DAY SEVENTEEN We had a leisurely 9:00 AM start and headed back towards Rutshuru. We stopped at a road-side market along the way and were besieged by people with veggies to sell while we negotiated in French for what we needed. It was great fun and we stocked up on a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables as well as three live chooks.
We took the turnoff near Rutshuru and headed up into the mountains along a rough track leading to Jomba where we would find the gorillas. Most of the trip up towards the mountains was in heavy fog.
We arrived at the campsite in the late afternoon and were immediately surrounded by hoards of people. Scotty negotiated with the chief of the village who owned the land for 2 “security guards” to keep a 24 hour watch. We had a big feed of sausages & mash for tea then went to bed.
Oh! Before we had tea, Scotty, Ian and I went to a local’s hut for a beer. The guy who invited us told us all about his family & what he did for a living and generally babbled away in French which half the time we couldn’t follow. It was quite an experience though, and the house wasn’t as squalid as I thought it would be from its outside appearance. It was dark inside with a dirt floor, about 4 rooms with table, chairs, a tape player and some photos on the wall. Humble but homely.
CurseOfTheTraveller 