Gorilla and Chimp Tracking

To see our furrier cousins in their natural habitats in the rain forests of Uganda, we went Mountain Gorilla and Chimpanzee tracking. Beyond the beauty of the high jungles we entered to view these magnificent animals, the tracking was grueling. Up and down some of the steepest dusty slopes I have ever seen for hours to finally the primates. While intellectually spectacular because of the chimpanzee's closeness to homosapeiens, seeing 26 of the 700 mountain gorillas in the world was truly a highlight of the trip.  The chimpanzees were content to stay high up in the trees and throw sticks and branches down upon us (they were directly overhead) while feasting on fig trees. The gorillas on the other hand surrounded us. With three giant silverbacks (the full-grown males), tons of baby gorillas, and mothers grooming their children, we got a full view of primate life. The gorillas literally surrounded us; they were in trees, on the ground, and even blocked our path to leave the jungle. For one glorious hour, we were a part of the jungle and these animals were our friends...they patiently tolerated our viewing and the babies even put on some shows for us as the tried to climb trees only to fall with a look of utter shock that was nearly as cute as when they chose not to walk to move and instead grabbed their feet and rolled down
hills.

I know, I know, with the beard it is hard to tell which one is the gorilla...