Ki-Ki-Kisoro

I've now arrived in Kisoro in the southwest region of Uganda, after a grueling 10 hour bus ride last night. I was fortunate to meet another mzungu at the last minute--a Swede by the name of Johan--who was also interested in the DRC gorillas, so we headed down together. The driver of the bus was kind enough to save us seats in the front, but they were directly behind his seat so we had to keep our feet tucked back behind our knees for the entire journey. There was another person laying on a box directly in front of us. Needless to say, it wasn't a comfortable trip.

But, we're here now and it's beautiful. It's very lush and green with steep hills and volcanoes in the background. All of the hillsides--regardless of their pitch--are terraced and are being actively farmed. It kind of reminds me of the steep hills of Bhutan in that sense, just a little greener.

So I think it's a go for the gorillas tomorrow. Our passports are (supposedly) down at the border office right now, though they were due back three hours ago so I'm not sure exactly the state of affairs at the moment. If all goes to plan, we'll get up at 6am tomorrow and drive across the border to Bukima, where we'll pick up a guide and armed escorts. We'll then hike 3-4 strenuous hours to get up to the 'habituated' area of this particular family of gorillas, then we have strictly one hour with them, and then back to Uganda by tomorrow evening.

The security situation seems safe enough, despite the recent press about the slaughtered gorillas. We ran into a group who went yesterday, and other than the expected bribes to Congolese border officials (the officials said one person's passport was too bent out of shape to be accepted, unless, of course, a $50 bill happened to be bent inside the passport) all went off without a hitch. They all said it was an incredible experience, so I can't wait. Wish me luck.