Going to the Mountain Gorillas

January 4, 2016: The hike to find and watch the mountain gorillas started at a small village where we picked up porters (who were very helpful) and then went through farm fields at the base of the mountain. The mountain paths were narrow, increasingly steep and furrowed, overgrown, and lined in places with stinging nettles. We found it a difficult walk. After about 1 1/2 hours, we came to the gorillas, which were moving around looking for plants (including bamboo) to eat (like pandas). After a while, they settled down in a clearing and rested, while the youngsters played.

As can be seen from the last two photos, we got remarkably close (under the careful eyes of the guides); but the gorillas paid us no attention.

The mountain we will have to climb (about 1/3 to 1/2 way up) and the vegetation we will have to pass through to reach the gorillas.

Farmers (including children) working in the fields. 

The white flowers are the source of the insect repellent permethrin.

Permethrin field against the base of the mountain. 

Another group of trekkers walking through the fields.

The farmers also grow potatoes.

The path was like this much of the way up the mountain.

Two golden monkeys sighted on the way.

We finally sighted the silverback and began to follow him and his group as they ate.

In the clearing, as one of the youngsters nursed and everyone rested. 

Mountain Gorillas in Rwanda

January 4: We added an extension to our Tanzania trip, to view mountain gorillas in neighboring Rwanda. The following few days will show more of the trek and the country; but I first wanted to get right to the point, and show the gorillas as we found and followed them.

This is the Amahoro group in Volcanoes National Park in the Virunga Mountains. We were told that there are 17 gorillas in this group, but we saw only 7 of them. The trek up the mountain to locate them took about 1.5 hours, and we then stayed with them for the allotted one hour before going back down. We were able to get remarkably close to them and they paid us little heed, being well habituated to human presence.

A baby follows an adult through a bamboo thicket.

The silverback eating plants

A youngster

The family resting after eating

Mother of the silverback grooming her son

Female who was still nursing

Final Serengeti Scenes

January 2, 2016: This was the last day of our Wilderness Travel Tanzania adventure. We flew to Rwanda for some gorilla trekking (coming up on tomorrow's blog) and learning some more about that interesting country, while our fellow travelers made their way home. Here are some photos from the morning before we flew off.

Wildebeests grazing in the morning light

Lionesses on a second visit to the kopje

Our Masai guardian in the Serengeti camp

The cooks who prepared amazing meals with primitive equipment in the tented camp

Group photo of staff and travelers

Serengeti Scenes

January 1: A few photos that I took on New Year's Day were emblematic of our entire Tanzania safari: Cape buffalo skull, acacia trees, wide vistas, colorful sunsets, and our Land Cruiser safari vehicle.

Serengeti: Banded Mongooses and Some Birds

January 1, 2016: A miscellany of smallish creatures in the Serengeti. Even when the species are familiar, the variations are interesting.

Banded mongooses (mongeese?)

Gray heron

Egyptian goose

Hooded vultures

Serengeti Ungulates

January 1, 2016: The giraffes and zebras — courting or maternal — are always picturesque, and the growing numbers of migrating wildebeests feeding on the rapidly growing grass are impressive. I like the silvery-gray color of the wildebeests against the bright green of the grass.

Lions and Hyenas

January 1, 2016: We began the new year with a drive to a site near a pond where three lions were resting after eating most of a wildebeest they had killed. (Only one of the lions is visible in the photo; the others are hidden in the underbrush.) A bunch of hyenas (and a vulture) are hanging around, hoping to eventually get a share of the remains.