Wow, it has been way too long since the last blog update. We have changed countries as well as continents, had a couple of visitors from home, and experienced some amazing adventures (well, I would say they are amazing!) We are currently in İstanbul, Turkey visiting with a relative of Steve's that lives in the city. My mom and her friend Sue just flew out after a great visit that spanned Greece and Turkey.İ had a chance to upload some photos from Africa (below) so here is more on what we have been up to:
After arriving in Uganda and having a few days in the city, we met up with our tour group (8 of us Mzungus- white people- total in two Land Cruisers fitted for safaris, complete with a pop-up roof.) One of our first stops was the equator and there was even an experiment there to prove that water does in fact drain in two different directions depending on what hemisphere you're in (but the guy charged $10 to pour water out of a bucket as a demonstration, which we viewed as a ripoff, so we just took their word for it!)
From there we spent our first (of many) nights communing with nature- with only a campfire to keep away the wild animals. İ was assured that this technique did in fact work well.....but the next day we woke up and found that the resident hippos had left a few "presents" outside of a neighbor's tent about 10 feet from our own. The good news is that nobody was hurt, and no tents were trampled, but that didnt do much in convincing us that hippos would stay out of our camp grounds as they left the water at night to look for vegetation to eat! Oh well, it's all part of the adventure....
Soon after that we headed to Rwanda to go searching for gorillas. Once we crossed the border İ was shocked to find that Rwanda could potentially win the award for best roads in Africa. Seriously, they were all freshly paved and in great condition. We soon realized that the only people in cars were the tourists heading to watch the gorillas- literally everyone else was walking- so that probably helped a lot. To be honest, beforehand İ was nervous about heading to this part of the world due to the recent history, but was very happy to find out that the country has done a good job (especially in Africa terms) of rebuilding and getting back on their feet. The people were very nice and the folks we talked to that had done more traveling in the country had great reviews of the capital city- calling it very cosmopolitan. We didnt have a chance to visit but İ hope to some day. On to the exciting stuff- the gorillas!
There is a capacity of 40 tourists per day to visit gorilla families to mınımıse the impact on these incredible animals. On the big day we met up with our guide- 8 of us in our group- and learned about our family. There are 17 in total, 5 babies, and their name means "peace" in the local language- we all took that as a very good sign. Another interesting fact- their nose prints are like our finger prints- totally unique- so that helps tell them apart. We ended up driving past the Diane Fossey İnstitute on our way up to the mountain- our guide told us it was a school program given by this organization that convinced him he wanted to grow up and help protect the gorillas too. Beforehand we had heard stories from different people of how they only had to hike 15 minutes before finding their family, and the maximum allowed to hike is 6 hours- so we didnt know what to expect. After an hour and a half on semi-cut paths we met up with our trackers who had gone out first thing that morning to find our family. The good news was that our family was only about 10 minutes away! We ditched all our gear (to minimise distractions / scaring the gorillas with walking sticks) and headed further up. When we got to where the gorillas should have been they were nowhere to be seen. Then we realised that within that short time they had gone down our mountain and scaled another one- not being quite as agile as the gorillas we instead had to climb all the way UP the mountain, head across the ridge and go back down the other where the gorillas were.
Our guide, Frances, literally hacked his way through the jungle with a small machete- we were totally off any paths that had been cut before- going through really dense vegetation. We never saw any snakes, but İ was intentionally not looking too closely in case there was anything İ didnt want to see! After 3 more hours of hiking/crawling/stumbling through the Rwandan jungle, we meet up with another group of trackers with the news that we were close! One of the guides literally grabbed my hand and pulled me through the jungle until we got to the clearing where our gorillas were, and what a sight!!!! At least 8 full-grown gorillas were lounging around, dining on a meal of rotting wood (for minerals our guide said) with several babies playing and climbing around the adults. One mom was cradling her baby in a pose that truly looked human. We just sat at the edge of the clearing, watching these animals in complete awe. They were very calm despite our presence- every now and then they would start to make noises and one of our trackers would respond in a kind of grunt to let them know that we were ok, we meant no harm, and that seemed to calm them down. Towards the end of our visit the main silverback made an appearance, and that was the first point when İ actually felt scared. He was HUGE- really built like a tank- and when he pounded the ground you could feel the earth shake underneath you. He was totally disinterested in us though- taking his spot at the rotted log and eating away. We had a couple of the younger male gorillas run in front of us, one threw a log as a sign of his strength, another ran past one of our group members and kind of pushed her aside, but never meant to be aggressive- just to show off a little bit. We were only allowed one hour with them- to minimise the chance of them catching a cold or anything from us. İ think we all could have sat there for weeks, not doing anything but watching- their movements and gestures could be so wild at one moment and then another moment seem completely human-like. İ could go on and on, but to sum it up this was truly one of the most memorable moments of my life (Steve agrees too) and if you EVER have the chance to see these animals then definitely do it!
Other good news is that it only took us an hour and a half to climb down the other mountain- we didn't have to go back the way we'd come in. Random side note- the gorillas you see in zoos are lowland gorillas. Mountain gorillas cannot survive in captivity so the only chance to see them is in the wild. Another sidenote- the new King Kong movie is spot on. Seriously. Watching the gorillas, İ felt like İ was watching the movie.
We also had an opportunity to track chimpanzees in the wild. Getting to these animals was much easier- flat ground, vegetation was not as dense- but these guys like to hang out in really tall trees, so once we found them we spent the next hour craning our necks upwards to catch glimpses of these guys as they enjoyed the fig tree they'd just found. İ realıized that in movies when you hear chimpanzees, the noises they make are always associated with them being upset or agitated, so when they started making these noises in the wild it was kind of terrifying. Our guide had just finished telling us how they could be pretty vicious and sometimes hunt monkeys (to eat.) Turns out they make these noises when they are happy, or just to communicate- one had found an especially fruitful fig tree and sent the message across the forest canopy to all his friends. Our experience here was not as up close and personal as the gorillas but still cool.
İ could go on and on about all the amazing wild life we saw, but basically every day felt like we were in a National Geographic TV show. We saw lions, lots of antelope, hippos fighting at the waterside, hippos walking along our camp, İ realized that İ am mildly obsessed with hippos.... and lots of other incredible sights. We saw the narrowest part of the Nile River- and also one of the world's most powerful waterfalls (the same site.)
Leaving Africa was bittersweet- it was definitely the hardest part of our trip but also some of the most rewarding. There are so many beautiful sites and amazing animals to see that İ wished that we could have had twice as long to take it all in. But at the same time there is so much poverty, people struggling to get by and us not knowing if our tourism is helping or harming the locals. Most of the children we met along the way didn't ask us for candy, but instead asked us for pens so they had something to write with at school. İf you gave one child something, 20 more would materialize out of nowhere and we'd all be upset because we didnt have enough to share with all of them. İ wish that we had been able to go through Kenya. Hopefully next time we travel to that part of the world the tribal conflicts will have smoothed out, and the politicians will have settled their differences for the good of their countries (İ'm not holding my breath too much here.) There are definitely many places that İ would love to go back to, and would recommend for you to visit as well (although İ would probably keep Johannesburg off that list- sorry if İ offend anyone with that!)
After Africa we met up with my mom and her friend Sue in Athens, Greece. We had a great time visiting the ancient sites there, and eating lots of delicious Greek food along the way. We managed to avoid all of the strikes that are going on there now- good news because İ heard the trash is piling up all over the streets where we were staying. We are now in İstanbul, Turkey where we have thoroughly done the sites (Aya Sofia, Blue Mosque, Grand Bazaar, Spice Bazaar, tour of the Bosphorus, saw the Whirling Dervishes perform, even a visit to a Turkish bath.) Steve found some great Armani knock-off jeans to expand his pants collection beyond his zip-off pants. We managed to avoid buying a Turkish carpet despite the many rug salesmen that offer very nicely to help you spend your money. Next we head to Budapest and then to İtaly to meet up with Drew and Mary Beth Lake!
Hopefully now that we are back in the westernized world pictures and blog updates will be more frequent.
Cheers,
Anna
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