To find the gorillas may take some time....treks tend to range from 2-8 hrs so one needs to be prepared. Preparation for us involved many hours trekking up and down Mt Cootha in the Brisbane summer heat and we were very glad we did this! It is advisable to wear a hat, thick gardening style gloves, long pants and long sleeved shirt even though it is warm. The forest is very very thick (it is not called impenetrable for nothing!) and is full of vines with sharp thorns. Be aware that your clothing is likely to be damaged by the thorns so don’t wear anything you are too attached to! Gaiters are helpful as they protect your legs and good hiking boots are essential as the ground is steep, slippery, uneven ad treacherous in places. I would advise people with long hair (like me) to tie it back and put under their cap to avoid it getting hooked in the spiny vines! A walking stick is extremely useful (they can be hired there or you can bring your own). The gloves are really important as you need to your hands to help scramble up and down steep vegetated mountain-sides and those thorny vines I mentioned really do play havoc with your hands if you don’t have the gloves! It is a good idea to bring a rain jacket, food and bug spray!
I suggest you take plenty of water (at least 3L each) as it is humid and hot and you will loose a lot of water sweating! Finally you can hire local porters to help you carry your gear. I know many people might not think they want or need this but here are two good reasons why you should carefully consider doing this. 1) The people from the local villages take turns at being porters and this is an important way for them to make money and directly benefit from the tourism, and 2) although you might be fine carrying all your gear for a few hours, I guarantee that if your trek lasts 8-10 hrs and you are carrying all the water you need etc you will be finding it very hard towards the end if not earlier! It is nice if you can take some extra food and water that you can share with your porter as they often have little or none themselves. The cost of a porter is small considering what you spend to do the gorilla trekking (about $15 USD for up to 10hrs hard trekking seems like a very good deal) but the money means a lot to the people. We actually felt that the porters on our longer trek deserved a lot more than this and paid them considerably more. The porters can also be a huge help to you over uneven and treacherous terrain if you need it and best of all you are helping the locals who earn important money for themselves this way.
It is a good good idea if you have ankle or knee injuries/problems to strap them!!
Also if you are unwell at all you should NOT go as the Gorillas can catch diseases from us which can be devastating for them and their family so please do not put them at risk.
Photography tips and gear to take
Think carefully about what gear you really need
If you are doing long and potentially difficult hikes, such as those to see gorillas, really think about what you need and take the minimum necessary. Once you are with the gorillas they may either be more or less stationary in one spot resting or they may be moving through the forest feeding, travelling or fighting. If they are moving you will be amazed by how quickly they cover this most difficult of terrain and it is very hard work to keep up! Be aware of this when you are planning what camera gear to take on the trek – only take what you can easily manage while climbing through thick difficult vegetation and up step and challenging terrain (eg a tripod and multiple large lenses/cameras may be very difficult to manage). Once you have reached the gorillas you need to leave your bags behind and take only your camera gear as you cannot have any bags with you when you are with the gorillas. Therefore, anything you take must be able to be carried by hand for an hour even if moving through difficult forest terrain. Remember you may need both hands to climb the steep slopes so a harness or something that means you can carry your camera gear without using your hands will be helpful (I use both the Safari Trekking Harness and the Black Rapid). Also the risk of your gear getting damaged or wet is moderate so you don’t want to take unnecessary risks with gear you don’t need.
Dealing with damp conditions
In damp areas like the rainforest it is a good idea to have some small sachets of silicone (like those in medicine bottle) in your camera bag. This will help to protect your bag and gear from humidity and damp to avoid moisture getting into the gear and mould growing in expensive lenses.
If your gear does get wet, dry it as soon and as well as possible and don’t just through it back in a damp bag and leave it there as you would be asking for trouble (i.e. encouraging mould to grow in your lenses) doing that!
Tips for the conditions in the forest photographing gorillas
The light in the forest may be very limited so take the fastest lens possible for example a lens with a maximum aperture of 2.8 would be ideal.
It is unlikely that you will have time to change lenses so decide on one to use and make sure it is not too heavy (the gorillas may well be moving through the thick forest during the hour you spend with them so you have to be able to carry/handle the camera while trekking through thick and sometimes treacherous forest).
I suggest a moderate zoom eg 70-200 or 300mm with as large an aperture as possible. The gorillas tend to be reasonably close to you (in fact sometimes too close for a zoom lens at all!) so don't be tempted to take a really long heavy lens.
It is nice to also be able to take animal in their environment shots and so a wide-angle lens is also good to have. However, it is not really manageable to have two cameras or change lenses. It might be worth having a second good quality compact camera or a GoPro. Alternatively if you are travelling with someone else and have 2 DSLRs you could get your travellng companion to use the other camera and get the more expansive shots.
The chances are you will not be staying in the same spot but moving around and so taking a tripod is usually not very practical as you are unlikely to have time to set it up and use it.
This is me photographing the a silverback gorilla.....as you can see they are unconcerned and quite close (you need to stay 7m away for their safety from any germs you might carry) but they are often this close and you may need to move away to maintain the required distance!
I hope this post will be helpful to any of you who might go and visit and photograph the gorillas.....feel free to get in touch if you have any specific questions. My last piece of advice - if you are considering going - DO IT! You will not regret it, visiting the Mountain Gorillas is truly awesome.