Getting close to the locals

 When I saw this I thought a couple of things:

How come there are sidewalks in the rainforest?  I know it's a National park, but I'm not used to parks where bands of gorillas roam around.  The article below talks about how these gorillas are habituated to humans, but still...

How did this man not pee his pants?

Wild Gorillas Groom U.S. Tourist in Uganda

I have long wanted to go to Africa.  It's on my bucket list for sure. 

It takes my breath away to see the animals so closely, to see them interacting with a human being so gently.  I was not breathing as I watched this because, even though I knew it did not go horribly wrong it sure could have.

Can you imagine?  You're walking around in the rainforest park and you decide to take a load off and rest for a second by the side of the trail and the next thing you know there is a family of gorillas coming to hang out with you!

I love how Papa Gorilla is so protective, but if that big dude had decided he wasn't into the pale monkey that his kids were playing with it could have been horrifying.  Kudos for keeping your shit together.

I'm not sure how I feel about building sidewalks in the jungle and having people be this close to wild animals - but no matter - what an amazing experience John had!  His blog about his adventures in Africa is good reading and the pictures are stunning.  Some of the photos brought tears to my eyes - the faces of these animals are just amazing and the pictures of the babies brought back memories of a book we had when I was a kid by Jane Goodall (a personal hero).  I used to sit for hours looking at the pictures and reading the stories of Fifi and David Graybeard, the wild chimpanzees she lived with.

And you gotta watch this video:

For me Africa is the adventure of a lifetime - but I think that I would most likely wet my pants if I got up that close and personal with these locals.
SLP