Photographing Gorillas In Uganda - A Lifetime Experience

I Sat in Front of a Gorilla. Nothing Will Ever Be the Same.

I have photographed lions, cheetahs, and elephants for some time, and yeah, it's thrilling.

But wait till you sit in front of a male gorilla. On foot. This thing is HUGE and SCARY.

It is a roller coaster of emotions. A deep sense of oneness, familiarity. But also humbling, wholesome, and insanely humorous all at once.

The Trek

Before it started, my group and I went through a ranger briefing. They specifically instructed us how to behave around the gorillas when we find them. The most important thing was to maintain composure. You'll see how I tried doing this...

The trek itself, searching for them, is an experience on its own. It's deep inside one of Africa's oldest rainforests, Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. First of all, I realised how spoiled safari photographers are. We just comfortably sit in our vehicles and photograph the animals.

But for this? We hiked for an hour deep in the jungle looking for the gorillas. 1h uphill and downhill hike, and 1 hour stalling. When hiking, you wish you were deep in the jungle, because you get a lot of shade. But there were instances where you are exposed to the sun, and it hits you hard while hiking. This probably does not sound as horrible as I think it is in my head. Remember, I photograph from the vehicle!

Anyways, after the search was over. We approached the rangers who found our gorilla family we were supposed to visit. They directed us to a suitable position, and as we were adjusting ourselves, I quickly peeked to my right, and saw the whole family there. That first impression got me speechless.

The Silverback

The sheer size of the male. His quiet dominance over not only the group of gorillas, but us too. We were entirely under his mercy.

And then he made a sound. A deep, low hrrmmm. I will never forget that sound and that stare. This is what it looked like:

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The Baby

Now. The baby gorilla. About 1 year old. SO PLAYFUL. So curious. Always jumping around and falling off trees, slapping the family members and getting pushed when too naughty.

But there was one moment that will stick with me forever.

Btw, we are usually a group of 8 tourists visiting one gorilla family, and we only get 1 hour with them. More on this later.

Back to the moment. The baby gorilla was playing and doing its thing. I knelt down because I always prefer to shoot low. We were about 6 to 8 feet away from the clustered family. That’s the usual distance, and it depends on the family.

I wanted to take a photo of the male gorilla that was even a little further away. However, the baby gorilla, in its own world, just kept running around until it noticed me and my camera on the ground.

The curious baby that it was, it came closer and closer, pointing its finger very slowly towards my lens. I was so lucky that I had my small camera in shooting stance. I don’t know how, but I managed to keep my composure and kept shooting. The finger literally touched my lens twice. It was quite gentle. I didn’t think of anything else. I was just looking at the baby and shooting blindly.

Exposure was bad, I didn’t even know the settings, focus, etc. I just pressed the shutter while the baby was interacting with my camera.

This is what I got!!!

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Then it just went back and sat, facing us, then started playing with a branch again.

Then I watched and heard its mother farting. LOL. And then the father with his intense gaze. Hrrmmmmm.

The Female Who Took My Camera

I have two cameras with me at all times. Since I’m shooting with many things, one camera is always on the ground when we are stationary. Remember, these gorillas are in a wild habitat, so they move whenever they want to. We just watch.

So they all decided to move somewhere else, and all of them brushed past us. One of the last ones, a female, noticed something foreign on the ground before she passed me. My camera.

What did she do? She literally took it, very gently, and walked about 10 feet away, then sat down and started curiously inspecting it. I was not worried at all. This was a happy moment for me. I did not care if she broke it. I felt blessed.

To my surprise, she was just checking it out, sniffing it, I think she kissed it also!, She also started playing with the rotating mechanism of the lens. This lasted about 50 seconds, and then she gently left it on the ground and just left. We retrieved it after. I have the video, and I will only show it to you in real life haha.

This is what I mean. It was incredibly wholesome.

Why Meeting Them Is Actually Good for Them

If your thoughts are “you should leave them alone” or “don’t disturb them,” I am about to change your mind, and explain why meeting them is kind of a good idea for them.

Gorilla conservation, especially in Rwanda and Uganda, is one of the world’s best conservation success stories. Before tourism was a big thing, gorillas were at the brink of extinction from poaching and habitat loss due to neighboring communities. They were critically endangered. Now they’ve been moved to endangered, thanks to tourism and conservation efforts.

The same community that would have been the gorillas’ enemies is now their allies. They have become porters, rangers, and the industry has created a lot of job opportunities in the hospitality industry because they understand how beneficial it is to save gorillas. The objective has been diverted into a win-win situation.

I am sure they would prefer tolerating humans for 1 hour every day, rather than fearing death from poachers every day.

On top of that, it is a highly profitable thing. Gorilla trekking is quite expensive. Even pricier in Rwanda.

It generates a lot of revenue that is distributed in the community to build schools, hospitals, etc. I think this is what conservation should look like.

Gorillas in Uganda went from 300 in the 1990s to 600 today. That is a huge success, and the population seems to have a positive future.

Habituation

If you are wondering why gorillas don’t immediately harm us when we visit them, it’s because of a process called habituation. This is when rangers purposely train gorilla families to feel safe around humans. Not taming, but just making them used to seeing humans, by using the principle of association.

Every day, for years, rangers would search for a gorilla family and spend hours with them at a far distance. The consistency allows the gorillas to finally feel calm and safe around them, and that is when the distance is gradually reduced. Super interesting, right?

Even some safari parks around Africa do the same. Rangers would leave their car around a pride of lions for the whole day so that the lions become used to vehicles, and it ultimately makes tourism possible. Same with gorillas.

That’s why we are able to go so close to them. But remember, families differ. We were actually with one of the first males to go through the habituation process, and maybe that is why we had so many close interactions with the family.

Regardless, what an experience.

I would recommend this to every single person to do at least once in their lifetime (they are pretty flexible with fitness levels, too).

Come With Me in June

I am going to do a photo tour there in June 6 to 12, 2027. Gorilla and chimp trekking, we also get to see the world’s most trafficked animal, the pangolin, plus we do a boat safari in one of the national parks there. A cultural and primate safari.

Only 3 out of 6 spots left. Please reply to this if you are interested.

Until next time,

Dhir