Gorillas and Chimps Expedition - What an Adrenaline Rush!
Hello
We are just back from our expedition to Uganda and Rwanda. We are almost finished writing up the trip report which will go onto the site soon! We are having a little trouble with our server and unfortunately cannot upload our photographs as yet, GGGRRRRRR!
Highlights for our clients were:
1. Treking Chimps in Uganda for two days. The Chimps are really noisy and when moving along the floor of the rainforest they are always screaming to let each other know where they are and what they are doing. The photography was really difficult as the light is pretty poor but we managed to get some good shots of some of the males looking up from the jungle floor, staring in fact and waiting their turn with a female who was "in heat". Racing along to keep up with them on one particular day with bodies and lenses weighing us down was exhilarating and bloody hard work to say the least, but what fun and it certainly got the adrenaline pumping as much as watching a Lion kill.
2. Treking the Gorillas in Uganda for two days and THEN Rwanda for three days AS WELL. This was really hard work - I don't think our group will mind our saying we were not a group of Olympic athletes! But we were all determined to see what we had come for and we came, we saw, and we conquered those treks! Some days we think awards were deserved! It was all good fun though and the pictures our clients were able to get are really very impressive. We provided the opportunity, and they, to their credit, provided the rest.
Uganda Gorilla treks (2 treks): The second day was the hardest. It was raining, we had to cross a raging river, and the last climb was very hard. We eventually caught up with the Gorillas and to our delight the sun came out and we were treated to a wonderful display by the Silverback (yes, he beat his chest), some of the young and the entire family stretching out along a valley. We came back tired, wet but on a complete high! We also had the opportunity of photographing a group of Gorillas in the rain which was quite beautiful and serene.
Rwanda Gorilla treks (3 treks): This was much easier. The views were great and we all managed to get a good portfolio of really interesting shots. On our first trek, we were sitting more comfortably than usual on a bank looking down at a female and a baby when without any warning a blackback (young male Gorilla, but BIG) walked past the front of the group, brushing our legs, it then turned, took one look at Marian, decided she was the one and slapped her on her leg. Marian, if not all of us, will be telling this story for years. We all managed to do what we had been told to do in the briefing ie we kept remarkably quiet during what was a phenomenally exciting wildlife encounter but once we were out of the forest.... what a high!
Prize giving on the last night of our trip saw the overall prize for consistently good photographs from every trek going to Wendy. The prize being five yards of printing from Shutterspeed Travel's 24inch HP printer - this will allow Wendy to print poster size on art quality paper, we are looking forward to the results. Murray and Lisa also won prizes, but what goes on tour stays on tour!
A great, great trip. Please take a look back at this blog at Easter when hopefully our server issues will have been solved and the photos will be up here in the Blog. Our full trip report and the library database photos should be on the site then as well.
Julie and Adam
Uganda and Rwanda - Chimps and Gorillas - 15 March 2008
