Dem Rep of Congo: Virunga NP – Mountain Gorilla Tracking

Mountain Gorrilla tracking in Congo is a totally different experience than in Rwanda – it’s much more authentic, wild, and extreme; there are no tourists, I had a private tour essentially. We tracked at a family of 23 gorillas, cutting our way with machetes through thick jungle overgrowth for over 2 hours. This is not a walk in the park (well, technically it is), but a very gruesome and difficult hiking over roots, plants, and up and down the Mikeno volcano slopes. Several times we had to backtrack and hack a new way through. Several places you go through vicious fire ants that immediately crawl into your pants and go nuts (hopefully not literally). Eventually we made it to the gorillas and it was incredible! They were more active than in Rwanda – silverback tore a massive tree stump from the ground and then entire family feasted on it. Little ones were doings summersaults and one was swinging in tree lianas. There was a 3-month baby and a lot of other babies on mothers’ backs. And in the end – the entire group went by me within just a foot or two, one by one, all 23!