Trekking mountain gorillas in Rwanda – is this the ultimate wildlife adventure? Observing great apes tops many aspirational bucket lists, but how have our closest relatives been coping with Covid? Sarah Marshall finds out. Mountain gorillas are one of our closest relatives, and spending time with them can be like reading a lost chapter in our history of evolution. An hour in their company is one of the world’s greatest wildlife experiences, and it’s likely to be top of many bucket lists once travel to Rwanda fully resumes – even if permits are pricey (USD$1,500) and hotels sit at the high end.
Observing great apes tops many aspirational bucket lists, but how have our closest relatives been coping with Covid? Sarah Marshall finds out. Mountain gorillas are one of our closest relatives, and spending time with them can be like reading a lost chapter in our history of evolution. An hour in their company is one of the world’s greatest wildlife experiences, and it’s likely to be top of many bucket lists once travel to Rwanda fully resumes – even if permits are pricey (USD$1,500) and hotels sit at the high end. Although high season allocations are already selling out, currently, only a handful of people are travelling; on my Rwandan trek at the end of last year (before the country was added to our red list), I practically had the Hirwa troop to myself.
Trekking mountain gorillas in Rwanda – is this the ultimate wildlife adventure? 5th May 2021
Observing great apes tops many aspirational bucket lists, but how have our closest relatives been coping with Covid? Sarah Marshall finds out.
Almost all behaviour is fascinating in the wildlife world, but there are still some things that should remain private. Crouched on bamboo slopes at the foot of East Africa’s Sabyinyo volcano, I stumbled into an intimate scene that made me blush.
Whimpering and wailing like mischievous sirens, two female gorillas had been pleasuring themselves to gain a disinterested silverback’s attention. To be fair, the amount of effort was understandable; his name, I later discovered, was Uburanga, meaning handsome boy.