I'm stunned by Rushenya's size. Even for a silverback, he's huge, weighing in at around 250kg, while most are 200—220kg. I'm stunned, too, by his quiet composure - he doesn't seem remotely bothered by our presence. "That's because they could see us coming," Augustine explains.
TALKING TO THE ANIMALS
I start vocalising to our group in quiet coughs that signify contentment, hoping they'll accept us. It feels utterly surreal to hear Rushenya reply in similar guttural rumbles. To our right, a more high-pitched " m m m m m m " noise emanates from a female gorilla. Augustine translates. "That means she's appreciating her food, telling the others it's good there."
On average, gorillas, predominantly vegetarians, eat up to 25kg a day in between taking naps and wandering a distance of about 1km from their previous night's nest to their new abode. Daily movements depend on the availability of food and their safety: if other gorilla groups or forest elephants are around, they move on fast.
As Rushenya takes his mid-morning nap, two toddlers crawl onto his back and a mum curls up next to him for protection, her baby's tiny fingers just visible on
her shoulder. With 24 members in the entire Bikingi group and a feeding range of dense forest, it's proving quite a challenge to habituate. Every individual has to be relaxed with strangers at a distance of 7m and babies are normally the first to relax, getting curious and moving closer to trackers: this hasn't yet happened with Bikingi. When Rushenya awakes refreshed and hungry, he moves rapidly grabbing at tree fungus, leaves and stems. The point of habituation is to stay in constant sight of the gorillas and gradually move closer so that they become comfortable with people. Following him as if our lives depend on it, we slowly inch nearer until we achieve our objective: he is just 7m away.
After two and a half magical hours with the Bikingi group, our time is almost up. They stop in a clearing and all seems calm. Suddenly, the female with the baby appears, tumbling downhill between Rushenya and me. He rushes towards me as I crouch down, terrified but averting my eyes as I'd been briefed. His reactions still unpredictable, he stops, shouts "uh uh" loudly, and waits - then slowly moves away. "He's just warning us to stay away from the baby," Augustine reassures me.
Exhausted but exhilarated, we reluctantly head back to Rushaga, learning on the way that Bwindi has been experiencing a baby boom, with 29 having been born in habituated groups alone in the past two years.
Africa's greatest conservation success story continues to go from strength to strength.
HOWTO SEE UGANDA'S MOUNTAIN GORILLAS
WHEN TO GO
It's possible to track mountain gorillas ' all year round. Permits for regular tracking, allowing an hour with the gorillas, cost US$600. Permits for the four-hour'Gorilla Habituation Experience' cost US$1,500; it's likely to continue in 2018.
TOUR OPERATORS
' UK tour operators offering the Gorilla I Habituation Experience are Steppes I Travel (www.steppestravel.co.uk) and Natural World Safaris (www.naturalworldsafaris.com). Travel Local (www.travellocal.com) offers gorilla encounters accompanied by Gorilla Doctors' vet Fred Nizeyimana.
WHERE TO STAY
For access to the Gorilla Habituation Experience, stay in Nkuringo. There are I two lodges here: Clouds MountainGorilla Lodge (www.wildplacesafrica.com) and Nkuringo Bwindi Gorilla Lodge (www.mountaingorillalodge. com). Upmarket lodges in Buhoma, ' near the Uganda Wildlife Authority, ' include Volcanoes Safaris Bwindi
Lodge (www.volcanoessafaris.com), Mahogany Springs (www.mahoganysprings.com) andSanctuary Gorilla Forest Camp(www.sanctuaryretreats.com).