Mr. Special & A Special Dinner

Going Solo, Gorilla's Day 3
Today Christina set off on her own as Mom needed a rest. I expressed an interesting “want list” which included a short drive and no stinging nettles – other than that a hard hike would have been fine. Magnifique got me assigned to one of the favorite groups in the park – The Agashya Group.

This group was originally formed in the early 2000’s and when their lone silver back died they were left without a leader. The females held the group together for several months – before Mr. Special came to take charge. Mr. Special was a non-habituated Gorilla and is named “Mr. Special” because in just 3 days-time he was habituated to guests – normally this process takes 2 years. Today the family has

grown to 27 members including three silver backs.

As I set off on a short 20 minute drive back towards Bisate Lodge I was left wondering as to the difficulty of the trek. After a short 5 minute hike to the forest edge we were told that it was our “special” day and the gorillas were just inside the park…so after 10 minutes we were with the Gorillas! I am told this never happens and I felt bad that Mom was missing this! The group was very active and loved interacting with its visitors by playfully charging, smacking, and posing for pictures. Truly an amazing day.

A Night in Kigali
After a quick lunch, we headed back to Kigali to rest up before our trip to Tanzania. We invited our guide Magnifique and his wife Clare out for an Indian dinner (one of their favorite spots). Had a great dinner and paid the bill – all went smoothly until the Manager came over very upset to let us know of a “little” mistake. The waitress ran the card for $9,732 dollars instead of $97.32 – just a minor mistake. Mom was keeping her cool until the restaurant informed us that it was not possible to cancel/reverse the charge! We never did get that resolved and had to dispute directly with the US bank!