THE LAND OF GIANTS

DEEP IN THE CONGO RAINFOREST, STANLEY STEWART SEARCHES FOR CONNECTION WITH THE MAGNIFICENT BEASTS THAT CALL THE JUNGLE HOME. 

- STANLEY STEWART

IN THE HALF LIGHT of the equatorial jungles of the Congo Basin, we whispered to one another, our voices sounding thin and weedy in this colossal place. Then the tracker silenced us and motioned for us to stop. We stood in the narrow trail, as still as statues, listening, holding our breath. I could feel my heart pumping.

It was 6am and we were tracking a family of lowland gorillas, tiptoeing in single file into the green depths of one of the world's greatest rainforests, into the planet of the apes. Gabin Okele, the tracker, had already warned us against sudden movements, to keep our voices low, and to avoid gorilla eye contact, as if we were strangers wandering into some redneck bar, keen to stay out of trouble.

Ahead of us now, Okele crouched and peered through the forest understorey. Turning, he mouthed a single word: "close". For a moment, all was still. And then, as if in a dream, barely 30 feet away, a huge gorilla shouldered his way through the bushes, a dark figure with a flash of silver across its back. A second later, he was gone, disappearing beyond thickets of foliage. That first sighting was so strange and eerie that for a little while, I wondered if I had imagined it.