Posts tagged "Gorilla"

Tag Archives: Gorilla

UGANDA – I SEE YOU! BY PETE OXFORD

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Sir David Attenborough once said

“There is more meaning and mutual understanding in exchanging a glance with a gorilla than any other animal I know.”

I have to agree.

On our latest, fabulous, Uganda trip, apart from the people and the huge variety of other wildlife that made the trip special, my two most poignant animal highlights were with gorillas. Firstly with the silverback pictured above.

I was low to the ground, lying maybe, the remainder of the human group was some 20 meters away with the gorilla family. I was alone with the male. After taking some low-light images I put my camera down and the gorilla and I simply stared at each other. Not a hard stare but more a contemplation. It was profound. A reckoning of two personalities, characters from different worlds – individuals.

Half an hour later, after wading across a forest stream, to catch sight of the gorillas crossing too, an adult female stopped to sit on a rock and scrutinize me, up to my knees in the water that she had chosen to carefully pick her way over rocks to avoid. We again stared at each other with deliberate and piercing eye contact.

She was at home at the forest and soon dissolved into the understorey.

 

 

All images ©Pete Oxford.

UGANDA THE PEARL OF AFRICA BY PETE OXFORD

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Renee and I have lived together many years in Africa – including a very special time within a national park. She is African and grew up in close association with its wildlife.
And yet, both of us are totally blown away by Uganda.

So much more than ‘just’ gorillas, Uganda seems to have everything.

If you dream of a classic African safari, driving across the savanna watching giraffe, buffalo, hartebeest, warthog or kob then come to Uganda.

If you dream of exploring the famous Murchinson Falls from top and bottom and then taking a surreal ride on the enigmatic Nile River – the longest in Africa – then come to Uganda.

If watching herds of huge tusker elephants drinking together with even more buffalo, all the while mingling with countless hippos, then come to Uganda.

We will search the Mabamba swamps for one of the world’s most sought after birds, the huge and bizarre shoebill. Be prepared for a bird like no other.

Have you ever walked with rhinos? Now is your chance.

If your desire is to get close and intimate, on foot, with our closest relative – the chimpanzee – in its magnificent rainforest home of Kigale, then come to Uganda. A highlight.

We will search for lions, not on the ground but high up in the comfort of a beautiful fig tree.

Gorillas will leave you awestruck once again, on foot, this time in the Bwindi Impenetrable forest. In confidence with the world’s largest primate. The huge silverbacks leave a haunting feeling as they meet your gaze with a deep sense of primordial connection. They are quite simply breath taking.

Finishing again back on safari in the green acacia savanna of Lake Mburo, we watch zebra, Defassa waterbuck, bushbuck, topi and yet more incredible bird life.

As if the breadth of experience was not already enough we will be stunned by the magnificent Ankole cattle along with all the people we meet along the way.

Our trips pay great importance to women’s empowerment and we will meet and form friendships with some of the most influential and pioneering women in the country.

So far the charms of Uganda remain somewhat untold but it will not be for long the secret is out!

All images ©Pete Oxford.