dressing for gorillas

So, have now seen those wonderful creatures. Susa Group A - a very, very long uphill slog. Have some fuel food with you - trail mix, chocolate, water. (Bring extra to share with the porters.) I could not imagine not having worn good walking boots to hold my ankles steady - those vines, slippery bamboo poles, thick vegetation, steep inclines up and down the volcano, mud. My cotton gardening gloves were NOT thick enough - buy leather ones. A long-sleeved shirt is a must, and even then I was stung just where there's a bit of skin showing when you do up the buttons at the wrist! The vegetation was wet, so jeans would have been heavy and icky - wear overpants, which also helps you not get stung.

And just do it. The guides, trackers and porters all do a wonderful job and are quite passionate about their jobs.Do tip. Just look at the villages you drive through to reach the trailhead - you have far more in your daypack than they have in their homes probably.

Glad you had a wonderful time! Do you mind elaborating a little on the Susa timings? How long did you hike once you got to the trail head? What time did your group return to headquarters? Just curious about that group. Susa wasn't available when we were there as they said the gorillas were too far up the mountain.

It was the Susa A group. Once we got to the trail head, it was about a 3 1/2 hours uphill slog. The group kept moving UP and AROUND that mountain. However once we arrived they looked as if they'd been calmly plonked there all day, just waiting for visitors. 3 silverbacks, one week old twins, rolling gorilla teenagers - amazing. I know that we were in the presence of our first gorilla at 1.32 pm, because the gorilla guide told us the exact time our hour started then. So by the time we'd spent one hour, then come back to the porters and fueled up again for the slippery descent, then a walk down through the village to the 4WD, a very bumpy drive out back onto the main road, we didn't get back to the Kinigi Guesthouse until about 6.15 pm. Obviously this is not the group you try to wangle if you have an international flight that evening.