GA4

Saturday, March 11, 2006

MOUNTAIN GORILLAS - Tourist Adventures

Here's another couple of the regular Mountain Gorilla tourist reports that appear in the news.

The Washington Post has In a Family Way: One Amazing Hour With the Susas, and The Star has Sharing breakfast with gentle giants.
Just as I was ready to collapse, a tracker hooted in the distance and two young silverback gorillas tumbled into view.

The duo began playing to their audience like a couple of hams in a vaudeville act: striking poses, gamboling with each other, posturing for us. We were supposed to remain at least seven feet away, but no one had told them. Their performance was a combination greeting ("Welcome!") and warning ("But we're in charge!"). They'd stop to eat -- tearing bamboo plants up by their roots and chomping them down in one or two gulps -- then turn a profile.