“Are you excited?” My driver asks when we hop into the car. It took 32 hours and three flights to get to Entebbe, Uganda, followed by a night spent near the airport and a bush plane to get to Kihihi Airstrip. Despite the arduous journey, my stoic attitude due to pure exhaustion, and what’s about to be a bumpy hour-and-a-half ride to Gorilla Forest Lodge, an A&K Sanctuary, I am, indeed, excited. And if the hotel’s name didn’t give it away, it’s gorilla trekking that I’m looking forward to.
About halfway into the drive, it begins to rain. Water carves its way through the dips and grooves of the red dirt road, but I continue to marvel at just how lush the country is. Rolling hills are blanketed in a spectrum of greens that would give Pantone a run for its money. Once thunder rumbles in the distance, I cross my fingers, hoping that the steady drizzle doesn’t dampen the next couple of days. However, once I arrive at the hotel, my concerns begin to dissipate.
With every step I take up the steep hill—a mini prelude to what trekking conditions can be like—I become a little more animated. About halfway up, a cheeky sign with “almost there” engraved into it makes me chuckle, but it’s the L’Hoest’s monkey perched near the top like he’s the resident greeter that really brings me back to life from my jet lag–fueled stupor. My childlike giddiness continues as I make my way up to the room, especially once I set foot on the expansive deck furnished with suspended swing chairs that look out to the jungle, seemingly built with contemplative moments in mind. A gentle fog hovers above the treetops, creating a sense of mystery, and I can’t help but to wonder just how many mountain gorillas are currently seeking cover from the rain like myself.
Now for a little backstory. There are 13 A&K Sanctuaries—formerly Sanctuary Retreats—in Africa. Owned by Abercrombie Kent, a pioneer of luxury safaris since 1962, the company expanded into accommodations just before the turn of the century with Olonana in Kenya’s Maasai Mara and has since also operated boutique riverboats, including the new Pure Amazon in Peru that debuted this past summer. Meanwhile, in June, Gorilla Forest Lodge reopened following a complete overhaul and is the only luxury property nestled within Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, a feat that was accomplished thanks to founder Geoffrey Kent’s passion for wildlife conservation and encouragement to designate Bwindi as a national park.
There are just 10 suites at Gorilla Forest Lodge, all of which have been significantly expanded and boast a canopied bed along with a large bathroom outfitted with a deep soaking tub. The minibar is complimentary, stocked with cookies (I was warned to always leave my doors closed unless I’d like some monkey visitors that’d beeline for the jars), and the staff even bring a carafe of wine at turndown. Other thoughtful touches include a canvas tote filled with a yoga kit and mini weights, along with a heating pad atop the comfortable mattress. But it’s the finer details that tell the story of local craftsmanship that stand out the most, from the woven banana fiber and papyrus ceilings by NGO Ride 4 a Woman to the throw pillows by Florence Nakachwa’s Mekeka Designs.
The main building is just as striking. Transformed so that there are more nooks for guests to enjoy, including three lounging areas separate from the dining room, they also made a point to create a sense of place. Woven shopping baskets have been transformed into light shades while barkcloth, known as “the king’s cloth” during the Buganda Kingdom, hangs as art above the fireplace. Like the rooms, everything is made from natural materials, including local woods, and each piece of furniture was custom-made in Uganda. A small spa also sits below with two treatment rooms, including a couple’s room, affording guests the opportunity to unwind after a thrilling day of trekking—if you don’t head straight to your plush room, that is.
After a restful night’s sleep, everyone is buzzing with excitement the next morning. We’re out the door by 7 a.m. for a pre-trek brief at the nearby park center, where we’re met by local organizations and other eager tourists. Here, we learn that there are an estimated 1,063 mountain gorillas living in the wild (according to a 2019 census), with nearly half of them calling Uganda home. They also go over how humans share about 98% of our DNA with mountain gorillas, which is why we’ll wear a face mask when visiting the gorillas to reduce the odds of transmitting any contagions. And most importantly, the rules: do not touch, do not feed, do not run, and heed your guide at all times.
After tales of how some treks can be hours long, my group had voiced to our A&K driver that we’d prefer a short hike if at all possible. Little did we know such requests are not all that preposterous. Every morning, trackers—many of whom are reformed poachers—set out into Bwindi looking for the gorillas so that guides know which family they’re visiting and the best drop-off location. Once we’re assigned our park guide, Saidi, he assures us it’ll be a quick and easy trip by foot so long as the gorillas don’t move. This is wildlife, after all.
It takes about an hour and a half to drive to our starting point, where we’re met by a group of porters—who tourists can employ to help carry their backpacks and such—as well as a pair of rifle-yielding rangers who will accompany us in the event of any unexpected precarious situations. Following a 30-minute walk past a tea plantation—which was not only planted as a source of income, but also a natural fence as none of the animals in the jungle eat the leaves, keeping them at bay from villages—and down a steep hill in the verdant jungle, we come across a bush-filled lawn. And just across the way is a silverback, a mature male, munching on leaves.
Reverence immediately washes over me. Ruyombo, the silverback’s name, is stalky with short limbs. He’s also smaller than I expected, but no less magnificent, and certainly no less intimidating. Because even though he’s calm and actually somewhat peaceful, and despite thinking silverbacks would be larger, Saidi tells me Ruyombo is about an average size, which means that he’s still roughly somewhere around 400 pounds of pure muscle. But Ruyombo isn’t the only star, because in addition to three blackbacks (mature males that haven’t yet developed their silver hair) in the vicinity, there’s a mother with a two-month-old boy just behind the patriarch.
We watched as she cradled him in her arms. When he’d attempt to hobble in our direction, she’d reach for his leg to gently pull him back. And once he got a little restless and attempted to scale her head, she plucked him off and set him on the ground. As someone with young nieces and nephews, I couldn’t help but laugh. Because if you, too, are surrounded by children, you can relate to how tiresome it is to keep up with their energy and antics. By that same virtue, it’s amazing just how universal motherhood (or in my case, aunthood) is.
Just as our 60 minutes were coming to an end (each gorilla family gets one set of visitors per day for one hour), the mother turned her back to us like clockwork, telling us it was time to head out. As I made my way through the low-lying bushes, a blackback decided to take a break from his snack time and walked directly past me. All of these moments combined felt like a fever dream, and on our way out as red-tailed monkeys hopped between canopies, Saidi asked if we were ready for another trek. Not today, of course, but yes, I was chomping at the bit for the next day’s outing.
While gorilla trekking is undoubtedly the key attraction here, Gorilla Forest Lodge also offers other outdoor activities like birding (over 350 species) and waterfall hikes, along with cultural immersions with the Batwa and Bakiga communities. While I had hoped to partake in the latter, my plans were thwarted when it began to pour as we approached the lodge. So instead, I sat down with a hotel team member to learn more about Abercrombie Kent’s philanthropic arm. Beyond employing locals, the company makes a concerted effort to positively impact the community. In Bwindi, that comes in the form of expanding the local primary school and supporting 15 other schools, providing safe drinking water with LifeStraw-filtered tanks, and giving scholarships and resources to the nearby nursing school.
The next morning called for another trek, and we were assigned Saidi once more. To my surprise, it was an even shorter hike than the day before, but this time we were surrounded by the wild jungle. This silverback, Kavuyo, was being groomed by a female while six other gorillas were munching on leaves in the treetops. There was a Tarzan moment as one swung down a vine. The stark contrast of settings created an entirely different experience that had me curious what other treks could look like. But at last, this was our final day, and we returned to the lodge to unwind by the fire pit, recounting the last couple of days to the tunes of a live harp.
On our final day, we departed before the crack of dawn, and unexpected road work led us to take the long way around. Truly the scenic route, we passed by the same mountains we saw the days before on our way to the gorillas. As we chased sunrise, the sky shifted from a pastel pink to a bright orange. I looked out the window in awe one last time, with flashbacks of the gorillas and the community that makes this all possible running through my mind. And all I could hope was that one day, I would be lucky enough to return.
