There is nothing more soothing then watching these beautiful creatures. Peacefully sitting and munching away, then move a few meters and continue eating. The mighty SilverBack, Isabukuru, was first out of sight, but quickly we could catch a first glimpse at this impressive creature. Finally Isabukuru showed his black face by sitting up, then after a while casually walked along the mesmerized tourists to go and sit quietly in the shade and check on his large family.
First lesson, gorillas are quiet animals. All we could hear was the noise made when they rip the vines from the bushes and trees. Then, the leaves are pulled off with hand or mouth and devoured. Besides the repetitive feeding ritual, there was always something happening and I never knew where to look first. The young ones played, smacked each other, rolled over each other or climbed up vines often not strong enough to hold their weight. A female was looking after a tiny, 3 month old baby, more inclined to play and fool around than anything else. And the whole happens under the careful supervision of the mighty Silver Back…
What an amazing travel experience! Thanks for sharing these photos, Gilles!
Hi,
It was on a trek in the Volcanoes National Park, at the border between Rwanda, Uganda & DRC.
You can come up to 7 meters from the gorillas (NP rules), but at times the animals are much closer. We had the Silver Back something like one meter from us at one time. A mighty and beautiful creature !
Cheers,
Gilles
Great photos…were you on a trek? In a zoo? You were so close to them!!