Extravagant Gestures

"At the time of Lewis and Clark, setting the prairies on fire was a well-known signal that meant, 'Come down to the water.' It was an extravagant gesture, but we can't do less. If the landscape reveals one certainty, it is that the extravagant gesture is the very stuff of creation. After the one extravagant gesture of creation in the first place, the universe has continued to deal exclusively in extravagances, flinging intricacies and colossi down aeons of emptiness, heaping profusions on profligacies with ever-fresh vigor. The whole show has been on fire from the word go. I come down to the water to cool my eyes. But everywhere I look I see fire; that which isn't flint is tinder, and the whole world sparks and flames." - Annie Dillard (Pilgrim at Tinker Creek)

I've been reading Annie Dillard for the first time (I know, I know, I can just hear the gasps from some of your mouths), and have been completely taken from just about the first page...I started Pilgrim at Tinker Creek upon our return to Kingfisher Kichwamba after seeing the gorillas and lions...talk about timing...

The endagered mountain gorillas of SW Uganda, SE Congo, and N Rwanda are an extravagant gesture without a doubt. Absolutely magnificent creatures! Every once in a while we have National Geographic moments here...where you get a glimpse of something you feel like you've for sure seen on a National Geographic special on PBS or in the magazine, but this is no TV special or magazine article, this is for real...my eyes, my very own eyes are seeing this...these gorillas and the tree climbing lions are one of these National Geographic experiences.

So, the first few pictures at the top of this post are of the spectacular view from the top of the mountain we climbed up on steep switchbacks for about 2 hours...we took a break, drank some water, took pictures, and then the guide we were with got radio communication from the "trackers" who had left several hours before us to locate the family we were assigned to. So our guide took us (us= sarah, nathan, me, and benthe & chilion (sp?) 2 young dutch travelers) to where the trackers were, we left our backpacks and water there, and the trackers led us on, hacking away branches so that we could take the most direct path right up to the gorillas. Our eyes were peeled, we were very quiet, the only thing you could hear was the crunch of the forest floor under our feet, the hacking of the tracker's ponga as it sliced back the brush (remember, this is Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, and it's called that for a reason...it's pretty thick), and every once in a while a yelp from me when I would accidentally grab a thorny branch which seemed to be everywhere - occasionally drawing blood, but it was ALL worth it!)...but then we saw it...the dark, black, patch moving in the brush...the arm of a mountain gorilla...I would never have imagined we would get so close...I could have touched it if I reached far enough...don't worry, I didn't...but the photos began immediately...I kind of chuckle at myself when I look back through all of the pictures that I have...some are REALLY bad...large black blobs...but I had no idea what we were going to see so I just kept shooting...

We knew before we started our climb in the morning that we would have an hour with the animals when we found them, but I had no idea how fast that hour would go or how close we would be for that hour...we saw probably 5 different gorillas...the silverback (mature male in the family whose back turns silver as he matures, and then he has a harem of women in the family...when he dies, the next oldest in the family becomes the silverback...this one's name means 'one who sleeps alot' and he totally looked the part) was the most striking, but the mama and baby were absolutely precious, the way the mother would cover the little one in a huge hug...awwww :) The third picture from the bottom is the "20-something male" equivalent in the family...I'm not sure if you can tell from the angle of the shot but he's totally maxin' & relaxin' like he's on the couch watching sunday afternoon football...he's lying on his back and has his right leg propped up on a tree and he's using his left hand to forage for food and occasionally pauses to stuff it in his mouth. And the photo above that is to highlight the size of their hands...

We all look pretty disheveled in the photos with us in them, but keep in mind we had just hiked pretty much straight up for 2 hours and we weren't going for picture perfect as you can imagine, our focus was reasonably elsewhere. I had Sarah take one of me with a gorilla in the background and took one of she and Nathan just to prove that each of us was actually there...

When we started from the park office in the morning we were in 2 different groups, the 5 of us in the M group and then 7 others in the R group. Having left for the trek at around 8:30 or so, we returned to the camp around 1:30 in the afternoon, the R group didn't return until after 8pm! We were so glad for the short (albeit strenuous) hike, for the small, young group that we had, and for how quickly the trackers found the gorillas. We rested for a bit at the camp after our return, and then headed to the river trail, a free of cost - self guided hike along the stream near the park office...we sat and chatted on a few rocks in the stream for a while...it was a nice way to spend the afternoon after such an exciting morning! We spent the 2nd of our 2 nights in Bwindi in our tents in the Buhoma Community Rest Camp...at our oh so secluded campsite just below the dining banda...and despite how tired we were, none of us slept very well...Nathan turned to reading by headlamp at 2:30 am and Sarah and I were telling funny stories and giggling...all in the dead of night in our tents in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest...oh the stories we have to tell :)

Oh, of course, I mentioned our steep ascension of the mountain, and our return to the camp around 1:30, but I failed to mention the descent of the mountain. So, the way it usually works when hiking (unless you're doing a loop trail) is that however you go up, you have to come down in the same way...So, 2 hours of steep switchbacks were instead replaced with a path straight down the mountain...no switchbacks involved...with our guide at the front, the 5 of us single file with me last, followed by 3 trackers we began our steep descent...I can't really describe it in words, but lets just say that I provided the afternoon's entertainment by pretty much sliding down the mountain on my rear end! I mean we had hiking sticks and everything, but nothing helped...once Nathan even gallantly offered his hand to help me down a particularly slippy portion and he pointed to what he thought would be the best place for my leading foot, and WIPEOUT! At least when Sarah slipped every now and again, she did it gracefully with her toes pointed in true gymnast's fashion with her arms thrust to the sky in order to stick the landing...Heidi has no such grace...I played softball, not gymnastics, so my technique was with my leading right leg straight down the moutain with my left left bent back at the knee as if sliding into 2nd base...needless to say I provided comic relief for everyone involved...Nathan tried getting video footage, but alas it was the wrong 10 seconds...had he just waiting a bit longer I would have been sprawled out as usual. Once one of the trackers behind me slipped which made me feel a bit better but all around I felt about as far from a sure-footed creature as is possible to be...it's good to be able to laugh at yourself, right?

Oh, and the top photo is a dedication to the lovely ladies Ashley Wood and Pat Abbott who were at home in the States and therefore unable to join us in our adventures this time around, but you were with us in spirit ladies!