{"id":58451,"date":"2023-09-19T13:18:53","date_gmt":"2023-09-19T17:18:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/isobaresoffit.com\/?p=58451"},"modified":"2024-05-20T14:51:31","modified_gmt":"2024-05-20T18:51:31","slug":"trekking-to-spend-time-with-a-gorilla-family-in-rwanda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/isobaresoffit.com\/2023\/09\/19\/trekking-to-spend-time-with-a-gorilla-family-in-rwanda\/","title":{"rendered":"Trekking to Spend Time with a Gorilla Family in Rwanda"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

After making the over twenty-one-hour trip from Washington DC to Kigali, Rwanda, we immediately were transported to Volcanoes National Park where the Mountain Gorillas of Rwanda are located. We got a few hours of sleep and then woke up early to climb into the rainforest to locate our gorilla family. We were expecting to make our way through the jungle to observe the gorillas through the trees and perhaps have the opportunity to get a little close to one or two of them. It turned out that we would spend an hour standing and walking amongst the entire gorilla family, who continuously walked in front, behind, and all around us as we spent time with them. It was truly one of the most incredible and unique experiences that we have ever had during our travels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Gorillas were Very Expressive<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Silverback Walking Past Us<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Juvenile Gorillas<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There are only ten families that can be visited per day and the visit is restricted to no more than one hour. Each group that gets to visit with the gorillas is also limited to eight or nine people and our group was a group of eight. That means that only eighty to ninety people per day can visit with the gorillas, which makes it an experience that is not shared by a lot of people. The family that we visited with was the Agashya family and we were told that Agashya meant “special”, which had to do with the unique circumstances that this particular family was formed. When the former Silverback, elder leader of the family, passed away, normally the females would go off to join other families. In this case, though, they stayed together and other silverbacks tried to join the family. The female gorillas were not interested in the first few suitors that tried to join the family and then finally they accepted the silverback, which the guides named Agashya due to having never seen a family of female gorillas due what this family had done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Thick Jungle Trekking<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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