Winslow, an area physician, fulfilled a lifelong dream of viewing up close Virunga gorillas, in Rwanda in late December.
"We've talked about seeing the gorillas for years," said Winslow. He and his wife, Bev, have traveled to Rwanda on medical missions a dozen times since 1979.
The Virunga mountain gorillas earned international attention in the 1988 movie "Gorillas in the Mist," documenting researcher Dian Fossey's work in Volcanoes National Park in northern Rwanda. Fossey spent 18 years with the gorillas and lost her life in 1985 trying to protect them.
Typically, visiting the gorillas requires a special permit, and the application process can take some time.
Permitless, Winslow began the early-morning drive, some 45 minutes "over back-breaking, rutted road," to get to the head of the trail in the foothills before entering the national park, not knowing whether he would be allowed on the trek.
At 6:30 a.m., Winslow said, "I waited at the guardhouse at the national park watching vans and buses come in. I sat sipping my tea," waiting to see about an opening.
After all the groups were formed, a ranger gestured to Winslow.
"I got to go in a group with two European men and a guide," Winslow said. "Those guys were avid hikers. One wore a marathon T-shirt. I was the old guy. They nicknamed me 'The Silverback.'"
Winslow gathered his gear: two trekking poles and a backpack. His camera had failed him earlier in the trip.
The trek began with a 30-45 minute hike across fields populated by cows and goats.
Then the group clambered through an opening in a big stone wall and entered a thick bamboo forest. According to Winslow, "The guide was literally breaking the trail with a machete."
Several trekking groups fanned out across the five volcanoes, each searching for a different group of gorillas. The guides kept in contact with each other and with rangers via two-way radio.
"We were actively tracking the Sabyinyo group (Sabyinyo means "teeth," also the name of the volcano on which it lives, identified by its jagged toothy peak)," Winslow said. "This trek is considered one of the most exciting layperson tracking adventures in the world."
The Sabyinyo are nomadic folivores: all their food and moisture comes from the leaves and roots of the bamboo. Because of their strict diet, the gorillas stay on the move.
Mountain gorillas spend most of their time in higher altitude forests, but migrate down to the bamboo forests a few moths of the year to feed on fresh shoots.
"They build a new nest every night," Winslow explained. "They're never in the same place."
Climbing over another ridge, the group began a near-vertical climb up the side of the volcano, "like a ski slope," as Winslow described it. It was then that he recalled reading the health advisory before beginning the trek.
"I was checking my pulse," he said. "There was no going back, but I became a little concerned."
The hard hike lasted two hours.
As the last leg of the trek began, they left all equipment behind in an effort to reduce noise that might startle the gorillas.
"I began to see black shapes in the distance through the dense foliage," Winslow said.
Approaching, the hikers found themselves "20 yards away from a big gorilla, sitting there munching on leaves, right there in his own environment," Winslow said. "Seeing it was a thrill."
By whispers and gestures, the guide quietly showed the hikers how to put gorillas at ease: step to the side, avoid prolonged eye contact with the gorillas, sit still.
"They could charge, or put on a show of defense," if startled, Winslow said.
The guide made guttural sounds or little singsong sounds indicating "We're okay, we're no threat," and the silverback - the senior gorilla in the group - would crane his neck and listen, Winslow recalled.
"I was like a little kid, enchanted, fascinated," Winslow said. "As we moved closer, I looked around and realized the other guys were stuck behind their cameras - one had a video camera, the other had a digital camera - but because I was without a camera, I was taking it all in.
"It was right there in front of me. After awhile we were 10 yards away. Forty-five minutes into it, we were 4 feet away from gorillas. You could smell their earthy" scent, Winslow said.
At one point, the guide pointed out that a new female had just joined the group and was following one male.
The silverback came right over and sat beside the new female.
The younger male moved away. Then the silverback started feeding the new female leaves - a mating ritual. When the silverback put his hands on the female's shoulders, she got up and walked away, Winslow said.
Then another female came over - the silverback's "wife." She showed signs of jealousy, Winslow said.
"Even though the silverback's in charge, it's still up to the female to decide."
The group spent about an hour with the gorillas - the longest amount of time permitted, according to Winslow.
"We were with them, in their home," he said. "You're just a guest for a moment. It was magical and thrilling. I'll never forget it."
Mountain gorillas in trouble
According to National Geographic, half of the world's approximately 700 remaining mountain gorillas live in the Virunga mountains that encompass Volcanoes National Park and its sister parks along Rwanda's border with Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Although a beautiful region, the gorillas are wedged between areas in crisis.
Between the early 1990s civil war in Rwanda and following 1994 genocide of the Tutsi ethnic group, and the ongoing unrest and civil war in the neighboring Congo, Volcanoes and the neighboring national parks have been crisscrossed by militant groups, armies and refugees. Numbers vary, but at least 500,000 people were killed between April and July 1994, causing wide diaspora.
During the genocide, refugees moved into the area and destroyed work stations in their own quest for survival, putting the gorillas at risk. Militia fighters roamed the volcanoes. Many gorillas were killed.
Poverty also continues to be a problem, fueling poachers and deforestation.
Another threat is disease. Because gorillas share 97 percent of their DNA with humans, they are susceptible to our diseases.
National Geographic reports at least 10 gorillas were killed in the Congo's Virunga National Park, just to the northeast of Volcanoes.
The gorilla population is rising now. Estimates put the Volcanoes National Park population at 355, up from some 250.
By LILA CHANDLER.
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