A Mountain Gorilla Experience

Through my heritage with Ivan the Gorilla, I have always had a connection to this species since day one, but I have never felt closer to them or to Ivan until this day.

I met our leader ,Jodi Carrigan, the Curator of Primates at Zoo Atlanta in 2010. She hosted me on a private tour of Zoo Atlanta to see my childhood friend Ivan the Gorilla one last time. At this point, Jodi was Ivan’s favorite human and through him we became good friends.

This African experience and these friendships I forged were a direct result of Ivan’s influence in my life. That big guy had a hand in the development of every emotion I have, and I like the person that I am through his influence in my life.

The last and best chapter

I went on two gorilla treks, and in Rwanda,each gorilla trek currently costs $1,500. This was not cheap, but the money is used very wisely. All of the guides and trackers were either once a gorilla poacher or were related to a poacher. These people poached mountain gorillas out of economic hardship to support their families, but through tourism, it is a better life to be a guide than to be a poacher.

The tourism dollars are also used to build infrastructure throughout the park and to expand its boundaries. You must have a permit to set foot on park grounds and if you do not, you may be viewed as a poacher. Every group of tourists is designated a specific gorilla family and there are trackers that monitor the whereabouts of each family. These trackers then relay the location to each guide to ensure an expedited trek for each tourist.

The first trek was along the Dian Fossey Tomb trail. After 2 hours of straight up hiking, we veered off the trail and into the heavy vegetation that contained many unpleasant stinging nettles. Once we were close, we had to leave our backpacks, food and water with the porters. We also had leave our walking sticks since this tool can be viewed as threatening to gorillas. It was also necessary to wear face masks since gorillas can catch our diseases.

We blazed our own trail through the vegetation until we came upon Ntambara gorilla family of fifteen. This indescribable event left me at a loss for words. It was nothing short of magical to witness this family play, laugh, sleep and eat all within a distance of perhaps 10-20 feet. At one point or guide told me to move, I turned around to see a large Silverback behind me. I moved as quickly as I could and he passed by me within a foot, like I wasn’t even there! There was teenage gorilla known as Trouble Maker and he charged our group about three times looking to play. During one moment he sideswiped my legs and body slammed me. I didn’t lose my balance, but I felt his solid strength. We had one hour to interact with the family, but I could’ve stayed there all day.

Jodi Carrigan had used her Atlanta Zoo connections to set up a VIP tour of The Ellen DeGeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund. They hosted us to a tour of the museum and a behind-the-scene tour of their research facility. After the tour, there was a private event for our group beside a fire with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres. They talked extensively about their work to increase the population of mountain gorillas.

Through visual monitoring and fecal research, they know the health and exact number of each mountain gorilla and that the fund contributes heavily in the education of local students to ensure poaching is never again practiced in the region.

Through my childhood with Ivan, I witnessed from an early age the intelligence and human traits these majestic beasts possess. We share 98% of our DNA with gorillas, they are us and we are them. To save them, we save ourselves.

Please visit the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund or the The IVAN Foundation to learn more about how you to can be involved to save each species of gorillas.

Be Ivan