What to Carry in Your Gorilla Trekking Day Pack
The gorilla trekking day pack is the bag you carry from the park headquarters trailhead into the forest for the full duration of the morning — from the start of the approach walk to the return to the vehicle after the encounter. It should contain everything you need for up to six hours in a mountain forest environment. It should not contain everything you brought to Rwanda. The balance — sufficient without heavy, functional without redundant — is achievable with a specific contents list that experienced gorilla trekkers have established through trial and the error of carrying too much or too little on the first attempt.
Water — More Than You Think
Two litres of water is the minimum for a gorilla trek morning at Volcanoes National Park altitude. Three litres is more appropriate for a trek that takes four or more hours and involves significant gradient. The altitude at which the trek occurs — 2,400 to 3,000+ metres — produces dehydration at higher rates than equivalent exertion at sea level, partly because the dry mountain air at altitude increases respiratory water loss and partly because the cold temperature suppresses the thirst mechanism that normally triggers drinking at the right time. Drink actively rather than waiting for thirst during the approach walk. Most lodges provide a packed water bottle as standard with the gorilla trek packed lunch; add to this from your own supply if the lodge provides less than two litres.
Camera Equipment
Camera body with appropriate settings already loaded (see the camera settings guide in this series), spare battery (cold mountain temperatures reduce battery life significantly — carry at least two charged batteries), spare memory cards (shoot in RAW format; a one-hour gorilla encounter at 14-20 megapixel RAW generates significant file size), UV filter on the lens for vegetation-contact protection, lens cloth for cleaning in the humid forest, and a lightweight dry bag or rain cover for the camera if rain is likely. No tripods or monopods — they are impractical in the dense vegetation and slow the group’s movement to the gorilla family’s position.
Rain Jacket
A packable waterproof rain jacket that can be accessed quickly when cloud arrives. In the Virunga forest, rain can arrive without warning and the transition from clear to heavy rain is often faster than putting on a jacket that is buried in the bottom of the pack. The jacket should be at the top of the pack or in an external pocket — not under everything else.
Snacks for the Return Walk
Food is not consumed in the presence of the gorilla family — this is a park rule with a conservation basis — but the return walk after the encounter, which can take one to three hours depending on how far the gorillas were found, is the appropriate time to eat the packed lunch the lodge provided. Energy bars, nuts, and fruit provide the blood sugar maintenance that prevents the leg-shaking weakness that some visitors experience on the descent after the exertion and adrenaline of the encounter.
First Aid Basics
Blister plasters (the gorilla trek morning is not the occasion to discover that your new hiking boots produced a heel blister fifteen minutes into the approach), antiseptic wipes for minor cuts from vegetation contact, and your personal medications if any are relevant to the altitude, exertion, or forest environment. These are for self-management of minor issues during the trek; serious medical situations are managed by the ranger escort, who carries a first aid kit as standard equipment.
What to Leave at the Lodge
Passport, most cash, valuables, second camera body, clothing not needed for the specific weather conditions of the morning. Most lodges near Volcanoes National Park have secure storage for items not taken on the trek. The instinct to bring everything because the forest seems remote is understandable; the reality is that the return to the lodge takes two to four hours maximum and the things that are most useful on a gorilla trek are not the same as the things that are most useful for general travel days.
