Whenever something of interest or excitement appears in pictures, on print or is overheard in a good story, it gets jotted down for later reference. As a result, Girl has a bucket list in the back of her journal that seems to get longer not shorter. Many years ago the film 'Gorillas in the Mist' left Girl in tears. Dian Fossey, the researcher made infamous by that heart wrenching film, had said "In the heart of Central Africa, so high up that you shiver more than you sweat, are great, old volcanoes towering almost 15000 feet, and are nearly covered with rich, green rainforest - the Virungas." Fossey was an avid and outspoken critic of any Virunga tourism, but her words had made it into Girl's diary. The mountains couldn't be missed. The Virungas stretch between three countries and three parks: Rwanda's Volcanoes National Park, Uganda's Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and the Democratic Republic of the Congo's Virunga National Park. The name Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is slightly deceiving, for the political situation in this part of the world is turbulent and violent more than it is democratic. The DRC has not had a peaceful transition of power in its 57 years of independence. Throughout various turmoils, disruptions, eruptions and civil wars though, Virunga National Park has worked tirelessly to protect a stunning ecosystem. The capacity of Emmanuel de Merode, the park warden, to build a sense of responsibility and community in order to protect these magnificent animals and their environment is so renowned, it has also attracted the attention of Hollywood (resulting in the documentary film 'Virunga'). Though guygirlandgoat haven't seen the film, we'd long ago heard of Virunga and deemed it worthy of the utmost support. They've epitomised community engagement and become a model of sustainability in the most difficult circumstances. All good projects need money to survive. Unfortunately for Virunga, the TV rarely has good things to show from the Congo. Despite an impeccable safety record, Virunga usually makes it to the "do not travel" list of official government websites. All of this has a huge impact on tourism; They don't come, they don't bring the money. No money, no community work, no support, no rangers, no gorillas. Guygirlandgoat went to support. Goma is a big town by DRC standards, nestled in the shadow of four volcanoes at the top of Lake Kivu. A prime location doesn't mean Goma is a pretty spot though. Mt Nyiragongo - the active volcano nearby, erupted in 2002 flooding the city with lava and destroying all in its path. People didn't move after the eruption. They rebuilt in the same spot. Lava stones are black and jagged, paving the roads, making walls around houses and in many cases making the houses themselves. Huge chunks have been piled up, or built around. It looks a bit like there's been an air strike in Goma (there hasn't). The end result is a fascinating town of rubble. We were met in this city by a guy called Oscar, who loaded us into a Virunga vehicle. We made a few stops for supplies, for permits and for an armed ranger. Funnily enough, having a guy in camouflage and a massive rifle in the car felt like the most normal thing in the world. There's a strong military presence everywhere in Goma. Fancy Land Cruisers and Range Rovers featured stickers from just about every NGO known to man. They all had big guns in them too. Meanwhile, the locals were getting about their business like every other day. Doing normal stuff in normal clothes, though they were mostly on foot. The exception would be the bicycles. Made entirely from wood (wheels included) there's a huge array of ingenious wooden bikes in use to transport stuff around the city. The cost of an average bicycle is well beyond the means of most locals, but wood is free. Anyone with a bit of time and a trusty machete can construct a wooden bike. Some of them even have spring suspension! The bikes and the rubble made Goma one of a kind, but we didn't stick around to see the sights.
We rounded up an entire convoy of UN vehicles as we left the city and gave their guards a wave. When we passed a UN army base, soldiers saluted from the top of the walls. More stood every few hundred metres along the road. We were happy to be in the Virunga vehicle and not in Landy. We were waved through every checkpoint. The road climbed up and around the mountains, through endless tiny farms, past countless people, until we parked between two volcanoes. Gorillas were so close we could hear them. We set off next morning with 4 gun-toting, machete wielding guides who carved a path through the dense forest. Within half an hour we were met face-to-face by Hoomba and his family. A giant Silverback, sprawled on his belly in the sun, happily feeding himself fruit. The rest of his family were scattered about in trees and shrubs around the place; Another silverback, two grown women, a young woman, two teenagers and two babies. Nine in total. For the next hour we didn't know where to look. Up, down, behind and between us were gorillas. It's indescribable! They're huge but so so gentle. The babies grumbled and tumbled with each other non-stop. At one point one baby climbed a tiny tree, which snapped. The tree, with the baby still in it, fell straight towards Guy, who leapt out of the way and ended up with a gorilla at his feet. We're supposed to stay 8 metres away, but nobody told the gorillas. One wiley little teenager rushed at Girl with joyful abandonment. Wide-eyed Girl didn't see it that way, and the teen was scolded gently by rangers. The second silverback stood toe to to with Guy for a few seconds, until the ranger found an exit strategy. For the first time in a long time Vincent was completely dwarfed. The gorilla was huge! It didn't matter if they were resting, eating, breaking sticks, chewing, staring, wrestling. They were awe inspiring. Taking pictures was left by the wayside. Just sitting and staring meant so much more. Occasionally one would push through the bushes between us, so close we could touch it's fur. A bucket list item scrubbed off the list in the most incredible way. You'd be forgiven for thinking that after such an experience, the DRC couldn't be more spectacular. But the DRC did get more spectacular. Apart from the fact that we stayed in schmancy 5 star places with wood fires and waiters in the jungle, it was not one but two bucket list items that could be scrubbed off in this amazing place. The second? An active volcano. We bumped and bounced along terrible roads to get to Mt Nyiragongo - the hulk we'd seen from 100k's away and whose glow lit up the night sky. On foot with 3 tourists, two rangers, 6 porters, a cook and a live chicken in tow. It was a solid day to climb to her summit over rocks and screes, 1500 vertical metres. The views as we climbed were special. Green mountains, craters and cones stretching across to Lake Kivu. But the views from the top were insane. Under not-so-strict supervision, we crept to the rim of the volcano to watch Earth's insides boil and churn. A lake of bubbles and waves spitting magma about. Further to the right an angry little cone belched red streams, running rivulets over to the lake and dripping lava waterfalls. It must be one of the most beautiful sights in the world. We stayed tucked against the rocks, hiding from the wind and watching natures show for hours. Just like watching a fire all night, only far more intense. Biting wind and rain forced us into our little A-Frame huts in the end. Perched on the outer rim of the volcano at 3470m, we were rugged up but still freezing! 5am we were up for sunrise and a last glimpse of the lava before the brutal 5 hour trek back down (this time sans chicken). Bundled into the Virunga Landy again and bouncing back to Goma. From there we took a boat for the Congo's final surprise: Tchegera Island. A tiny cone peeking out from Lake Kivu, covered in forest, surrounded by water and with 360° panoramic views of the Virungas. It's as delightful as it sounds.
We lapped up the sunshine and raced kayaks in the lake. But mostly we lounged around listening to the birds and the waves and enjoyed the serenity. Still grinning when we got back to the hustle and bustle of Goma late the next afternoon for a straightforward crossing back into Rwanda.
A tiny little oasis of mountains, lakes and greenery, Rwanda can't be much bigger than the ACT. Though lacking in size, it comes with a whole lot of lovely. It's also incredibly tidy, efficient and seems to be moving forwards in leaps and bounds. We awoke to a strange silence on our first morning, which was eventually broken by chanting. Being Sunday, we thought this was due to something Religious. Venturing outside, the streets were eerily void of vehicles, which accounted for the silence. Massive numbers of people were on the road though; some in their Sunday best, some cycling, kids on rollerblades, when a huge group of men and women appeared at the corner. All of them running and singing. That accounted for the chanting. Nothing to do with religion. Turns out our first morning in Rwanda was 'close the entire city down to do fitness stuff' Sunday. As implied, the roads of Kigali are closed on the first Sunday of the month, so people can skate, cycle, run, blade and do anything else that they like on them (provided it's not in a vehicle). People of absolutely every shape and size were in trainers and hitting the pavement. It's not compulsory, but it seems incredibly well attended. What an amazing idea! After lunch time, the streets returned to their bustling state and we stumbled upon another first. A soccer field covered in motorbikes. Riders charging each other while pillions wielded polo mallets after a soccer ball. Moto-Polo! We sat under a tree and watched the match play out, with thrills and spills unlike any normal soccer or polo game. Such fun! Not far from the polo match was an art cooperative. With her eye on a traditional milk container and having done a few quick sums, girl went off to barter for the goods. Mucking up the conversions and thinking she was doing great, she left with the prize having paid thrice as much as she thought, double what he'd asked and four times what it was worth. There was one happy vendor for sure that day! Most Rwandan towns have a genocide memorial in the same way that most towns have some kind of war memorial back home. Here, the memorials commemorate more than a million Rwandans slain during the 1994 genocide. Although it was incredibly moving, the Kigali Genocide Memorial also had a hint of inspiration about it. The way Rwandans have dealt with the tragedy and united since then is powerful stuff. 'Divide and conquer' policy, propaganda and violence broke a nation. Now unity reigns supreme in a country that is determined not only to move on, but be positive and even progressive. It gives incredible hope for humanity. Having only good things to say about the capital, we were off to explore the rest of this special little spot. The roads from Kigali twist and wind through mountains and plantations, leading southeast to Nyungwe National Park. Home to an astounding number of plants, animals, insects and birds, we were excited to be chasing them all with the lens. If there's one thing that's certain when you're visiting a high-altitude rainforest in the wet season, it's rain! The stuff absolutely bucketed down. Braving the weather revealed three types of monkey we'd not yet seen, along with some gorgeous mountain scenery, but eventually we retreated to an afternoon of films and popcorn in bed. The rain thundered down and wore itself out over night, revealing one hell of a Wednesday! We were up at 4.30am, in the car by 5 and driving through spectacular surrounds before the sun had graced us with its presence. When she dawned in pinks and orange, we were surrounded by tea fields and mountains with rainforest backdrops. The fog hung around in valleys as women in brightly coloured outfits set to work harvesting fluro green tea leaves. About an hour through this stunning adventure we arrived at Cyamudongo. A rainforest oasis among the crops. Here to be met by a collection of guides, porters and 'trackers', in search of chimpanzees.
Tracking is a loose term, as chimps live in trees and can't really be 'tracked'. We stood around on a road for quite some time and waited, when a ranger came running around the bend. We upped and raced after him to watch a chimp cross the road. It was all very comical. The camera was still in the bag as the chimp disappeared. So. We stood on the road and waited. This is when we learnt that the only real way to 'track' chimpanzees is to stand around until they make a noise, then gallop off in the direction of that noise. They didn't make a noise, so we learnt about their lifestyle, their food and their forest. We learnt many wonderful chimp facts in our hiking boots, complete with poles and wet weather gear. While we stood on the road. Just when we thought we were becoming chimp experts never having seen a chimp, whooping and screaming filled the air. It's a primordial sound that registers somewhere deep inside. We were off!!! Climbing up, down and around the forest, we were finally presented with a pair in the trees. We'd found them! It's really not hard to imagine that they're just a tiny DNA sequence different to us. Such a fantastic animal!! They self-medicate when they're ill, live in communities, play music to communicate and even wage wars. The ones we saw just sat and fed themselves berries, but it was still pretty special meeting our forest cousins for the first time. With a few more hikes under our belts, Nyungwe was farewelled when we made for Kibuye. A waterside vista perched on the edge of Lake Kivu, this place sealed the Rwandan oasis deal. Apart from another breathtaking drive, Kibuye features wide bays, the odd beach and steep green islands that plummet into the lake. There isn't green that can match the crops, forests and plantations of this part of the world. Without a doubt, the "Gorilla Highlands" of the Congo and Rwanda deserve to be in the world's top ten travel destinations. It's been an incredible couple of weeks!
Please visit: www.virunga.org/projects to see what the park is up to! Next up: New Hemispheres