I am not a gym-goer) and preparing for the lack of company and limited internet connection (you guessed it, I like to talk.)
I had changed my mind a thousand times and given myself more than enough reasons to change my plans – the injections, having to buy an almost completely new wardrobe (neutral is not my look) and packing almost more mosquito sprays, tablets and wet wipes than clothes. However, the fear of missing out was greater than the fear of going it alone.
Unfortunately the trek didn’t start with gorillas. It took an 8.5 hour flight and a 7.5 hour drive to get me to the Bwindi Impenetrable National Forest. On the day of the trek, I woke up at 6.30am and was taken to the Bwindi headquarters where I was told I would be tracking the Habinyanja troop, a group of 18 gorillas and the hardest location to get to. After our briefing, my group set off ready to face the challenge.
Bwindi is nicknamed ‘impenetrable’ for a reason. We walked for four hours, tackling steep hills and with the sun beating down on us. The higher we got, the more our muscles ached and despite the cooler air of the dense forest which suddenly surrounded us, we found no relief. We wrestled with branches and dodged thorns until rustling leaves and whispers from our porters informed us that gorillas had been spotted. Unfortunately for us, they were on the move. My body – which had been weeping with exhaustion – sprung into life, the adrenaline pumping through my veins as we sped up and tried to stay close without chasing them.
If I hadn’t known any better, I would have thought the mischievous apes were playing games, twisting and leading us through every type of vegetation they could find. The ground became muddy and I lost count of the number of times I slipped and fell trying to keep up, grabbing on to branches to pull myself forward. Finally, they had had enough fun and they stopped. As the group divided to make way for everyone to see, I peered through the clearing and saw the silverback, the leader of the group, sitting staring at us as if we had just been there all along instead of trickling with sweat from our mission.
“Look! That one is only three months old” my porter said, as I turned and realised in my excitement I had walked straight past the mother and her baby. Incredible does not even begin to describe it. We sat and watched as we saw four more young males from the group appear: One swinging from a tree and the youngest playfully goading the other two by imitating his father’s beating of the chest.
I had always been fascinated by the mountain gorilla, but to have such a powerful animal within metres of you takes your breath away. All that time and effort to reach them and they sit there nonchalantly munching a leaf, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, completely oblivious to their rarity and beauty.
There are less than 900 mountain gorillas left in the wild. To observe a creature so few will get to see is like peering into the soul of something extraordinary. As you sit there, covered in mud and grime with a ridiculous grin on your face, surrounded by nothing but green and the soft black fur hidden in between the foliage, you cannot help but feel completely free.
After an hour of silence and wide-eyed human hypnosis, we began our journey back to base. Despite an 8 hour trek, I felt ready to defeat the world, capable of anything.
As I gazed out of the plane window on my way back to the UK, reminiscing over my adventure, all I could think was: I can’t believe I almost didn’t do this.
About the author: South African born, Zara Gaspar, currently lives in London. When she is not exploring the city, she is planning her next adventure, eager to visit every country on the planet. Her three loves are food, movies and travel.
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