Primal Instincts

I've procrastinated for too long now... I must share one of the highlights so far in all of my life, a BIG Tick on my "list of things to do before I die". I had the awesome (and I use that in the God glorifying way that it should be used) privilege of encountering the rare mountain Gorilla... not just one, but a family of twenty-three. Granted, I have seen Lowland Gorillas too, but that was in a sanctuary in Cameroon and although it too stands as a highlight in my life, it was nothing compared with this life-changing event.
We were based in The Gorilla Forest Camp in Bwindi Impenetrable Park in Uganda. The park does indeed earn its status as impenetrable when one begins to venture into the forest. The density of trees and entangled vines makes the journey off the beaten path an impossibility without a machete in hand. Approximately 330 of the 700 last remaining Mountain Gorillas in the world reside in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest and few people are fortunate enough to encounter them.
On the morning of the 22nd of May 2007, enthusiastic tourists grouping together at the Uganda Wildlife Authority's offices shared evil grins amongst themselves and passed snide comments under their breath as they learned that this crazy South African with a 13 Kg camera slung over his shoulder along with his presenter and soundman each with "well supplied" bag in hand, were tracking 'group H'. Our permit indicated that we were assigned to 'group H'... the advantage: it is a family of twenty three Gorillas - two silverbacks and several juveniles the draw cards within the 23-, the disadvantage: it is a family that just the day before had taken no less than 5 hours to locate in extremely mountainous, densely forested terrain, we were in for a hike of noteworthy proportions. After three and a half hours of steep mulch covered inclines, 80% humidity and several tracking shots in the bag, we met up with the scouts who had gone before us that morning to locate the group. In fear of disappointment for not finding them, I had contained my excitement up to now, but this was it, we'd caught up with them, and I could no longer contain the anticipation. Some minor preparation of camera gear and a bum slide down the steepest slope of the day, across a fern lined stream and there it was... my first sighting of a forest gorilla, albeit a rear end disappearing into the dense undergrowth. After ten minutes or so of following them through dense vegetation, they settled down to play and forage. Babies nursing on mother's bosom, adolescents rough and tumbling like unruly children, juveniles swinging from branches and the ever watchful silver backs chilled but vigilant as they lay spread across the forest floor. Their mannerisms, nurturing instincts and for some of the less fortunate among us, their looks could not resemble us more closely. It was this, and their apparent 'intelligence' that captivated me! Truly, this was an emotional experience and one that I will never ever forget, sadness welled up within me as I considered the depleting numbers of this beautiful creature but as we were ushered away after our brief 1 hour encounter with our "wild relatives", I was encouraged by the conservation efforts & the passion I saw in the guides, these animals are safe for now, my prayer is that my children and my children's children will one day experience such a life altering encounter with this gentle giant.

Dancing with Strangers

Our first stop in Uganda was in a small rural village in the middle of nowhere called Nchenyi Village. "Hospitality" is almost always the nickname given to rural villages in Africa but this one held a unique experience in store for me. We stayed in an old farmstead on a hill overlooking fertile green pastures, banana plantations and a landscape dominated by typical Umbrella Thorn Acacias.


That night, under equatorial constellations this lone "Muzungu" (White Man), joined a tribe of pastoralists and a tribe of agriculturalists around a blazing campfire to not simply watch them partake in their traditional cultural dances but to participate. As the drums punctuated the nocturnal sounds with the characteristic beat of the royal Jembe, silhouettes against the fire stirred up the dust as bare-feet imitated the beats on the ground. Beads of sweat formed on naked torsos as the dance evolved. As I observed a hand appeared out of the shadows and pulled me by my arm into the mass of bodies performing ritual movements as if by instinct. My body lacked the instinct but my heart and mind were willing and as awkward as this pale body must have appeared, I was accepted if only for one evening, if only for a brief dance with "strangers" as one of Nchenyi Village. In the words of Thabo Mbeki, "None dare challenge me when I say, I am an African..."

Memory - God's Snapshot

One of the most difficult and frustrating aspects of travelling to wonderful places around the continent for work is that I have to do exactly that... work! Don't get me wrong, this is no "glass half empty" statement, I am not complaining. The reality however, is that while filming for television, my energy is consumed with finding the right images to tell the correct story and recording those images in a video format for telelvision. This leaves very little time for considering the stills images I would so love to capture to tell my own story. Be it a reminder to myself of my experiences, an art form to express or a legacy to show others in the future, the sad fact is that I have very little in the way of images to show for all my experiences despite the fact that I am a photographer. This got me thinking about personal experience on a recent trip to Uganda. What is personal experience, and how important is it to share these experiences with others? Why do I feel the need to "boast" my travels and experiences to others, is it not something that God has blessed me with and does He not get the Glory in my appreciation alone of these places and experiences. Why a photograph? Has he not given me the most incredible memory and ability to visualise for that purpose only, to recall wonderful, God glorifying moments?
Everything we see is a potential picture and if we were so consumed with photographing every moment, as I often am, we are likely to miss the experience. As we drove through Uganda, across the equator, towards Nchenyi Village, it occured to me that I was surrounded by these images, a lady in bright lime green high heeled shoes and a dyed red afro caught up in the dust as she swept a sandy sidewalk, a man carrying a pig on a bicycle, a family of four on a motorbike; Images that could not be captured on film in that instant but images nonetheless that were comitted to my memory, God's snapshot of the rich experiences that make up our lives. I don't have to be travelling though exotic destinations either because I have been blessed with sight and the ability to observe in whatever circumstances I find myself in. It is important that I give every one of these circumstances, every moment in my life equal priority because unless I do, the snapshot God has offered me will be gone forever, like an overexposed film, the notion that something existed there once but a white block of light erasing the image. Processing that film, that captured image is equally important. That memory should be accessed and observed, through a story told, a written prose or a pencil sketch so that as we share an experience with others, the glory of God in each of His snapshots is revealed through our life.