Gorillas on 60 minutes
Did anyone catch tell 60 Minutes segment on the Mountain Gorillas in Rwanda last night?
The hotel Tauck stays in was on. The Ellen Degeneres center was well on its way to being built….it was just a fenced off piece of land when we were there two years ago. The farmland you have to traverse to get to the forest on the trek was seen, as was one of the forest trails through bamboo, ferns, stinging nettles etc….and of course the gorillas. Lesley Stahl looked a bit out of breath, as I was because of the altitude. Her group certainly were not moving at the fast pace that we did. As you could see, you get very near the gorillas, so near, you sometimes have to move out of their way as they move in your direction. An unforgettable experience! This was our last pre Covid tour, I can’t believe it is almost two years ago!
Comments
Saw it, wanna go!
So when does the hour with the gorillas start- when you start the trek, when you see a gorilla, or when you are with a gorilla family?
When you are with the gorilla family. It can take at the minimum, an hour and maybe four hours to reach your gorilla family Alan. I’m also wondering should we do it again! Rwanda also has breathtakingly scenery!
British I watched the segment and immediately thought of you! The Gorillas are beautiful and have amazing personalities. I plan to travel to Africa again to witness the migration. I may have to add another tour to meet the Gorillas.
Purelixury, you are quite young aren’t you, do it while you can, it can be a tough hike!
The One&Only Gorilla's nest is the only hotel near the base of the mountain.. where the hike will start. The hike is tough indeed .. and you get bite by all sort of incepts there is... I have a Dr. here in the clinic that did it and came back as a map... full of red dots..bites all over
) .
You are advised to wear long pants and shirt and hat and gloves if it is not too hot for those. Any other exposed parts should have insect repellent. Surely a doctor should know that!
We didn’t get any bites because we were dressed properly. I took off my gloves and hat because it was extremely humid, but I had to take extra care not to brush past the stinging nettles with ungloved hands. The nettles there are very tall unlike little nettles you get in England. It is also common for rainfall, so you have to balance all kind of issues, rain, heat, altitude, bugs, watching where you step, balancing with your walking stick.
If Sam is seeing these photos. Yes, I am the Tauck swimsuit model 😂😂
And you are holding your wqalking stick in the correct place!
British, Not that any of them would admit it, but on the 60 Minutes segment the Park Manager (?) said that at one time some of the park rangers were poachers (before seeing the error of their ways or realizing it was safer and possibly more money to be made from honest work?).
Did the TD or anyone else mention this?
Yes, but it’s the same with people who protect Rhinos and elephants too, many were originally poachers. When one of the rhinos was killed in the little sanctuary where Tauck take you as a surprise, that was thought to be an inside job.
British - I just got my new issue in the mail.
I see your beautiful gorilla carved walking stick. Are walking sticks provided for the gorilla trek or do we need to bring our own? Did you need walking sticks any other time during the Tanzania/Zanzibar/Rwanda tour?
The walking sticks are provided by the guides. You can buy them in the little village by the One and Only.
You don’t need walking sticks for Tanzania, Zanzibar, there is virtually no walking.