My Granny, one giant mountain gorilla.....one epic adventure

Phyllis, now eight-six years old and living in Glymton near Oxford, had always been fascinated by the flamboyant clothes worn by African women and their eye catching headdresses. She had never anticipated that one brief friendly chat, one day in Oxford with Clare Nwosu, then a complete stranger, would change her life.

The Rwandan Genocide, in 1994, killed around 800,000 people in approximately 100 days. It was unbearable for Phyllis to see her new friend Clare, her husband Edward Nwosu, an important figure for the Rwandese airline, and other members of her family suffer so badly. Throughout this tragic period of time Phyllis’s friendship with her new friend and her family grew stronger.

In 1999 Clare invited Phyllis to stay with her and her family in Kigali, Rwanda, with the opportunity to see the mountain gorillas. With the aftermath of the Rwandan Genocide still raw, no insurance cover for the over sixty-fives and an injured leg, later to be diagnosed as a need for a hip replacement, Phyllis’s family were more than a little tentative. There was no guarantee that she would return. All worries were pushed aside as this two month, once in a life time experience couldn’t be missed.

As the plane landed in Kigali the heat from the height of summer, with an average temperature of 20 degrees centigrade, was immense for Phyllis. The family house, despite being insulated from the heat, was also desperately hot. Phyllis spent several weeks joining in with Clare’s daily routines, mostly involving a constant flow of visitors to and from the house.

By week six a family friend Jacob Maalouf, an important figure for the UN, had made the final arrangements for Phyllis to make the infamous journey to see the mountain gorillas. By now, Phyllis’s leg was causing her much pain but she kept quiet as she feared that she would be advised not to climb the mountain. A trek to see the mountain gorillas would be tough for most people. For Phyllis it was going to be one of the most gruelling times of her life. On the morning of the trek, an airbus took Phyllis and two family members on the two hour drive to the foot of the mountain in Virunga National Park.

Phyllis was greeted by Liz Williamson, Dian Fossey’s successor. Dian Fossey, a Zoologist who was murdered in 1985, carried out research on the gorillas for a period of eighteen years. Liz provided Phyllis with a rucksack, some water, some waterproofs to protect her from the shoulder high nettles and other provisions. It was then necessary to pick up the soldiers. On arrival at the army base, Phyllis was lost for words when spotting the twenty soldiers armed with guns and hand grenades that would be accompanying her on the trek. At this moment, the adrenaline pumping through Phyllis body took over any fear.

As the two hour trek to the top of the mountain began, with only narrow muddy path and a broken piece of bamboo to use as a walking stick Phyllis wondered what she had let herself in for. However, with her own personal army and her sheer determination she did it. Before Phyllis knew it she was within shouting distance of the first sight of a baby mountain gorilla swinging from a branch. The scene was breathtaking, Phyllis was speechless. She knelt down on her knees and thanked God for getting her up the mountain.

One of the guides poked a stick under a bush and out scampered a couple of other young gorillas as they played with the end of the stick. Then another guide beckoned Phyllis over. After limbering on her bottom to get under a branch Phyllis was within three feet of the back of one giant gorilla. It turned to face her with its soulful eyes and swung its arm over its shoulder and then it stood up and beat its chest. Phyllis, standing on one leg due to the pain, hearing aid fallen to the floor said “I would not have cared if I had died at that moment, I had see it all”. For the two hour trek back down the mountain, followed by the two hour journey back to Clare’s house Phyllis didn’t say a word. She had seen the gorillas.

For many people today, an organised trek to see the mountain gorillas in Rwanda is an exhilarating experience. For Phyllis this experience was unique. Her epic adventure to see the mountain gorillas may have come to an end but her memories of it will remain with her always. Today the friendship between Phyllis Cooper and the Nwosu family is stronger than ever.

Based on information supplied by Judith Evans.