Dana Stories Con't...

This morning we woke up at 4am for our gorilla trek. It was a 2.5 hour ride to the National park..we got a quick debrief at the park before we were on our way. From the park we drove an hour towards the volcano and the site for our hike. The ride was an adventure in itself..it reminded me of off-roading in Fraser Island, australia..lots of fun. The hike was beautiful..challenging, but not too challenging. We hiked for about an hour and then ventured into the jungle. The trek through the jungle was awesome, except for the fact that I was not dressed appropriately. My pants were so thin, so I felt every thorn and prick. I also had not hat, gloves, or glasses which were very much needed. Despite the pain, the trek was great. After an hour or so we saw the Susa family of gorillas. I was so excited when I saw the first one, but my excitement quickly turned to fear when it reached out and tried to grab zoe. My smile quickly turned to tears and I was frightened!! I thought about the chimp in connecticut and I saw my life flash by my eyes. I could not stop crying!! I don't know what came over me, but I thought I was going to have a panic attack. My heart was racing, I had goosebumps, but was sweating..I was a wreck and wanted to leave so badly! Our guide came over to comfort me, he thought I was so emotional because I was so happy to see the gorillas, when I told him I was terrified, he held me in his arms like a baby. It took me a little while before I could catch my breath and then I was okay, but I was still too scared to enjoy myself. At that point I didn't want to take any photos, I didn't want to look at any of the gorillas, I just wanted to leave. Our guide was very sweet and he held me the entire time, and I held on to him for dear life. Finally, after an hour or so he told us it was time to head back...everyone seemed sad to leave, but I was ecstatic!! I could not have been more ready to leave.
The trek down felt like an eternity..I just wanted to get out of there and knew we had miles to go. I was getting pricked, and stung, and bit...it was horrible. We made it out around 2pm and then headed to lunch. I was excited to eat, but I really didn't enjoy that either as I was over the day. I am glad I did it, and it most certainly is an experience I will never forget, but also will never do again.
Lunch also felt like an eternity..we r now in the truck heading back to the village. We have a 3 hour ride home and its already 6:45pm. I cannot wait to get back, shower, and go to sleep. This has been a very long, very exhausting day. I am looking forward to spending tomorrow with the students and I'm looking forward to our tour of the rice plant. I think I may even be substitute teaching again tomorrow, which I loved..so I'm excited for that..."here's to another day"