If 2010 was my year for living in the flow and being true to my inner voice then I figured I should think about a new moniker for 2011. I could call it '2011' but that's not exactly a unique idea. It's already also been named the "International Year of Forests" and is the 'Year of the Rabbit' but somehow neither of those really grab me at a personal level.
Anyway, for want of a better name I called 2010 the year of being 'authentic'. Maybe that sounds a bit new age but basically it was about doing what I wanted to do and being who I wanted to be (Authentic: “an emotionally appropriate, significant, purposive, and responsible mode of human life”). And I'd say it worked out pretty darn well. I've never had a better year, done more, seen more or travelled further. So all in all, I thought I might try and figure out what I'd work on this year.
Normally my New Years Eve resolution is simply "bigger, better, faster, more..." and I haven't left that behind. Still liking that idea a lot and keeping it as the basis for living but this year can also be the year for learning to listen to my gut.
You know how sometimes we can 'be in two minds about things'. It can be hard to listen to the inner voice of wisdom and really know what you want or who you are. Biologists describe our brain as a triune brain. Their version is basically the mammalian, limbic/reptilian and central nervous system brains. I have a different triune: Head, heart & guts. (Logic, feeling & intuition. AKA: Neocortex, reptilian brain & subconscious). Above all I trust my intuition (when I’m smart enough to listen to it), then logic and lastly feelings.
Not saying feelings aren’t valuable of course or that I completely disregard them (they are terrific for alerting you to an issue or an idea) but I’ve learnt not to make decisions based on them. Logic meanwhile is great at gathering/analyzing data but at the end of the day, the subconscious can process SO much more info than the conscious mind. So... (at the risk of waffling) I am learning to listen to my guts/intuition and have the courage to act on it. All goes well when I do. Things not so well when I don’t listen to my gut. Lots of examples but I'm sure we all have them. The telltale is that 'after the fact' thought that "I knew I shouldn't have done that". That's also where feelings come in. Sometimes you feel bad about something you did (or didn't do) and usually that's the indicator that I didn't listen to my guts. A classic example that too many of us can share is finding your car broken into and thinking to yourself "I knew this dark street wasn't a good place to park but I was in a hurry to...". This year, I'd like to learn to listen to my guts more often BEFORE I park the car in a dark street again lol.
Lessons abound in life - I just need to listen to them. Last years lessons went really well. The more true to myself (authentic) I was, the better life has become :-). This year can be the year of being more in tune or more intuitive (Intuition: "the ability to understand something immediately, without the need for conscious reasoning". Methinks this year will be possibly be more challenging because I’ll have to not only tune in to my instincts (hard enough sometimes) but also to actually act on them (the harder bit).
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Learning to snowboard...
I'm still here in the snowfields of Colorado but the original plan of learning to snowboard this season has bitten the dust. Sadly, I managed with customary grace, to break my ankle in the process. Not so badly that I can claim a medal but still badly enough that I’ll be on crutches for four weeks. On the good side I won't need surgery and it should stimulate my writing - if at the cost of my snowboarding. Still... if this is the worst thing that happens this year it will be a good year.
I'd originally thought it was simply sprained but after four weeks and still limping I got some x-rays done. They were all clear so I continued limping for another two weeks until I got bored with that and did some googling on ankle injuries. Only to find out about a type of ankle fracture that almost never shows up on x-rays but is so prevalent among snowboarders that it is called 'snowboarders ankle'. Turns out that it accounts for less than 1% of reported ankle injuries but in snowboarders, these fractures account for 15% of all ankle injuries... (Clearly I'm not exactly a trendsetter with this one lol).
So off I trotted to get a CT Scan. The CT scan produced over 300 cool images and the fracture is visible in only 3 of them. At least it turns out that I wasn't just malingering. I now know that I have a "fracture involving the medial aspect of the talus". So, the moral of the story is: 'If you have a badly sprained ankle that is taking ages to heal, get a CT scan'.
On a brighter note, I did at least manage to get the basics of snowboarding sorted before I did my ankle. And whilst thinking that my ankle was only sprained I managed to limp around and spend 2 weeks kayaking in Belize, go indoor skydiving and get back into pistol shooting again so I can’t really complain. Meanwhile in between the odd outing to lectures about Shackleton or watching Chinese acrobats do things that I couldn't do with or without ankle injury, I at least have a view out over Lake Dillon and the mountains beyond while I write. A tad frustrating for an outdoor sort of a guy but what can you say...A few weeks on crutches and I should be fine to dance again. Actually I couldn't dance before but you get the general idea...
Luckily the apartment has fabulous central heating – a must for a warm weather guy like me :-)
I'd originally thought it was simply sprained but after four weeks and still limping I got some x-rays done. They were all clear so I continued limping for another two weeks until I got bored with that and did some googling on ankle injuries. Only to find out about a type of ankle fracture that almost never shows up on x-rays but is so prevalent among snowboarders that it is called 'snowboarders ankle'. Turns out that it accounts for less than 1% of reported ankle injuries but in snowboarders, these fractures account for 15% of all ankle injuries... (Clearly I'm not exactly a trendsetter with this one lol).
So off I trotted to get a CT Scan. The CT scan produced over 300 cool images and the fracture is visible in only 3 of them. At least it turns out that I wasn't just malingering. I now know that I have a "fracture involving the medial aspect of the talus". So, the moral of the story is: 'If you have a badly sprained ankle that is taking ages to heal, get a CT scan'.
On a brighter note, I did at least manage to get the basics of snowboarding sorted before I did my ankle. And whilst thinking that my ankle was only sprained I managed to limp around and spend 2 weeks kayaking in Belize, go indoor skydiving and get back into pistol shooting again so I can’t really complain. Meanwhile in between the odd outing to lectures about Shackleton or watching Chinese acrobats do things that I couldn't do with or without ankle injury, I at least have a view out over Lake Dillon and the mountains beyond while I write. A tad frustrating for an outdoor sort of a guy but what can you say...A few weeks on crutches and I should be fine to dance again. Actually I couldn't dance before but you get the general idea...
Luckily the apartment has fabulous central heating – a must for a warm weather guy like me :-)
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Another day at Fight Club...
Every muscle is aching and the limbs are stiff. Today is unusually cold - it's minus 17 Celsius or about 0 degrees in the old money. The wind-chill on the mountain is taking another 10 to 20 degrees off that. It’s also snowing and the clouds have descended on the misty mountain tops like a dog on a forbidden sofa. Strangely enough through a window, it actually looks like you could walk out in jeans and a long sleeve shirt – until you actually try it that is… Cheeks, noses and tips of ears are all fair game for instant popsicles. As a result, I’m happily sitting indoors today doing some writing instead of being on the mountain.
My aching muscles have nothing to do with the cold though. After 1 gym session, 2 Pilates classes and three days snowboarding in the past few days, I’m feeling pretty good but the muscles unaccustomed of late to so much attention are letting me know about it. Another Pilates class tonight and a snowboarding lesson tomorrow will be great. I’m enjoying getting back to some focus on fitness and health.
To misquote one of my favourite movies: "A guy who came to (Colorado) for the first time, his ass was a wad of cookie dough. After (four months), he was carved out of wood." Looking forward to that carved out of wood end result by the end of four months of this. J
Monday, January 10, 2011
A quick update on an even quicker 10 weeks...
I'm in Dillon, Colorado as I write this. After 6 months of planning, capped off by 10 weeks living out of a backpack, I've seen lots of the world but am happy to stop here for 4 months of snowboarding and writing.
Spending Christmas day in a Buddhist country was a pleasant change from the commercial feeding frenzy that goes in in Australia for most of November and December. It was a business day as usual for the Khmer while for us expats a time to catch up quietly with friends in cafes for lunch and evening drinks overlooking the lights of Sisovath Quay.
That pleasantly relaxing Christmas day also made for a nice contrast to the hectic 3 weeks preceding it as I got some dental and medical work done, packed up the apartment, put stuff into storage, spent a day photographing rocks at Angkor Wat and attended a friends engagement to a local khmer lass in Siem Reap.
26DEC10 was cheap airfare day and a good day to fly to Seatlle where we spent 2 days looking around as a bit of a pause before flying into Denver. Landing at Denver airport at 3pm we did what every tourist would do and took a taxi to a used car dealer. After kicking tyres for about an hour we bought a 1993 Jeep Grand Cherokee (Jasper the Jeep) for the princely sum of $3,000 and made Jasper’s maiden voyage to a friends place for the night where we picked up about 200kg of pushbikes and snowboarding kit courtesy of ebay shopping from Tanzania. The sheer quantity of ebay-tastic bargain parcels taking up their spare room would have been embarrassing if I hadn’t had my embarrassment gland surgically removed some years ago. Luckily he's a good friend with a very understanding wife.
The next evening involved driving 5 hours through a blizzard, in the dark, stopping only to buy new windscreen wipers so that I could actually see the road instead of driving by braille. There are, it seems, some mighty HIGH passes, BIG mountains and ICY roads in this part of the world so the investment in a full-time 4WD was definitely worth it. We spent a pleasant 3 nights up at a B&B in Redstone where a friends family gather each year for NYE so with little if any arm-twisting we had a very social time sledding, snowshoe trekking, eating, drinking, laughing and playing games.
On 01JAN11 we headed off to a lakeside apartment which will be basecamp for the next 4 months. A mighty pleasant spot in a small town amongst 3 snowfields with have a view over the lake to snow capped mountains so all is well with the world.
Best of all the heating is included in the rental so even when it goes down to minus 20 outside (as it occasionally does), indoor is toasty warm.
Spending Christmas day in a Buddhist country was a pleasant change from the commercial feeding frenzy that goes in in Australia for most of November and December. It was a business day as usual for the Khmer while for us expats a time to catch up quietly with friends in cafes for lunch and evening drinks overlooking the lights of Sisovath Quay.
That pleasantly relaxing Christmas day also made for a nice contrast to the hectic 3 weeks preceding it as I got some dental and medical work done, packed up the apartment, put stuff into storage, spent a day photographing rocks at Angkor Wat and attended a friends engagement to a local khmer lass in Siem Reap.
26DEC10 was cheap airfare day and a good day to fly to Seatlle where we spent 2 days looking around as a bit of a pause before flying into Denver. Landing at Denver airport at 3pm we did what every tourist would do and took a taxi to a used car dealer. After kicking tyres for about an hour we bought a 1993 Jeep Grand Cherokee (Jasper the Jeep) for the princely sum of $3,000 and made Jasper’s maiden voyage to a friends place for the night where we picked up about 200kg of pushbikes and snowboarding kit courtesy of ebay shopping from Tanzania. The sheer quantity of ebay-tastic bargain parcels taking up their spare room would have been embarrassing if I hadn’t had my embarrassment gland surgically removed some years ago. Luckily he's a good friend with a very understanding wife.
The next evening involved driving 5 hours through a blizzard, in the dark, stopping only to buy new windscreen wipers so that I could actually see the road instead of driving by braille. There are, it seems, some mighty HIGH passes, BIG mountains and ICY roads in this part of the world so the investment in a full-time 4WD was definitely worth it. We spent a pleasant 3 nights up at a B&B in Redstone where a friends family gather each year for NYE so with little if any arm-twisting we had a very social time sledding, snowshoe trekking, eating, drinking, laughing and playing games.
On 01JAN11 we headed off to a lakeside apartment which will be basecamp for the next 4 months. A mighty pleasant spot in a small town amongst 3 snowfields with have a view over the lake to snow capped mountains so all is well with the world.
Best of all the heating is included in the rental so even when it goes down to minus 20 outside (as it occasionally does), indoor is toasty warm.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
"Don't drive out here at night" he said to the guys - then proceeded to do just that...
It's 01:45 in the morning here in Tanzania and I'm sitting in a wooden hut in front of the glow of a laptop. I'm covered in mud and sticky with sweat after a 90 minute conference call. It wasn't the conference call that got me in this state. I was in fact 30 minutes late for this conference call after a 3.5 hour 4WD trip down to the lake that involved roughly 2 hours of de-bogging, winching and digging plus around 1.5 hours driving of actually driving. Conference call was good but the drive was even better. :-)
Today the last charter flight brought in the wet season caretaker so that we can head off on Friday on a 5 day 4WD trip to Dar Es Salaam and eventually Zanzibar for some diving. A couple of hours after Nic got here we had a request to help a women who was in distress during labor and needed a lift down to the medical clinic 20km away by the lake for a helicopter medevac to the nearest hospital. I suggested that Nic go down to the lake to see it before the roads get cut off.
Four hours later at 9pm we'd had dinner and they still weren't back. Pete & I had a bottle of wine under our belt but there's no RBT here and you can't do more than 15km/h anyway so we grabbed the keys to a Landcruiser, the med kit, satphone and a bottle of water. We figured they'd probably got bogged, had a flat or just slid off the road... A great intro to Africa for Nic lol but at least it would convince him of the futility of trying to drive in the wet season. We ended up all the way to Mgambazi down by the lake and that place is dark by night! It's a village of probably 1,000 people but you could scarcely find the glow of a fire at 10 o'clock at night. With nobody around to ask for directions, we got onto the satphone and rang camp. Turns out the vehicle had got bogged on the way down to the lake and decided to go back to camp by another little used track - the logic of leaving a known track for an unknown track that we hadn't used before on a dark and wet night escapes me but either way, that's what they did.
They'd arrived at camp about 20 minutes after we left so two of the guys grabbed the pickup to drive down and let us know. This was nice gesture but no way were they going to catch us and we'd left instructions to come get us if we weren't back by 2330. As it turned out, if they hadn't come for us I would have been back an hour before my conference call (rather than 30 minutes late). Simple stuff but when I had to reverse out of a bog to have another run at it, Valerian (our senior technician) had the landcruiser pickup right up our clacker and proceeded to reverse sideways and get stuck. Long story and 5 or 6 winching/digging attempts later we managed to slip/slide/drive up the by now very chewed up hillside, that the first vehicle had given up on. Just another day of boys own adventure in Africa :-). Can't believe I get paid to do this. Perhaps one day I'll grow up - but I doubt it...
More importantly though, no-one was hurt and although we haven't heard how the mother and baby are doing yet, at least she got to the clinic before sunset, in time to be evacuated to Kigoma by helicopter. Her home is a farm near our camp where in May this year, her husband hanged himself so hopefully her luck has changed and things will be working out well for her in hospital. We'll find out how soon enough via the bush telegraph and are all keen to have things go well for her.
Today the last charter flight brought in the wet season caretaker so that we can head off on Friday on a 5 day 4WD trip to Dar Es Salaam and eventually Zanzibar for some diving. A couple of hours after Nic got here we had a request to help a women who was in distress during labor and needed a lift down to the medical clinic 20km away by the lake for a helicopter medevac to the nearest hospital. I suggested that Nic go down to the lake to see it before the roads get cut off.
Four hours later at 9pm we'd had dinner and they still weren't back. Pete & I had a bottle of wine under our belt but there's no RBT here and you can't do more than 15km/h anyway so we grabbed the keys to a Landcruiser, the med kit, satphone and a bottle of water. We figured they'd probably got bogged, had a flat or just slid off the road... A great intro to Africa for Nic lol but at least it would convince him of the futility of trying to drive in the wet season. We ended up all the way to Mgambazi down by the lake and that place is dark by night! It's a village of probably 1,000 people but you could scarcely find the glow of a fire at 10 o'clock at night. With nobody around to ask for directions, we got onto the satphone and rang camp. Turns out the vehicle had got bogged on the way down to the lake and decided to go back to camp by another little used track - the logic of leaving a known track for an unknown track that we hadn't used before on a dark and wet night escapes me but either way, that's what they did.
They'd arrived at camp about 20 minutes after we left so two of the guys grabbed the pickup to drive down and let us know. This was nice gesture but no way were they going to catch us and we'd left instructions to come get us if we weren't back by 2330. As it turned out, if they hadn't come for us I would have been back an hour before my conference call (rather than 30 minutes late). Simple stuff but when I had to reverse out of a bog to have another run at it, Valerian (our senior technician) had the landcruiser pickup right up our clacker and proceeded to reverse sideways and get stuck. Long story and 5 or 6 winching/digging attempts later we managed to slip/slide/drive up the by now very chewed up hillside, that the first vehicle had given up on. Just another day of boys own adventure in Africa :-). Can't believe I get paid to do this. Perhaps one day I'll grow up - but I doubt it...
More importantly though, no-one was hurt and although we haven't heard how the mother and baby are doing yet, at least she got to the clinic before sunset, in time to be evacuated to Kigoma by helicopter. Her home is a farm near our camp where in May this year, her husband hanged himself so hopefully her luck has changed and things will be working out well for her in hospital. We'll find out how soon enough via the bush telegraph and are all keen to have things go well for her.
Friday, October 22, 2010
From Machete madness to spotless streets - a complex land...
I look up from my typing every so often to enjoy the most amazing views. The little Toyota Coaster bus swerves from side to side as it hurtles round hairpin bends, with enough g-force to rotate the screen and keyboard on my iPad. A good reminder if I needed one to stop typing and enjoy the view over this land of a thousand hills. I'm looking out on a green valley surrounded by mountain peaks of massive scale, all impossibly lush. It's hard to believe that only 16 years ago the friendly folk farming the terraces of these steep hillsides were busy chopping each other up with panga's and axes. Reconciliation seems genuine here and they are all getting on with life but the scars must run deep. The war crimes tribunal is still running across the border in Tanzania and many of the perpetrators have fled to other surrounding nations yet I can't help but reflect that many of the people I meet, buy my meals from, or just pass in the street are probably guilty of murder or worse. I struggle to understand how people can behave like that, especially en masse. Frankly I don't want to know, but somehow we need to know and understand such things if we are to be able to act before propaganda, fear and power-mongering repeat such acts in the future.
The Rwandan folk are incredibly friendly, which is not so unique in Africa but what is remarkable is how well the whole country seems to run. Unusually for this part of the world, the place is really well organized. The gorilla trekking, guides and management of Volcanoes National Park were truly world class and that seems to be a reflection of the whole country. In Rwanda, streets are clean. Corruption is low to non-existent. Busses run on time. Infrastructure is in good shape. It's an amazing contrast after 6 months in Tanzania. One of the really cool things that I love about the place is probably summed up in why the streets are so noticeably spotless. The leadership decided early on that even if they had no money for infrastructure, one of the things they could achieve at zero cost was to keep the place clean. So, one Sunday of every month, the people from the President on down, including mayors, farmers, business people and kids all get out and pick up rubbish. What a great thing to do! So simple yet it makes a huge difference to not only the appearance of the place but I'm sure also the culture.
It's been great to have a chance to visit Rwanda, not to mention to enjoy the fresh food and great cafes of Kigali but more adventures await. We're back on a plane again tomorrow back to Tanzania for a bit of a hike to the 'roof of Africa'. Kilimanjaro here we come...
The Rwandan folk are incredibly friendly, which is not so unique in Africa but what is remarkable is how well the whole country seems to run. Unusually for this part of the world, the place is really well organized. The gorilla trekking, guides and management of Volcanoes National Park were truly world class and that seems to be a reflection of the whole country. In Rwanda, streets are clean. Corruption is low to non-existent. Busses run on time. Infrastructure is in good shape. It's an amazing contrast after 6 months in Tanzania. One of the really cool things that I love about the place is probably summed up in why the streets are so noticeably spotless. The leadership decided early on that even if they had no money for infrastructure, one of the things they could achieve at zero cost was to keep the place clean. So, one Sunday of every month, the people from the President on down, including mayors, farmers, business people and kids all get out and pick up rubbish. What a great thing to do! So simple yet it makes a huge difference to not only the appearance of the place but I'm sure also the culture.
It's been great to have a chance to visit Rwanda, not to mention to enjoy the fresh food and great cafes of Kigali but more adventures await. We're back on a plane again tomorrow back to Tanzania for a bit of a hike to the 'roof of Africa'. Kilimanjaro here we come...
Thursday, October 21, 2010
In the hall of the mountain king...
My pulse is racing, I'm sweating profusely, oblivious to the hitherto lung busting altitude and in an altered state of complete euphoria. My face muscles will ache later from the huge fixed grin that has been there virtually nonstop for the past 30 minutes. No, I'm not stoned in the Himalayas. I'm...
Right now I'm sitting on a bus in Rwanda catching up on emails and doing a spot of reading (did I mention how great the iPad is for traveling with?) and I still have that huge smile but now it's from my memories of yesterday. We're on the bus back to Kigali after visiting the Susa family in northern Rwanda. The Susa family are no ordinary Rwandan family. They are the largest clan of mountain gorillas in the region a visit with them is quite an experience. Its difficult to describe how emotional an experience it is. I mean, really, they are just big apes right and we've all seen them on television many times. But somehow being in the wild alongside these massive (really massive) but gentle and friendly primates is a very moving experience. It's a rare treat to see them at all, let alone see 20 in as many metres and get within arms length of them. Between the three of us we rattled off 1,000 photos and short videos in an all too short 60 minutes.
If you'd like to see a few of those 1,000+ photos then here is the place to go. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nW7E4Fijxww
It's been a day to remember and one where we were definitely 'living in the flow'. Everything fell into place far better than we could have planned it. Even the torrential tropical thunderstorm held off until we were back in our hotel. The day started at dawn when our hired car picked us up from the hotel to take us up the mountain to check in at the ranger station at 0630 for a well organized briefing and cuppa before the trek. We'd been told by friends to ask to visit the Susa family because they are the biggest, most active and interesting, hence are the best experience for the hour that you get. The Susa group however live the highest up the mountain - often around the 4,000m mark which puts them 4 solid hours trek through the jungle. There is no formal mechanism for applying to get into this group and the guides just pick the people who look fittest and most experienced for the long hike. We figured out that our worn hiking boots and an air of prepared quiet confidence would help us get into that group but in the absence of any other guidance we were sweating on getting picked for this group. Really, really wanted to visit this family. I'm sure we would have had a great time with any family but everyone raves about Mr Susa and his clan. Unbeknownst to us until later that morning, it's the drivers who recommend people to the park guides. The selection had been made 30 minutes before we had agonized over cup re how to wangle a way into the Susa group. So while we were looking around at the many unfit, ill prepared, overweight or jeans with muffin top youngsters and eyeing off our competition amongst the the fit and well equipped, the drivers were in a huddle with the head ranger round the back. Now, we hadn't told our driver that we wanted to see the Susa family so when Fabian grabbed us quietly by the arms and said in a conspiratorial whisper, "I believe you would like to see the Susa family" we were gobsmacked but wasted no time with our equally conspiratorial and barely restrained nods. He then lead us away to where we joined a Canadian/Aussie couple and waited for three people to make up the eight. We still don't know how Fabian knew we wanted to see the Susa's but never felt the need to ask him. Needless to say we did later feel the need to tip him generously.
By this point we had all the proof we cared for that we were in the flow but just in case we were in any doubt, we found out at the pre-trek briefing that once a year the gorillas come down the mountain to eat the fresh bamboo shoots. Apparently the shoots are alcoholic so not only is it their happy, active time of year but they are only an hours hike from the nearest vehicle parking area. We came prepared for 8 hours of hard hiking above 3,000m but in the end after a 40 minute drive and 60 minutes rapid climb from 2,500m to 3,200m that left us gasping in the thin air, we were in the jungle and gasping with joy at the sheer magnificence of these 300kg mammals. Stuart was the first to see a gorilla hidden in the dense undergrowth and Lynne snapped a great shot of his face with an expression that clearly said "WOW" and then it was my turn to walk past this dark hairy mass in the lush undergrowth. We could have watched transfixed for ages as the gorilla just 2m away ignored us and continued eating but Dee, our guide was in radio contact with the trackers and had other ideas. With another minute hiking under the trees, scrambling between vines and bamboo, brushing past stinging nettles and slipping on leaf covered lichen, we emerged into a clearing where 20 gorillas were playing, feeding, grooming, lazing, picking their nose, scratching and generally just doing their thing. They seemed barely interested in us and certainly unfazed. Fromtheir perspective I guess we were just another daily visit and an event that the young ones have never known life without. The big Silverback kept a lazy eye on us to make sure we weren't overstepping our welcome but he was clearly king of the roost and not at all concerned by us. This park borders Uganda and the Congo and where we visit is in the area where Diane Fossey did her research and conservation until she was murdered but her work has gone on with only a couple of years break during the genocide. Its a slick well oiled machine now and a credit to the Rwandan people not to mention a life saver for the last of the mountain gorillas.
We were treated to all sorts of antics as he gorillas went about their day, largely ignoring our presence other than our quiet conversation and regular "wow"s the main noise was from the guide who has a few words of gorilla which he calls out to them to let them know we are coming or to reassure them. You are supposed to stay at least 7m away but it is ok if they come to you. Most of the time we were only 2 or 3m from the nearest and when one of the young males did a mock charge to within a meter it was very cool. Behind us we watched a male build a nest by progressively breaking branches in a cluster of small trees until he had a platform about 3 meters in the air. His raw strength was amazing, as was his casual air as he effortlessly knitted them together. After about 20 minutes of lying in it and posing for the cameras he either got bored and rolled to the edge or decided to come down. I'm still not sure which but with a mighty crash he rolled off and somersaulted backwards, landing with q thud on the grass where we had been standing two minutes earlier. A bit of a shake of his head and he was off into the midst of the grooming, sleeping, playing, scratching clan to feed on the young shoots. We could have watched them for days.
All in all, yesterday was one of my top ten lifetime experiences and a contender for number one (if i could ever pick a number one :-).
Right now I'm sitting on a bus in Rwanda catching up on emails and doing a spot of reading (did I mention how great the iPad is for traveling with?) and I still have that huge smile but now it's from my memories of yesterday. We're on the bus back to Kigali after visiting the Susa family in northern Rwanda. The Susa family are no ordinary Rwandan family. They are the largest clan of mountain gorillas in the region a visit with them is quite an experience. Its difficult to describe how emotional an experience it is. I mean, really, they are just big apes right and we've all seen them on television many times. But somehow being in the wild alongside these massive (really massive) but gentle and friendly primates is a very moving experience. It's a rare treat to see them at all, let alone see 20 in as many metres and get within arms length of them. Between the three of us we rattled off 1,000 photos and short videos in an all too short 60 minutes.
If you'd like to see a few of those 1,000+ photos then here is the place to go. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nW7E4Fijxww
It's been a day to remember and one where we were definitely 'living in the flow'. Everything fell into place far better than we could have planned it. Even the torrential tropical thunderstorm held off until we were back in our hotel. The day started at dawn when our hired car picked us up from the hotel to take us up the mountain to check in at the ranger station at 0630 for a well organized briefing and cuppa before the trek. We'd been told by friends to ask to visit the Susa family because they are the biggest, most active and interesting, hence are the best experience for the hour that you get. The Susa group however live the highest up the mountain - often around the 4,000m mark which puts them 4 solid hours trek through the jungle. There is no formal mechanism for applying to get into this group and the guides just pick the people who look fittest and most experienced for the long hike. We figured out that our worn hiking boots and an air of prepared quiet confidence would help us get into that group but in the absence of any other guidance we were sweating on getting picked for this group. Really, really wanted to visit this family. I'm sure we would have had a great time with any family but everyone raves about Mr Susa and his clan. Unbeknownst to us until later that morning, it's the drivers who recommend people to the park guides. The selection had been made 30 minutes before we had agonized over cup re how to wangle a way into the Susa group. So while we were looking around at the many unfit, ill prepared, overweight or jeans with muffin top youngsters and eyeing off our competition amongst the the fit and well equipped, the drivers were in a huddle with the head ranger round the back. Now, we hadn't told our driver that we wanted to see the Susa family so when Fabian grabbed us quietly by the arms and said in a conspiratorial whisper, "I believe you would like to see the Susa family" we were gobsmacked but wasted no time with our equally conspiratorial and barely restrained nods. He then lead us away to where we joined a Canadian/Aussie couple and waited for three people to make up the eight. We still don't know how Fabian knew we wanted to see the Susa's but never felt the need to ask him. Needless to say we did later feel the need to tip him generously.
By this point we had all the proof we cared for that we were in the flow but just in case we were in any doubt, we found out at the pre-trek briefing that once a year the gorillas come down the mountain to eat the fresh bamboo shoots. Apparently the shoots are alcoholic so not only is it their happy, active time of year but they are only an hours hike from the nearest vehicle parking area. We came prepared for 8 hours of hard hiking above 3,000m but in the end after a 40 minute drive and 60 minutes rapid climb from 2,500m to 3,200m that left us gasping in the thin air, we were in the jungle and gasping with joy at the sheer magnificence of these 300kg mammals. Stuart was the first to see a gorilla hidden in the dense undergrowth and Lynne snapped a great shot of his face with an expression that clearly said "WOW" and then it was my turn to walk past this dark hairy mass in the lush undergrowth. We could have watched transfixed for ages as the gorilla just 2m away ignored us and continued eating but Dee, our guide was in radio contact with the trackers and had other ideas. With another minute hiking under the trees, scrambling between vines and bamboo, brushing past stinging nettles and slipping on leaf covered lichen, we emerged into a clearing where 20 gorillas were playing, feeding, grooming, lazing, picking their nose, scratching and generally just doing their thing. They seemed barely interested in us and certainly unfazed. Fromtheir perspective I guess we were just another daily visit and an event that the young ones have never known life without. The big Silverback kept a lazy eye on us to make sure we weren't overstepping our welcome but he was clearly king of the roost and not at all concerned by us. This park borders Uganda and the Congo and where we visit is in the area where Diane Fossey did her research and conservation until she was murdered but her work has gone on with only a couple of years break during the genocide. Its a slick well oiled machine now and a credit to the Rwandan people not to mention a life saver for the last of the mountain gorillas.
We were treated to all sorts of antics as he gorillas went about their day, largely ignoring our presence other than our quiet conversation and regular "wow"s the main noise was from the guide who has a few words of gorilla which he calls out to them to let them know we are coming or to reassure them. You are supposed to stay at least 7m away but it is ok if they come to you. Most of the time we were only 2 or 3m from the nearest and when one of the young males did a mock charge to within a meter it was very cool. Behind us we watched a male build a nest by progressively breaking branches in a cluster of small trees until he had a platform about 3 meters in the air. His raw strength was amazing, as was his casual air as he effortlessly knitted them together. After about 20 minutes of lying in it and posing for the cameras he either got bored and rolled to the edge or decided to come down. I'm still not sure which but with a mighty crash he rolled off and somersaulted backwards, landing with q thud on the grass where we had been standing two minutes earlier. A bit of a shake of his head and he was off into the midst of the grooming, sleeping, playing, scratching clan to feed on the young shoots. We could have watched them for days.
All in all, yesterday was one of my top ten lifetime experiences and a contender for number one (if i could ever pick a number one :-).
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