Bball Story: Second Gorilla Trek

On Friday I set out on my second of two treks. This one was much easier and I really didn't need a porter but I hired one anyway, just in case. The trailhead was at the meeting area and while the other hikers got into their vehicles we just walked down the road. The road soon turned into a path, which although it ran through the park, was used by villagers hiking from one side of the forest to the other. The rainforest is an amazing place. I had read about the layers of vegetation but it is one thing to read about it and another thing to experience it entirely. After a short break we left this main trail and followed a well-worn path into the forest. 10 to 15 minutes later we found the Rushegura family of gorillas. The section of the forest that they were in was much more open so my pictures were better. Again, I have a few good video clips but I will need to upload them later. The gorillas are amazing creatures. When we arrived they were all coming down out of the trees, one by one, building their nests and having a nap. The nest building was the most fascinating part for me. More ritual than functional, it involved pulling two or three branches down and then lying on them. The amount of additional padding offered by three layers of leaves seemed marginal but without fail each gorilla did the same thing when it prepared to rest. Amazing.

As we left the jungle, it had rained a bit and the sun had reappeared. There were thousands of butterflies. White ones, turquoise, black and white, yellow, brown and more. At one junction we came upon hundreds of small white butterflies fluttering around us. They were touching down momentarily to suck up water and minerals from the puddles at our feet. Like a dream!