{"id":12025,"date":"2022-03-14T08:31:50","date_gmt":"2022-03-14T07:31:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eneasmagazine.com\/en\/?p=12025"},"modified":"2022-03-11T13:49:12","modified_gmt":"2022-03-11T12:49:12","slug":"primates-up-close-the-lesser-known-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eneasmagazine.com\/en\/lifestyle\/tourism\/primates-up-close-the-lesser-known-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Primates up close, the lesser known Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Primates have always fascinated humans because of their strong resemblance and close kinship with us.\u00a0It was in the 18th century when the term primates (from the Latin “first”) began to be used, where we included people, monkeys, gorillas, and a long list up to lemurs. Initially at no time was it suggested that monkeys were relatives or ancestors of humans as this did not come until 1859, a hundred years later,\u00a0with Darwin. The word primate was simply used to define those zoologically more developed organisms\u00a0of the animal kingdom.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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The world of cinema has brought us mythical films about primates such as Gorillas in the Mist, or the recent Virunga documentary. Anthropologists such as Diane Fossey, Jane Goodall or the Spanish Magdalena Bermejo in the Congo have been pioneers in showing the world an animal but tremendously human reality and have dedicated their lives to study, understand and protect our own evolutionary history.<\/span><\/p>

When we think of Africa, we rarely imagine the treasures hidden in primate species, unfortunately in danger of extinction. In gorillas alone, there are two main species, mountain and valley gorillas, and four other subspecies<\/b>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\"\"But undoubtedly the most famous are the mountain gorillas, distributed in the rainforests between the Virunga volcanoes on the borders of Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo<\/b>. They live at altitudes between 2,200 and 4,300 meters on the slopes of the Karisimbi, Mikeno and Visoke volcanoes where the vegetation is dense and abundant for their totally vegetarian diet.<\/span><\/p>

Today they live confined in protected areas declared national parks<\/b> and despite their critically endangered status, their population has been slowly growing to an estimated 880 individuals at present<\/b> thanks to the efforts of different organizations and investments in the development of the protected areas where they live. But it is mainly thanks to the income generated by tourism that our close relatives are protected.<\/span><\/p>

There are three types of gorilla groups<\/b>. Those totally wild, others semi-habituated to human presence<\/b> to which only researchers have access and the so-called habituated ones<\/b>. Over time, the latter groups of gorillas have been progressively habituated to the presence of humans once a day. For two years, the rangers spend long periods of time every day among different groups of gorillas so that they gradually become accustomed to human presence<\/b>. As time goes by, several rangers approach the gorillas, usually at the same time of day to create a routine that is comfortable for everyone. This regular contact allows better control and anticipation of possible diseases. The loss of a single gorilla is a great impact given the very low number of individuals.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

This two-year process allows us to later bring in honored guests interested in having a close encounter with them in their natural environment.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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You have to get up early to reach the control station of the national park. Once there, the rangers form small groups of 8 to 12 people to start trekking to the different gorilla groups. Each group of visitors heads towards a specific family of habituated gorillas<\/b> who, depending on the time of year, will be found closer to the valley picking berries and wild fruits or higher up.<\/span><\/p>

Because of the danger of transmission of human diseases to the gorillas, access is not allowed to anyone with medical symptoms or even a slight cold. In the case of visits to the Congolese area, the use of masks is mandatory. For the trekking, it is necessary to wear good boots, long pants and long sleeves, since you have to go deep into the rainforest and in many occasions you will have to make your way as you go along.<\/span><\/p>

To ensure the success of the visit, a group of trackers leave a few hours in advance to locate the different groups of gorillas and guide the groups of visitors by radio. Depending on where they are, the walk may be longer. Even so, going deep into the dense vegetation is a magical experience in itself.<\/span><\/p>

At one point, the rangers indicate where we should leave our backpacks and especially the food we carry. We will take our camera with us since we will only have about 45 minutes to live the moment<\/b>. At this point we must lower our voices and go in single file towards the direction that the specialist guide will show us. It is at this moment when we feel the heart beat a little stronger from the excitement, and we begin to hear the sounds of the jungle in a different way. The atmosphere is very humid and fresh and we will feel the tiredness in our legs because we will have already climbed several hundred meters to reach this point.<\/span><\/p>

The visit is organized to the millimeter by specialists to reach the group at noon. The gorillas rest and make a stop in their day. This time is very important to establish social relationships among them, games and hygiene tasks and without a doubt the best time to visit them. Once spotted, we will approach slowly and crouch down in a submissive position with the head looking down at first. It is common for the dominant male, the silverback, to approach to make it clear who has the authority in the area and we have to make it equally clear that he is the one in charge<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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