My First Ever Gorilla Trekking Experience! What I had never imagined or expected in life! Part 2

We did the Nkuringo sector and we were joined by another family of 3 and that’s how our trek became livelier.
Ahead, was a group of porters/guides who went to scout for us the location of the gorillas. This is so because these gorillas don’t stay in one place. These move in groups of families. They keep moving as they search for food. So, if there’s no one looking out for their location that would mean the clients will walk longer distances than expected and even walk in vain because of a possibility of not knowing where to find them. I remember the lady asking how far we will go to meet them. But she was very determined to trek with her children

Our guide Martin took us through the different types of food consumed by these gorillas, their nests, and their medicines and how they use them. He told us the overall behavior of gorillas, and this was interesting to hear how animals can have as much intelligence as humans.

Into the thick impenetrable forest, we enjoyed the clean air, the different bird calls, the medicinal herbs and their benefits. It was Nature O’clock.
Barely had we seen tracks of possible feeds and wastes something that indicated that they had just been in that spot not long ago than we received a call that the family had crossed the river.

“The river??” Martin exclaimed! Yes, they did. As an experienced guide he didn’t display any panic but confirmed to us that we were actually nearing the gorillas. He asked the porters to stay where they were and wait to help us cross the river something they did willingly. They were about 6 of them and we were 5 in number.

It had just rained and the flow of water in the river was quite vigorous. So, we couldn’t cross with our feet also because of our shoes and the water levels were a bit high. So, Martin requested the porters to carry us on their backs to cross the river. They had gumboots on something which prevented them from getting soaked in water.
Being carried on one’s back? What an exciting and scary thing to do. I was last carried on the back 30 plus years ago and now. Every other person was worried about the experience but also had no other means to cross over so we had to hid to what we were told to do.
It felt like a child again

And there we were all ferried to the banks of the river and immediately told not to make noise because guess what? Someone was laying down right at the bank after a heavy meal. And the other was still feeding

The shock on my face rolled tears in my eyes. I was astonished at how a gorilla was actually looking and acting exactly like humans. How big they were! Wait a minute. I forgot to pull out my camera and stared at this gorilla sleeping, scratching itself and trying to remove some bugs from its fur. As if I had a connection to this gorilla, it did exactly what humans do. I finally gathered myself to take a video of this moment.

Don’t trust anyone to capture this moment for you.
This gorilla got up and sat down to continue feeding.

My First Ever Gorilla Trekking Experience! What I had never imagined or expected in life!

Even after selling the gorilla trekking experience to guests, I had never trekked gorillas personally. This was due to a number of factors; One, having a poor domestic tourism consumption behavior. Yes, as Ugandans in a whole, we’re either ignorant or lazy at consuming and appreciating our own nature.
The fact that Uganda was a home to the endangered Apes didn’t trigger the urge to go see these big primates even when tourists would travel miles and miles to come have this lifetime experience
Two, usually I’m driven by company and since I’ve already stated our behavior I felt like I needed company to get the experience. At a point I considered my children, but they were underage to participate in the trekking.
The few friends I interested in trekking thought it was costly and not a Ugandan thing to per take even when I had clearly told them that as a Ugandan/East African, the government had subsidized the permit for us to enjoy our own gifted nature _ ignorance

So, one day I decided that I would be tracking gorillas with or without any support. But luckily enough I got a client who wanted to hike Mountain Rwenzori and also track gorillas. He was alone and I requested to join him for tracking. Of course, he needed company like I did earlier on and that’s how we set off for Bwindi impenetrable National Park in western Uganda

Since he was coming off the mountain, we arrived our guest lodge a bit late in the night and we had to trek early morning. We checked in and was eager to witness the unexpected

Early morning after breakfast we were driven to the headquarters of the Uganda Wildlife Authority for briefing. And this was where our journey would begin. Excited, we joined the welcoming community (The batwa community) which sung songs of motivation, cheering us all the way to what we should expect.
Being a mountain climber, when you are presented any sort of trekking, you automatically think of the distance you want to cover, the endurance you are going to achieve that day, you’re wondering what elevation you will achieve and you are ready to start your 2-3 pedometers to track your trekking activity.
In fact, in the beginning, I looked forward to climbing a hill or a mountain since I hadn’t done it in a long time than the gorillas.

After briefing, we were flagged off by the Authorities, and we were given guides to take us to the trail. This time around I wasn’t a guide but a guest with another guest. Excited we started our journey.
Now trekking/hiking may take longer than expected so you are advised to wear very comfortable shoes an extra size advisable, carry packed lunch (this is always provided at the hotel in the morning), enough hydration in a hydration bag, some glucose and a wind breaker/Rain jacket or hat to protect you from any unexpected weather condition. And the most important requirement one shouldn’t forget is a MASK. Yes, we need to protect our endangered animals from diseases from humans. We share almost 95-98% DNA with these Apes so we can easily transmit diseases to them and them to us!

STRANDED IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY AFTER A FRAUD- A RESCUE CAME IN HANDY! Part 2

On arrival, I had never seen grateful faces like what I saw then. They were exhausted from the long journey from Rwanda and the early morning chimp trekking. But they were still excited to see their little savior. I saved and revived their planned tour. I was their hope

Little did I know that this tour was so important for the family as they were celebrating a 25yr wedding anniversary and also a big 50th birthday. This drove them to continue with their planned tour.

We had an overnight and they rested well before we embarked on our next destination which was Murchison falls National Park after a delicious breakfast, with a few stopovers not to make the trip stressful we arrived at our guest lodge. We had more days to rest and also shake off the trauma. And of course, celebrate the big 50 in the wild. The rest of the activities went on well.
They enjoyed the game drives, that they had about 2 game drives every day. Most rewarding they saw all their favorite animals, went for a boat cruise and later went to the top of the falls. Surprised by the majestic falls the family enjoyed the trip

On the last day we went to track Rhinos and proceeded to Kampala. We went separate ways since I had also to return home after being away for 5 days. But we never wanted to separate because we had become one family. This family fulfilled their obligations; they paid fully for their tour with gratitude. They appreciated the act of kindness, efforts and the efficiency the whole tour was arranged.
I was glad that I didn’t just put together a tour but 1: I revived hope and saved people who later on became family.
2: Not all lost was gone, One Tour Operator scammed them, and another invested in them and made their dream celebration come true
3: Sometimes it’s never about money, it’s about making memorable experiences and lasting relationships and also being humane
4: The most important is to always give a service with integrity and professionalism

You should choose us for your next adventure!

STRANDED IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY AFTER A FRAUD- A RESCUE CAME IN HANDY! Part 1.

On the 5th of August 2025, I had two engagements. One was a planning meeting for an exhibition I showed interest in, the second one was a mini exhibition for honeymooners at Watoto Church same evening. A few minutes into the planning meeting I receive a call from a friend who happened to ask me to help him handle a trip. he notified me that a group of 6 had been scammed and were stuck in Rwanda. They wanted to continue with their trip to Uganda, and they needed someone organize their ongoing trip.

I was struck by this call, the urgency it needed because they had to be in Uganda in a day so that they could be able to use the already purchased chimpanzee trekking permits which were scheduled for the 7th of August.

As an experienced operator, I created immediately an itinerary that would fit their schedule while I was still in the meeting. Ask me if I concentrated again on the meeting, the answer is a No. I just rushed to the mini honeymoon exhibition at the church. we then scheduled a zoom meeting for the night so that we could discuss more about the trip of which we agreed on how to proceed.
I had billion of questions in my head and I couldn’t answer any of them. I put myself in their shoes and I couldn’t see myself handle the situation.

Business wise, I couldn’t imagine a group scammed over 30,000 USD would still continue to spend more money on the same Trip. How were they going to pull through after this hardship? Would they trust me after being scammed? How would I trust them, apart from my friend whom I’ve never done business with, I didn’t know them even when we had a zoom call in the night. They had gotten a hotel through earned points for a few days. They had spent all the cash they had during their “first tour”

This meant that the company had to make all the payments on their behalf to kick start their new trip to Uganda because there was no way they could make transactions at that point and they were to pay later. I thought what if the company loses money in a scenario these people wouldn’t pay, many thoughts kept running through my head. But the humanitarian side of me overpowered me. We run charity campaigns to people who are disadvantaged, unprivileged what about these who are willing to pay and above all visit our beautiful country? I couldn’t think of being stranded I had to help

I didn’t sleep that night, trying my best to look for a solution to evacuate them from Rwanda first thing in the morning. As a professional, I found means from kabale which is near Rwanda. I couldn’t get a car from Rwanda to get them to Uganda because it required payments which could take longer and yet we were out of time. A car from kabale went and picked them up

With the partnerships and the network, we’ve built over the years, I arranged all their ground transfers and accommodation which was seamless. Until they arrived their guest lodge, that was at Midnight into 7th August morning. That’s when I got a breather. Our good driver kept encouraging them and kept them strong throughout the journey. Encouraged them to look forward to the chimpanzee trekking which will lighten their experience.

Indeed, early morning they went for chimp trekking which was a great experience for them. And by the opening of the sky, I decided to go join them for the rest of trip. This was unplanned for, but I felt it would be more assuring and also tread the journey of creating beautiful moments with them. I traveled from Kampala to Kibale and joined them.