Hike of a Lifetime (Post #13)

 In all the meetings and work we were able to get done, we needed to have some fun too.  So on Saturday, the one day I was able to "rest" Keba arranged to take a bunch of us hiking up Mount Bisoke, in Volcanoes National Park.  

Now, let me preface this story by saying, I love to hike. I live in New Hampshire and love walking in the woods, seeing whatever nature I can get, and being outside.  I do not do big mountains often, but I have hiked in the Grand Canyon and many pretty good places in the western US.  But I did NOT prepare for this hike, did not plan on hiking while in Rwanda, and 100% underestimated everything about this day.

That said, we all got up early and left the IREME office around 6am to drive around to Kinigi, the area where you pick up the park passes.  It was a beautiful day, threatening some showers in the afternoon, but we started in a great mood and ready for adventure.  

The first cool thing we passed was this small park where, from the road, you see these huge sculptures of animals made of grass and sticks.  Keba explained this is where once a year, the community and park officials come together to name that year's new baby gorillas.  The people of Rwanda  are very proud of their gorillas and regard them with great respect.  They follow each family and have many conservation and education programs to protect them.  I think you can even follow some of the families on Instagram!   But each year, they have a ceremony in this park to name the new babies.  

  

We drove a little past that to the place where you pick up passes for hiking. In order to get into the park, you have to take a Covid test. For this excursion, you just did a rapid test on site. If you want to do the intensive gorilla trekking you do a PCR test the day before, but they are very serious about health protections.  

The parking lot is surrounded by a number of small buildings, clearly designed for tourists who want an "African" experience.  The huts and decor are out of a movie, even though that is not really what I saw in the small communities.  This statue of gorillas greeted me and got me very excited.

We presented passports and id's and went through about a 45 minute process of registration and buying tickets. I learned that Rwandans can go on this hike for the equivalent of $5, while foreigners pay $75 for a pass. I love that the government provides their own people with access to their country that is affordable at least for some. Even with this discounted rate, these tickets are out of reach for most.

We had a team of 6 and planned to hike to Crater Lake at the top of Mt. Bisoke. As we stood in line for Covid tests, I saw a westerner also waiting and we got to talking. He was from England and there on business, working on renovating a lodge with his partners.  We chatted for a bit and as we parted ways, I found myself wondering if we would meet up again on the mountain. Then we got what we needed and got back in the car for the 30 minute drive to the bottom of the hike.

After a few days in the area, I had gotten used to looking up at volcano peaks.  But as we got closer, it started to strike me how large they really are.  This is another peak whose name Sabyinyo means "crooked teeth." 

We finally parked in a small village and walked through a back path, off the road, to get to the starting place for the hike.  Along this path, we saw many farms, almost all planted with potatoes and some other crops.  The path was very muddy and it made me start to wonder about the hike.  All the locals were telling me, it isn't so bad.  Maybe a moderate hike, but it is ok. Yes it is rainy season so you will see mud, but you will be ok. So I was thinking to myself, I don't need a walking stick or porter to carry my things, but maybe I will hire someone to give them a job for the day. My naivete had no boundaries!

   

At one house, we saw a beautiful hydrangea blossom on top of a pole in the front yard.  Someone explained this means there is beer inside, come on in for a drink!  Nice hospitality!  

  

Then we got to the hike starting point and Keba insisted I put on gaitors.  I had no clue what these were for and tried to resist, but he just put them on my feet with no real explanation except to say, you need these.  Ok, I agreed in my giddy ignorance!

So then everyone was given a big walking stick and we got a porter who carried my backpack. We started walking and immediately found ourselves in fields of potatoes stretching farther than we could see.  Gorgeous purple blossoms ran just under eye level, separating lines of green and sky.  

We learned that these are called Kinigi potatoes, after the area Kinigi, and are red, unlike the white Irish potatoes grown closer to Nyabirehe. The community here farms and they get a portion of the proceeds from the hikers who constantly walk through their land. The government has a good sense of feeding funds back to the surrounding communities as much as they can while still protecting the forests, animals and economy.

After the potato fields we walked into what looks like fields of daisies, but these are actually a different flower and are cultivated here because they make a natural insecticide.  I don't remember the name of them, but I will not soon forget the view.

By this point, I was getting winded from the altitude and pace.  The beginning of the hike is at 8,000 feet and it climbs to 12,000.  The guide was wanting to make up some time, so he said, you can take pictures when you come back.  We want to make sure we are back before dark, so we need to push on.  Back before dark, I thought?  Then he kept joking, this is our warm up!  But then the incline got much steeper, and I looked up to see a group of people gathered at the edge of the trees, and I realized, oh he is not kidding.  We had walked for 35 minutes, and this was the warm up.  We were only now about to  get to the "starting point" and I was sending silent blessings to my porter and wishing I had brought more water.  

At the entrance to the park, a group of about 40 people, all hiking that area that day, gathered for instructions which they called the "debriefing," which ended up being one of my favorite parts of the day.  Here is the speech we heard to prepare us for the hike.  Allow me to paraphrase:

You are now at the gate to Volcanoes National Park.  There are wild animals like gorilla, elephants, and buffalo in the park, so we have a wall to keep them inside and away from the fields of crops.  You may take pictures of the animals but no pictures of the soldiers. They will stay with you at all times for your protection.  If you need to mark your territory, please notify a guide before you go off by yourself.  If it is number one, go ahead and mark your territory.  If it is number two, please tell us.  We will dig a hole for you with a machete, then you will mark your territory and then we will cover the hole.  Do not go off alone, because in this forest we have fire ants and stinging nettles and wild animals.  Enjoy your hike.

Stinging nettles I have experience with, and not pleasant memories.  But fire ants?  Where are we going?  Now I was still feeling positive at this point, excited and determined, but the voice of doubt was getting slightly louder.  So I took a deep breath and thought to myself, you are in Africa!  Pull yourself together and sleep another day!  Off we went into the park.

Crossing through the "gate", which turned out to be a small single file bridge made of sticks, got me excited.  I was now officially sharing a habitat with gorillas and ELEPHANTS!!!  Spoiler alert, I saw no elephants or signs of them, but how exciting to know it could be possible! We did see scat from buffalo and gorillas, so that was very exciting.  

   

But at this point, the most impressive thing was the vegetation.  The bush was thick with just a trail wide enough for two or three people across going up the hill.  Now in the park the leaves looked more tropical, some flowers shooting stalks 10 feet in the air, some big wide leaves hungry for sunshine, and sprawling trees reaching their branches wide over other plants.

 Oh the trees!  They were magnificent.  At first, it is easy to underestimate the surroundings because it seems smaller than it is.  Plus, I was concentrating so hard on my footing that it was difficult to take anything in.  

 The trail was inches deep of mud and very slippery.  I used my walking stick to keep me upright almost immediately.  

 Then it was not only muddy but started to go pretty much straight up.  The path was so steep I felt like I was on a stair master, and not just for a few steps and then flat.  It was steep the whole time.  My porter, in this picture to the left, stayed right beside me and helped me so much.  Just a few minutes in all the guards started saying, please do not feel you have to keep up with anyone else.  Each person should go at their own pace and we will stay with you whatever you decide.  Well, that was all the permission I needed.  I did not want to get sick or injured, so pretty quickly I realized, I have no need to get to the top of this mountain.  I would rather take my time and enjoy the views. So I went very slowly, stopping often, and still had a hard time.  

But this way, I got to see what was around me.  This is a sunbird.  It looks a bit like a large hummingbird, with feathers that shine like jewels, so beautiful with a very pretty song. This one was red and blue, and then I saw another that was a teal and blue combination. Gorgeous!  

At one point, when I realized the whole team was far ahead of me, I started to really feel dizzy. I told the guard and porter that were with me that I thought I needed to stop for a while. I have a history of altitude sickness and now my brain was saying, stop. So I sat down, ate a banana, and made myself happy with the view. I thought, you traveled across the world and have been working non stop for days, and have another few days to keep working non stop. This is not your moment to be a hero! So I let my heart and lungs catch up to the rest of my body and made myself content. The guide said, don't worry!  The woman who passed us going downhill a while ago already gave up. She was sick to her stomach, so you are not the first to quit! Ha. I did not even care.  

Shortly afterward, though, two members of my team came back down the hill, also giving up on making it to the top. Then, just behind them, the British guy I met at the Covid test station came back down the path exclaiming he was done! The act that another westerner joined me in surrender made me feel wonderful! We ended up walking down hill together and had a blast.     

Walking downhill was actually challenging in a whole new way.  It was very slippery, and now we were all exhausted, so I held on to the porter's hand (which had just pulled me uphill for over an hour) and leaned on my stick most of the way so I did not end up on my behind.  But now we really got to look at the trees.  

There is one of these trees called hagenia hipericum, I think.  I read they are sometimes called the African redwoods, and I had the same feeling as standing by sequoias. When you stand next to it, you feel its size as a protective, gentle force. And covered with vines and more vegetation, it reminded me of stories of Tarzan making homes in the forest trees. I wanted to crawl in and make a nest.

One of these trees is a spot the Rwandans call "To the Kenyan." The story goes, years ago a man from Kenya came to visit and hike up these trails. He made it to this one tree (not even as far as I got) and quit exclaiming, "I came to visit and now I may die in Rwanda!" So now they call that spot "To the Kenyan" and all get a great laugh every time. Truth or lore, we were happy to have made it at least a little farther!

 A few times, the trees would open up and give a view of the mountainside. These are the forests where Dian Fossey did her famous research with gorillas, and also where she is buried. There is a trail that leads to her tomb and at the crossroads of that trail and the one we were on, there is a stopping place with benches to rest. We sat there and stopped with the little group we collected going downhill. I walked a little ways to look down buffalo paths and imagine groups of animals roaming these parts. Just then, I saw two armed guards walking towards us from the Dian Fossey Tomb trail. Simultaneously we decided to start walking again, and also noticed these two guards were walking quite quickly and with purpose.  Not two minutes later, we heard some loud crashing of branches, clearly something big was close.

At first we asked, is that buffalo? Then we heard the grunting. I froze and looked about 100 yards ahead at a tree shaking violently from something climbing down out of it. More grunting, and the lead guard looked at us and said, "gorilla!"

Suddenly we were all on high alert!  Then we heard the grunting…and more rustling.  Just ahead of us, to the left of the path about 20 feet away, sat a giant Silverback!!!  My new mate and I walked over very quickly and stood there stunned.  We tried to take videos and pictures, but were so excited we couldn’t think straight!  He was munching on something , but also obviously looking at us out of the corner of his eye.  I was not scared, per se, but definitely felt this enormous power between us.  There was a connection that is difficult to explain.  What an honor to share some space with this gorgeous creature, to know we share the same Earth.

 

  He was huge!  I only saw him from the shoulders up, but his head was enormous and you could see his huge round muscles.  Then, another crash and we saw another one coming down out of the tree just ahead of us!  

He climbed down, crawled a bit forward and then sat himself in the brush.  I got a decent video of him and then he looked straight at me and made eye contact.  It was incredible!!!  

 

After a few minutes of shaking disbelief, the guide said, "Ok let’s move on.  This one is a black back and they are the ones who make trouble." He explained silverbacks are 12 and over, black backs are males under 12.  So I guess, you need to watch the teenagers.  We walked on and high fived each other and were going nuts! It was such a cool moment and we were elated. We couldn’t believe our luck and how fortunate we were to turn around when we did to see them. Not a moment I will forget easily.

We walked back floating on air, through the eucalyptus groves and back through the flower fields.  This time I did take some pictures. The views were stunning and I felt what the title "Gorillas in the Mist" means. 

Then our guide found this chameleon who was so cute.

And I saw more scarlet runner beans growing, which delights me because I have these growing in my garden at home. This small connection makes me feel like a part of me is there in Rwanda still.

By the time we got back, I clearly saw why I was given gaitors, a walking stick and a porter.  The mud caked everything, even after cleaning up a bit.

  My body was exhausted, but I couldn't have been happier. I came for adventure and got one beyond imagination.

These volcanoes are a magical place. They hold centuries of stories, cycles of violence and renewal, destruction and regrowth. May this be the time of true regrowth in Rwanda that comes as the power of nature roars back in its glory.