I've recuperated!!!
On my flight to Uganda I met a lovely Indian uncle on the flight. He invited me for lunch the next day in the city and I helped him with his grocery shopping. We had chai at his home and enjoyed conversing about Africa and specifically the history of Uganda. We had such a nice time! That evening my tour group arrived to the campsite and I was happy to rejoin the group! I was up all night playing cards with Kelly, Nev and a few others...so needless to say the next day on the truck was rough! We headed from Kampala to Lake Bunyonyi to an amazingly stunning campsite! Kelly and I upgraded to a pre-erected tent on a balcony overlooking the lake! It was amazing!! When my eyes lay sight on such beautiful scenery I can't believe I'm in Africa. So many commercials on Africa have it all wrong. Uganda, specifically, is a beautiful land full of hills and lush greenery and is a paradise like none other! This campsite is really a place for relaxation...oh and gorilla tracking!!! That night I went to sleep at midnight only to wake at 330am to prepare for the gorilla trek! A minivan picked 8 of us up at 5am and off to Bwindi we went to look for gorillas! When we arrived, we were briefed by our guide on what would be expected of us as we trekked through the rainforest in search of gorillas. Excited and anxious we were off, lead by our guide and followed by an AK47 carrying security guard! Along the way we spotted a really fat and long earthworm and a poisonous snake...which looked more like a harmless gardener snake. After 4 hours of trekking through mud, nettles and swarms of flies we were informed that the gorillas were nearby. As instructed by our guide we left our packs and walking sticks behind and took our cameras in hopes of fantastic photo opportunities of gorillas...and WE SAW GORILLAS!!!! We saw two silverbacks and one black back and one baby! They are amazingly beautiful creatures! Eyes that capture your heart, size of bodies that frighten you and beauty that makes your jaw drop! One of the silverbacks was lying on his belly and eventually rolled over to scratch his arms. The baby was quite active swinging on a vine while another adult gorilla was munching on leaves. Unbelievable...I SAW GORILLAS!!!! The mud was everywhere, nettles got to my hands twice and the terrain was intense at times, but this adventure was priceless!
