Africa.Jungle and veldt by Caravan and Sedan chair.

[drron]

More fun and games-

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[drron]

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The alpha female is in front.She is being groomed by the mother of the other juvenile.

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[drron]

You could watch the youngsters for hours if you were allowed-

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The alpha female separating the youngsters.The one she is holding up in the last pic is hers.The other will be roughly shoved back towards it's mother.

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An older juvenile joins in the sub adults games-

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[drron]

Deep in thought-

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[drron]

These 2 are watching the silverback come down out of his tree.

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He's massive-

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Soon after it is time to leave.The guide decided we should find an easier way down.this is what it looke like-

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Mrsdrron's team-

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Now for some of my photos starting off with a gorilla's doo doo-

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[JohnM]

Wow! Just spent quite some time catching up on this fantastic report

Were the armed guards Army or security employed by National Parks?

They also have armed guards with AK47s in Rwanda on the gorilla treks. Can't recall why - ie. to protect against bad guys (which seems a very unlikely occurrence to me in that park) or fire off a round or ten (assuming the things were loaded...) into the air if a gorilla (or tourist...) got aggro?



He doesn't look like an army guy to me.

Frankly, my feeling was that it was done for appearances - and to offer employment (that's why I suspect it wasn't loaded...). But it's only a guess. Uganda may be different.

 

[JohnM]

You certainly got a good group there.

 

[drron]

A classic pose-

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It wasn't all one way.The gorillas sometimes took an interest.this fellow came and sat less than 2 metres from me and looked me up and down for a few minutes but making sure the boss wasn't worried-

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[drron]

A movie of the kids at play-
[video=youtube_share;8XI1WldZ0Rk]https://youtu.be/8XI1WldZ0Rk[/video]

 

[drron]

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Just after I took this next photo there was some more interaction.one of the blackbacks charged mrsdrron.He stopped about 4 feet away but not before one of her porters put himself between her and the gorilla.They really do a fantastic job.

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Siesta time-

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[drron]

All was peaceful until the alpha female decided it was time to leave.She scooted off with her child hanging on grimly-

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The other female was more relaxed-

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It was then we noticed the silverback descending from the tree-

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[drron]

The silverback headed down the hill to join the rest of the group.One young male sat about 2 feet from 3 of us eating fruit.

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Our hour was now up so we had to set off down the hill.

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when we got to the formed track we ate our lunches.We had a very good lunch packed by the lodge.We were all feeling elated but humble.A truly magnificent experience.On the track I could now notice other things including orchids,butterflies and other flowers-

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[drron]

We got back to the Park HQ just after 1300.We were the last group back.One group got to their gorillas in an hour.I thoroughly enjoyed the experience but there are some troubling facts.You are seeing gorillas in the wild but not totally wild gorillas.The groups here and in Rwanda that are visited are habituated and that has implications.If a habituated group runs into a wild group they will not fare well-they have lost a lot of their aggression.

On the other hand their life expectancy in Bwindi is greater than wild gorillas as they are constantly observed and if sick or injured there are vets on site so they get treated quickly.As well if it were not for the tourists paying big bucks it is quite likely that there would be less mountain gorillas than there are now.The numbers in Bwindi are very slowly increasing.

Back at the lodge I was exhausted and sore all over.A nice soak in a warm bath and then a massage using marula extract by Precious and I was feeling much better.After the massage I met mrsdrron for a drink.The wines were South African.They had a nice Stellenbosch SB for mrsdrron and I usually partook of a pinotage.We met Sheila who is the Director on site for the Kellerman foundation who run the local hospital.We made a time to be shown over the hospital the next day.
I had booked a second trek the next day but this encounter was everything I wanted so I let the Park have a donation.Now just a few more of our meals.As I said nothing pretentious but good quality meals cooked to perfection.
A Thai chicken salad,pasta with tomato,mushrooms and cheese then a version of a Shepher's pie-

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One lunch was pizza,a banana dessert and a beetroot salad-

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Another fish dish and a very passionfruity passionfruit tart.

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Must mention our waiter Elli.He was fantastic.He is a Uni graduate in social work but no jobs so he worked as a guide for the Batwa community.Sanctuary noticed him and he started there 18 months ago.He is now doing a hospitality course sponsored by Sanctuary.He has a lot of drive so hopefully he can realise his full potential.He is 26 and not married.Every couple or single guest has their own waiter for their stay.

 

[JohnM]

We got back to the Park HQ just after 1300.We were the last group back.One group got to their gorillas in an hour.I thoroughly enjoyed the experience but there are some troubling facts.You are seeing gorillas in the wild but not totally wild gorillas.The groups here and in Rwanda that are visited are habituated and that has implications.If a habituated group runs into a wild group they will not fare well-they have lost a lot of their aggression.

On the other hand their life expectancy in Bwindi is greater than wild gorillas as they are constantly observed and if sick or injured there are vets on site so they get treated quickly.As well if it were not for the tourists paying big bucks it is quite likely that there would be less mountain gorillas than there are now.The numbers in Bwindi are very slowly increasing.

It's a real dilemma, isn't it? Are we part of the problem or part of the solution?

In Rwanda, it was I think 8 of the 18 groups in Volcans NP that were habituated for visiting and the visitation limit (10 people per group and 1 hour contact per day) was saturated pretty much year-round - and the Chinese are yet to come in numbers proportional to their population in the world...

But if wild animals are not habituated there is not much chance of seeing them. I think that is an issue that many people do not understand.

Then, in turn, it probably makes animals more vulnerable to poaching.

It's scary...

 

[mrs.dr.ron]

It's a real dilemma, isn't it? Are we part of the problem or part of the solution? ................
- and the Chinese are yet to come in numbers proportional to their population in the world...
It's scary...

There is more to come on that subject when we get to the next lodge !!!! Stay tuned for more developments .........:shock:

 

[drron]

Sunday and a bit of a sleep in.After lunch we went to the local hospital.Gorilla trekking started here in 1993.At that time there were no health facilities.In 2002 Dr.Scott Kellerman came here to establish a hospital.His pastor in Dallas had come to see the gorillas.The initial hospital was a space under a tree.Now it is a reasonably sized facility which acts as a referral hospital for the local area.It has a resident specialist surgeon and an obstetrician.There are regular visits from OS specialists mainly from the USA but also Switzerland.At all times there are 2 UK GPs to look after the wards.They come on 6 monthly rotations.A lot of the funding still comes from former tourists.So JohnM I felt tourists were at least more of a positive than negative.

So a few photos.Just remember this is not a first world country and many of the things you see here are common throughout the third world.

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That is the office of their health fund.Nearly 30% of the community have joined up.Now scenes that would be seen in many hospitals in similar countries.

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A map of the local region.A fairly large area with poor roads.The hospital provides a nurse outreach centre.Here is their mode of transport.The young fellow in the picture followed me around the hospital.his sister is a patient.

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The hospital provides an undercover kitchen area where families cook meals for the patients and themselves.

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[drron]

Childrens ward.The second picture shows the isolation unit-

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Paediatric High Dependency and a private room-

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At the back of the ward the hospital garden-

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A family meeting area-it was an internet café but now most of the locals have their phones.It can be used as a recharging point.The grounds are quite extensive-

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The Path lab and blood bank-

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[drron]

The Emergency dept-

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An Xray dept was donated by the Rotary clubs of California and shipped out fully installed in a container.Only problem is the electricity supply is dicey so it only gets to run less than 2 hours a day-

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Then another container of donated equipment that is now a storeroom-

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The recovery room-

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A reasonably modern maternity ward funded by the Japanese govt.

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[drron]

Around the grounds more veggies are grown-

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A place for pregnant women from outlying areas to stay before delivery.Basic.

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A couple of newer buildings-

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I loved this plaque-

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He's an HIV survivor.Sheila couldn't stand George W but openly says the PEPFAR program his government set up is by far the best program for combatting AIDs.
The views are spectacular-

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The hospital ambulance-

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So back to the lodge.I loved the views-

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[drron]

Monday and we are doing the Batwa experience.The Batwa are the pygmy tribe from around these parts.Until 1991 they lived in the forest and most lead a traditional life.Uganda's President,General Musaveni,decided that Uganda should get revenue from rich tourists willing to pay to see the gorillas.So the Batwa were evicted from the forest.They were given no compensation of any kind-money,land or food.They just had to rely on the generosity of the locals.elli our waiter remembers as a child they had a Batwa family live with them.In 1993 the gorilla trekking began.General Museveni is still the dictator/president today.

So our day begins with an uphill walk to one of the Batwa villages.Fortunately for the Batwa the tourists who have come here are a generous lot.There are several community groups set up to help them.Some fund land purchases so they can set up a village and several run the Batwa experiences which generates revenue and gives them a chance to sell their crafts.the Batwa community organisation also subsidises health insurance for them.
Just a quote from the Wikipedia article on the Batwa-

“Originally, Batwa were forest-dwelling hunter-gatherers based in the Great Lakes region of Central Africa, and are widely accepted as the original inhabitants of the region. As their traditional forest lands and territories fell under the control of agro-industries and conservation agencies, the Batwa became squatters living on the edges of society. The establishment of the Bwindi and Mgahinga National Parks for Mountain Gorillas in 1991 enabled the authorities to evict the Batwa definitely from the forest. The Batwa in Uganda (today) experience systematic and pervasive discrimination from the government and other sectors of society, and their rights as indigenous peoples are neither recognized nor respected

The walk to the village.Brilliant views.This on the other side of the road is a fish farm.Most of the lodges use local fruit and veggies and fish.The upmarket lodges though bring their meat in from outside.

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Obviously the land is very productive-

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A lot of coffee bushes-

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An older mud house in the village-

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