February 15: Gorillas in the mist

We had an amazing day today! Five of us from our group went to see the Mountain Gorillas. We hiked for two hours through the jungle. And when I say "through the jungle", I mean there are no trails. The guides were using their machetes to cut a path for us.

When we finally reached them, it was indescribable. We saw 2 LARGE Silver backs, 3 or 4 females and 4 young ones. There were also 3 year old twins. Tricia, one of our team members, got body-checked into the bushes from a huge Silver back. It was sooo funny! She was fine, but she tumbled for a bit.

To see these creatures up close was so incredible; I'm still smiling. I will never forget this.

Tomorrow we are heading to the Akagera Park to see some wildlife there. A lot of traveling in the last two days, as the gorillas and the park are at opposite ends of Rwanda. We are all jammed in this little van and driving like crazy to go from one place to the other. The roads and drivers are equally as crazy.

Todd Drake
DWC Volunteer Participant
Rwanda, February 2014