CAMERON -- Making an ominous low grumbling sound, the rare silverback mountain gorilla suddenly charged toward the startled group of Rwandan jungle visitors, beat on his huge bared chest -- and then, just as quickly, turned his attention to a more tempting snack of fresh bamboo.

"Several of us ended up on the ground," said Cameron resident Carolyn Dietrich, who was standing a mere five feet away when the hungry gorilla made his move. "The guard said, 'Clear the way,' which was what we were doing anyway. ... When he was beating on his chest and making those noises, it seemed very threatening at the time. ... We were falling all over each other trying to get out of the way."

For Dietrich, a seasoned wildlife explorer who has hunted throughout Africa and other exotic spots with her husband Gary, the recent trip to the Volcanoes National Park in the Virunga range of northwestern Rwanda was "one of the most exciting" she's taken.

Armed with a new camera instead of a gun, Dietrich says she "never dreamed we'd be that close. ... Several times, we could have reached out and touched them."

At one time close to extinction, approximately 350 of the mountain gorillas live in the rainforests of Rwanda, near the border with the Congo and Uganda. In addition to the brutal tribal warfare between the Hutus and the Tutsis, disease, loss of habitat and poachers have been a constant threat. The plight of the mountain gorillas was publicized in the book "Gorillas in the Mist" by American primatologist Dian Fossey. The 1985 murder of Fossey and the mass killings that occurred during the civil war in 1994 have left their mark.

"Gary and I have been to Africa 12 or 13 times hunting, and I never put Rwanda on the list. I connected it with genocide and had no desire to go there," Dietrich said.

That was until two years ago, when the couple entertained friends, renowned animal expert Jack Hanna, wildlife artist John Banovich and their wives, at their Montana summer home.

"Jack started talking about Rwanda and how he has a house there and how he is impressed with the president ... and he's impressed with the country," she said. "The more he talked about how safe it was, I started thinking that it was some place I'd like to go."

Although her husband was unable to make the 17-day trip, Dietrich and a friend from Washington state, along with three others, headed out for the adventure on Dec. 1. After stops in the Netherlands, Kenya and the Rwandan capital city of Kigali, the group made a three-hour drive to the Sabinyo Lodge, located by the park. The trek to see the gorillas involved another 45-minute drive, followed by a three-hour climb through the thick rainforest jungle that all but the hardiest of travelers would have found a bit daunting.

Explaining that "I'm 73," Dietrich says the hike wasn't all that difficult. And the reward was well worth it.

"You go into the national park, get a park guide and an armed military escort," who is primarily on hand to protect the gorillas from poachers. "You hike up to where they are. ... It's messy and muddy, and there are stinging nettles. The lodge provides heavy rubber gloves and gaiters to keep mud out of shoes. Each person has a porter to carry a backpack and to help us up the incline. ... It's more of an obstacle course," she said, than treacherous climb. "Even though the leader has a machete, it's slipping and sliding. ... I kept myself fit because I knew I was going. We climbed for almost three hours before the guide signaled, 'They're ahead!'"

Peeping through the bamboo thicket, cameras at the ready, the group of eight -- the number allowed for the strictly enforced one-hour viewing -- barely breathed as two young gorillas ran right by them.

"High up in the bamboo, there is much gorilla activity, all in close proximity to the unassuming silverback (mature male gorilla). Photographers are enjoying watching and studying the antics of all the gorillas. The animals are all around us. The ranger, with hand signals, tells whether to advance or retreat," Dietrich wrote in her journal. "Before our hour is up, another female gorilla runs into a park guard, roughly pushing him aside. Whoa! That could have been me."

The park has seven groups of gorillas that are habituated to humans and another seven groups, used for study only, that are not. Each group has one silverback, three or four females and several baby gorillas. On the first day, Dietrich says, the group saw a family of seven gorillas. Returning the next day, they spotted 13.

"They told us, at night, they rest in trees and then they move and feed at daylight," she said. "By the time we really got to the forest ... they had moved a good bit. The park rangers generally have an idea of where they are. But they don't know how far we have to climb."

In addition to the Volcanoes National Park, Dietrich says, other special aspects of the Rwandan trip arranged by Hanna were visits to the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project and the Imbabazi Genocide Orphanage.

"It made the visit more than going to see the gorillas," she said. "We got to interact with the people who take care of them and protect them from disease. Farm parasites are not conducive to gorillas, and the fields come right up to the gates of the park. Rwanda is one of the most densely populated countries, certainly in Africa. All of their property -- farmland and fields -- are used to produce food. They need more land, and the national park is a lot of land. They try to make sure the people understand its value."

Before their return, the group also visited the Serengeti in Tanzania.

Back home at Interlaken Plantation in Calhoun County, Dietrich and her husband are surrounded by mounted trophies from their world travels, as well as original African art.

A Charleston resident, she had met her husband, who is from Michigan, through work at Kiawah.

"He fell in love with South Carolina. He's a hunter, and he wanted property to raise quail and duck," she said. "Gary's desire when he retired was to hunt for a year and then buy a small business. He's never stopped."

African travel has been an important component of the Dietrichs' life since their first trip together in 1989.

"I've accompanied him on every trip except two -- hunting elephants is not my thing," she said.

As for future travel plans, Botswana and Namibia are two counties on her short list. And Dietrich says she'd also like to return to Rwanda to see the gorillas again.

"I'd like for my husband to go," she said. "I'm always planning a trip to Africa."

T&D Government Writer Tucker Lyon can be reached by e-mail at tlyon@timesanddemocrat.com or by telephone at 803-533-5545. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

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