Christine Carrillo Anyone up for gorilla trekking...

Christine Carrillo

Anyone up for gorilla trekking in Uganda?

Well, four avid travelers from Corona del Mar and Newport Beach

certainly were. Sylvia Burnette, Ev Parrella, Gayle Jones and

Theodora “Teddy” Pike couldn’t resist the offer to travel to the

Bwindi Impenetrable Forest with armed guards by their side and guides

with machetes hacking paths for them through the dense vegetation in

the hopes of seeing a black gorilla up close.

In fact, that was their primary worry -- that they wouldn’t get to

see the gorilla that they traveled to an entirely different continent

to find.

Since only six people per gorilla group are allowed in the forest

per day and three of the four women only had two-day passes, the

women, all of whom are in their 50s and 60s, were determined to do

whatever it took to summon the gorillas from hiding.

After they held hands and chanted for the gorillas to show

themselves, the endangered animals quickly appeared.

“It’s so moving to look into their eyes; it’s so touching,” said

Burnette, who had a three-day pass. “It’s almost like you have an

understanding. You really feel connected to them.”

Developing a relationship with the habituated animals was an

experience that touched each of their hearts and made their two-week

trip in August an opportunity of a lifetime.

After reading about Uganda in a New York Times article, Jones

brought the trip to the attention of her traveling companions a year

ago and the planning began.

“Our families think we’re crazy for doing this,” Pike said.

But none of the women, all of whom had traveled to Africa before,

felt that way.

“When girls travel together they just want to have fun,” Burnette

said. “We have fun, but we play hard.”

And their Uganda trip certainly had its challenges. Hiking through

gorges in search of chimpanzees and not knowing what was in the

bushes surrounding them, visiting caves inhabited by two million bats

and a dozen python waiting to devour them, the ladies, who left

behind their worried families, truly tested their moxie with the

seemingly endless treks but couldn’t have imagined a more rewarding

trip.

“You have to have adventure in your blood and be well-traveled to

go there,” Jones said. “There were truthfully a lot of dangers. We

truly were lucky.”

The women and their families did have an underlying concern about

their welfare due to the political situation in the neighboring

countries of Rwanda and Sudan, but that wasn’t enough to dissuade any

of them from their gorilla seeking mission.

“The guards were there to protect the gorillas from poachers, not

to protect us,” said Parrella, who added that Benjamin Musisi, their

primary guide, served as their protector.

“It’s hard to find them; it’s hard to get to them and once you get

to them it’s one of the most rewarding experiences of your life.”

* Have you, or someone you know, gone on an interesting vacation

recently? Tell us your adventures. Drop us a line to TRAVEL TALES,

330 W. Bay St., Costa Mesa, CA 92627; e-mail christine.carrillo@

latimes.com; or fax to (949) 646-4170.