Before leaving the U.S., I had booked a night at the Riad Arous Chamel, located in the middle of Tangier’s Ancient Medina. The night before we set off from our house in Spain, Chris and I both entered the location of the hotel into our Garmin Fenix GPS smart watches. Upon arrival, our goal was to go straight to the hotel to get our bearings. We knew exactly where the hotel was and it couldn’t be easier with the help of our technology. Or so we thought.

The game began as soon as we set foot on the African continent. Taxi drivers and vendors selling various Moroccan goods were camped around the ferry terminal exit. As we passed the menagerie, several determined taxi drivers approached us insisting that they take us to our destination. The three of us developed stone cold expressions and rarely looked around without intention. The best way to make yourself vulnerable is to look lost or confused.

The medina is only a ten minute walk from the port, and the highway we walked along was fairly clean and well kept. In fact, we were the only ones walking from the port to the medina.

An older man, possibly bearded and wearing a dark brown djellaba, had been standing on the side of the road and began walking along side, greeting us stating, “I show you to Kasbah.” My dad repeated “No” as we hurried to get away, but he stubbornly remained at our side repeating, “very welcome, very welcome.” As we passed a currency exchange center, my dad urged us into the building, later explaining that if he kept following us to our destination, he would expect us to pay him. After checking the exchange rate, we were ready once again to try to evade our friend. We met him again, he was obviously waiting for us, but we escaped after being persistent despite his assertive “Very welcome, very welcome.” We continued walking quickly and with confidence, as we didn’t want to be perceived as lost tourists. Without knowing what lay ahead, the three of us bravely charged into the labyrinth of narrow alley-ways. The ancient buildings were decorated with plaster, cracked and peeling off around doorways and windows. With every corner we turned, we were greeted with the eyes of men and boys dressed in djellabas and kaftans. Open doorways revealed that much of the buildings contained men working looms, weaving textiles of all sorts. As we continued to explore, gangs of boisterous young boys shouting and laughing ran past us, and a boy crossed our path holding a notebook and binder paper that contained Arabic writing. I concluded that it must have been schoolwork as he was showing the paper’s contents to an old woman dressed from head to toe in cloth.

Continuing to plunge ever further, Chris and I glanced at our watches every thirty seconds or so to make sure we were on track. Every so often, I heard a “blup, blip!” as my watch beeped and vibrated to alert me that we were on course. Occasionally, we stopped so that Chris and I could compare our watches to make sure that they were in agreement as to which turn would be the best to take. In times like these, local men would approach and linger deciding if they should offer assistance. Our serious expressions probably deterred a few of them.

I also began to notice that coughing was as constant a sound of the hustle and bustle, as were the motorcycle engines.

We decided to turn up a street made of concrete steps because we recalled seeing others that were wearing backpacks and looked like tourists coming from that direction. We found ourselves carefully watching our steps to avoid the cats and kittens that had sprawled themselves about the stair steps and didn’t seem at all concerned about being stepped on. In the U.S., this would have been a big problem, but it seemed like the locals were completely used to what seemed to us like a cat infestation. This path eventually lead to the Kasbah and a chance for us to catch our breath from the claustrophobia I felt from the medina’s narrow passage ways that occasionally smelled of sewage.

In the Kasbah’s parking lot, a sandy patch of dirt, we were relieved to find a map fastened to a post that gave us some sort of idea to our current location relative to where we had entered the medina. As I pulled out my phone to compare my downloaded offline google map, another man dressed in a djellaba who had probably overheard our conversation approached asking, “Looking for Riad arous chamel?” I wasn’t quite sure what he had said, so I repeated the hotel’s name back to him to confirm. “Follow me” he said, “I take you there.” He made a waving gesture with his hand, “Follow me. Everybody stays there. It is very close.”

We didn’t really have another choice so we shrugged our shoulders and began following him. We passed a few men resting in the shade of an awning that approved of our choice of guide, exclaiming, “Ah, you have Mohammad! Mohammad is a very good guide!” After a few minutes of walking and several phlegmy coughs of our guide, we began down streets that I recognized having passed through earlier. He finally stopped and pointed at a small plaque that was a few inches above my eyes. Riad arous chamel. We had walked right past it! Multiple times!

Our guide now took the opportunity to ask for payment. He held out his hand and my dad reached into his bag and placed three euros on his palm. “How about ten? three? This is nothing. Ten.” “Okay, four euros.” The man became slightly emotional and I began to feel bad for him. The exchange didn’t last long and after realizing that my dad could not be budged, he accepted his payment of four euros with a smile and walked away after patting my dad on the back. After seeing how happy the man was as he walked away, I now understand that to the Moroccan people, the enjoyment of bartering is valued just as much as the monetary payment they receive.

The door to the riad was dark brown, and heavy. We attempted knocking, but there was no response. My dad noticed a box with buttons to the upper right in the wall next to the door. He pushed the button and a staticky voice answered. He replied with, “we have a reservation.” The door automatically unlocked and my dad looked at me with a worried expression and asked, “Are you sure you want to stay the night here?” “I think we should go and look around some more.” I insisted that we at least go inside and see what it looks like.

We pushed the door open and went inside. The interior was dimly lit and smelled old, but seemed clean. We stood in a tiled gathering area with ornate decorations and after waiting in silence for several minutes, were eventually greeted by a young, French speaking woman and older French speaking gentleman. We told them we had a reservation under Bjornson. “The reservation is for two.” He pointed out in a thick French accent. “Yes, but we ended up bringing a third person.” “There are only two beds, I will have to get another bed.” “Yes, that is fine with us” I nodded. The girl, instructed us to follow her upstairs to our room.

We decided to catch the 6:00pm ferry back to Spain.

Gorillas live in one of the most violent places on earth and are essentially sitting ducks. The two gorilla species live within and around the Congo River basin. This is an area roughly half the size of the United States and is largely unexplored due to inaccessibility and hostile groups and poachers. Each species has lowland and upland subspecies. Norwegian Refugee Council’s DR Congo director, Ulrika Blom, has stated that, “It’s a mega-crisis. The scale of people fleeing violence is off the charts, outpacing Syria, Yemen and Iraq.” According to the BBC, the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre has estimated that an average of 5,500 people fled their homes every day during 2017 in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

General Gorilla Facts

There are two gorilla species: Eastern and Western. Each has two subspecies. Eastern gorillas are made up of the Cross River gorilla and Western Lowland gorilla subspecies. Western gorillas include the Mountain gorilla and Eastern Lowland gorilla. This makes a total of four distinct subspecies of gorilla.

Gorilla Distribution Map — Historical sampling reveals dramatic demographic changes in western gorilla populations – Scientific Figure on ResearchGate. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/Gorilla-distribution-map-Approximate-current-distribution-of-gorillas-in-Equatorial_fig1_50986570 [accessed 5 Apr, 2018]

In the wild, gorillas live approximately 30-40 years. They typically form groups compromised of as little as 5-10 individuals, but groups as large as several dozen including extended family have been documented. Groups are lead by the silverback, an adult male that has reached sexual maturity; signified by silver fur on his back. Groups can be made up of blackbacks (adult males that have not yet become sexually mature), adult females, juveniles (4-8 years of age), and infants. It has been documented that a silverback, after acquiring a group after battle, will kill the infants sired from the previous leader in order to ensure that the next generation are his own.

Never stare at a silverback. Staring is a challenge and he may charge.

A blackback will eventually leave his natal group and become solitary until he forms a group of his own. However, some solitary males are never able to win a fight against a dominant silverback or attract females of his own. A solitary male can form a group by attracting a female that has left her group or take control of a group through defeating the dominant silverback in battle.

Gorilla etiquette:

If a silverback charges:

Go down on your knees.
Bow your head.
Put a leaf in your mouth; it’s a sign that you come in peace.

Physical Differences Between Eastern vs. Western Gorillas

The Eastern silverback has a more defined patch on his back, while the lighter hair on a Western silverback spreads to his thighs.
Eastern gorillas, especially Mountain gorillas, have long, black hair that helps to protect them in the cold and wet mountain conditions. Western gorillas have shorter, more bristly hair that is slightly brown to grey.

**Eastern Gorilla (Gorilla beringei)**

1. Mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei)

Mountain gorillas live at elevations from 8,000 – 13,000 ft. According to Gorilla Doctors, there are currently around 880 individuals. About 480 of them live in the Virunga Volcanoes Massif, an area of land that includes Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park, DRC’s Virunga National Park, and Uganda’s Mgahinga National Park. The other 400 gorillas live in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda.

verbreitungsgebiet-berggorillas-en — Distribution of the mountain gorilla (© Angela Meder). Gorilla number: 880

Paul Rafaele, author of Among the Great Apes, explains that the mountain gorilla enjoys a leisurely lifestyle. The silverback begins his day with waking his family at 5 a.m. by beating his chest and charging them. A single family forages over 500 yards each day and activities include “playing alot and taking mid-morning and mid-afternoon naps.” At around 6 p.m., the silverback chooses a place for his family to sleep for the night.

2. Eastern Lowland or Grauer’s gorilla (Gorilla beringei graueri)

MAP OF PROBABILITY OF GRAUER’S GORILLA OCCURRENCE IN EASTERN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO (WITH GREEN INDICATING HIGHER OCCURRENCE). CREDIT: COURTESY OF WCS.

Distribution of the Grauer’s gorilla (© Angela Meder). Gorilla number: unsure, possibly ca. 3800

The Eastern Lowland or Grauers gorilla is the largest of the four gorilla species. These gorillas inhabit the lowland forests of eastern DRC and the Albertine Rift. Until the 1990s, populations were estimated to be around 17,000 individuals, but recent surveys estimate far lower numbers at only 4,000 individuals.

Current data indicates that these gorillas only occupy about 13% of their former range. Surveys from both the WCS and FFI document that the Grauer’s gorillas has declined at least 77% in the last 20 years.

Western gorilla (Gorilla gorilla)

1. Western Lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla)

verbreitungsgebiet-westliche-flachland-gorillas-en — Distribution of the Western Lowland Gorilla (© Angela Meder). Gorilla number: 100,000-200,000

The Western Lowland gorilla live in the dense rain forests of Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Rio Muni (Equatorial Guinea), Gabon, Angola, and the DRC. They currently inhabit the largest geographic range and has the largest population of the four gorilla species. The total population is estimated to be as many as 100,000 individuals, but accurate counts are not easily attained due to the forest density and remoteness. They have been recorded at densities as high as 10 individuals per square kilometer.

2. Cross River gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli)

csm_verbreitungsgebiet-crossriver-gorillas-en_347de40bbc — Distribution of the Cross River gorilla (© Angela Meder, with information from Rich Bergl). Gorilla number: 250-300

The Cross River gorilla can only be found within highland forests on the border of Cameroon and Nigeria. This is currently the world’s rarest ape. Their population is currently estimated to be around 250-300 individuals divided into several sub-populations as illustrated in the above distribution map.

Conservation Threats

© Riccardo Pravettoni / UNEP-Grid-Arendal Sources: UNOCHA, series of maps; The Woods Hole Research Center, UNFCCC-COP, Reducing Co2 Emissions from Deforestation And Degrada- tion in The Democratic Republic of Congo: A First Look, 2007; Institut Géographique National congolaise; Global Witness, “Faced with a gun, what can you do?”, 2009; The Guardian press release

© Riccardo Pravettoni / Sources: Global Forest Watch, Bushmeat Interactive Map, accessed 23-02-2010; IUCN, 2009; CMS Gorilla Agreement, 2007, web published at http://www.naturalsciences.be/science/projects/gorilla, accessed in March 2010; WHRC, Scientists Using Remote Sensing Tools to Study Expansion of Industrial Logging in Central Africa, 2007.

Over the past decade, the largest drivers of deforestation have been clearing for charcoal and fuelwood, small-scale subsistence farming, mining, and urban sprawl. Industrial logging has opened up vast areas of the Congo to commercial hunting, leading to a poaching epidemic.

The charcoal traders have already destroyed about a quarter of the hardwood old-growth forests in the southern section of the Virunga National Park.

-Paul Raffaele

Mining

Congo is one of the planet’s largest producers of copper, gold, zinc, tin, diamonds, and other metals like coltan. The problem with mining in Congo is that armed groups are most often in control and benefit directly from mining activity.

The southern copper belt is one of the world’s richest sources of copper. Congo has recently emerged as the world’s leading cobalt producer, a by-product of the copper smelting process and an important component of electric cars.

Congo is also responsible for 80% of the world’s coltan. Coltan is the common name for columbite-tantilite, the mineral used to extract Tantilum, a metal widely used in cell phones and other electronics to coat capacitors for energy storage. Tantilum holds an electric charge better than any other material.

Gorilla Zoonosis

Zoonotic diseases are those that can be transmitted between both animals and humans. Gorillas are at constant risk of contracting such zoonotic diseases from humans. Human transmitted diseases include polio, malaria, measles, strep throat, tuberculosis, herpes, and Ebola. Animal transmitted diseases include salmonella, rabies.

For example, in 1985, a gorilla contracted measles from human visitors. Veterinarians reacted by vaccinating 65 gorillas with a dart gun to keep the disease from spreading. All survived.

How can you help?

Use electronics for as long as possible. Think twice before casting your perfectly good phone away for the newest model.
Recycle electronics when no longer useful.
Purchase only sustainable wood.
Purchase from companies that use conflict free minerals. Intel explains that “Conflict free” and “conflict-free” as defined by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, refers to “products that do not contain conflict minerals (tin, tantalum, tungsten and/or gold) that directly or indirectly finance or benefit armed groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or adjoining countries”.
Donate to gorilla conservation organizations.
Visit the gorillas. Conservation is dependent upon a future of global tourism.