Viewing mountain gorillas from close range is the most compelling wildlife experience I have ever had. I returned from an incredible experience in Bwindi Forest, Uganda. Three days of spending 4 hours each day with gorillas. Physically challenging but very much worth it, with many sightings from close range.
Thanks for looking.
Don
Don, I envy you in more than just one way. I read about the strenuous hike to go up there and at my age, there is no way I could take that kind of physical challenges. Those are wonderful images! Too bad that OOF object in the silverback image is distracting from a superb portrait. YGMV!
AGeoJO wrote:
Don, I envy you in more than just one way. I read about the strenuous hike to go up there and at my age, there is no way I could take that kind of physical challenges. Those are wonderful images! Too bad that OOF object in the silverback image is distracting from a superb portrait. YGMV!
Joshua
The "African Helicopter" would get you there. A few extra $$$.
Don
DonGut wrote:
The "African Helicopter" would get you there. A few extra $$$.
Don
Hm, the quotation marks make me curious. Probably, I would go see some different large apes first, the orangutans in Indonesia before going back to Africa.
Sensational photos and what a wonderful experience that must have been ! FWIW, the hazy highlight in the silverback portrait didn't bother me at all. I feel that it works with the dreamy look of the subject's eyes and also makes the portrait more intimate because we get the sense that the animal is partially hidden or shielded. Lends itself more to a "wildlife" shot as opposed to a senior portrait. Perfection in wildlife photos is not always a good thing. Just my 2 cents. No disrespect to others who feel differently
Don these are wonderful shots. What sort of focal length are you using they don't seem to be bothered by the camera at all. I was in Tanzania last Feb but didn't have time for the add on to Uganda, but I am thinking about it this Feb. Everyone says the gorillas were the high light of there trip. I was pretty pleased with all the lions, elephants, and cats but the gorillas look special
AGeoJO wrote:
Hm, the quotation marks make me curious. Probably, I would go see some different large apes first, the orangutans in Indonesia before going back to Africa.
Josh,
Orangutans are much tougher. Harder to find even with guides and they are solitary. Borneo is incredibly hot and walking short distances while tracking them was a real chore; much harder than climbing for gorillas. The "helicopter" is basically a seat and a team of 12 porters, 4 at a time will carry you to the gorillas. Then you just walk a short distance to get close. The cost is $300 more, plus a generous tip. We saw a group of seven use this method one day. We tracked a separate group.
Don
Bobg657 wrote:
Wonderful images and experience Don! We did two treks in Rwanda that only lasted one hour each, spending four hours sounds great!
Thanks Bob. In Uganda most treks are also one hour only. But they recently started an habituation experience. A group that is not quite ready for close approach is tracked for 4 hours by guests as part of "becoming comfortable with humans" training. So the group can be shy which may result in a lot of following. But once the group is close to being "habituated" the experience can be awesome, as was our experience. It helps to know someone in Uganda that is connected, so they can suggest if the habituation group is worth the extra cost. It's $1500 for 4 hours, as the regular price is $600 for one hour. They allow 8 people to see each gorilla group a day, but for habituation they take only 6 people. There were only 2 of us each day, as the habituation experience is not as popular. The group size is also worth knowing when booking. Again knowing somebody with connections really does help.
If you can swing it, re time and cost, it really is a memorable experience.
Don
