Muscling through foliage so thick it feels like I’m discovering a new planet, my foot slips. Tangled roots and rain-slicked nettles feel designed to trip you up – but as quickly as I falter, porter Bernard’s hand is there to haul me up again. Our group of eight has become silent on the hike up Bisoke Mountain, not simply to conserve energy and find a firm foothold, but in awe of what comes next: seeing gorillas in the wild.
It feels epic. It is epic. Spending an hour – the maximum contact that’s allowed, per day, with each gorilla family – with these beautiful, gentle creatures is perhaps the most magical wildlife experience to be found on Earth. As we trek up Rwanda’s portion of the Virunga Mountains, we take the privilege seriously. Rwanda’s tourism infrastructure demands that we do.
This East African country is just one of three places where you can see mountain gorillas in their natural habitat. Though other parts of the country enchant with their raw nature and exuberant hospitality, they inevitably feel like a series of support acts leading up to the headliners. The gorillas are Rwanda’s tourism pin-ups, and when you meet them you see why.
A female gorilla relaxes in the Virunga Mountains
(Lucy Thackray)
I arrive in time for Kwita Izina, a huge September festival which celebrates and promotes awareness of gorilla conservation. International celebrities rock up – Idris Elba and Sol Campbell in 2023 – to christen the baby gorillas born that year, bestowing Kinyarwandan names meaning “long life” or “resilient giant”. Inspired by the Rwandan tradition of naming babies in front of assembled family and friends, it invites some 20,000 residents from communities around the National Park to watch raucous musical performances as well as the ceremony. The enthusiasm is infectious; as photos of 22 baby gorillas are projected several feet high, beady eyes peeking out beneath mohawk tufts of black fuzz, my countdown to seeing them in person begins.
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With my gorilla trek several days away, I first head southwest to Nyungwe National Park. Rwanda’s compact size means you can zip around its nature reserves easily from central capital Kigali; Nyungwe is a four-hour drive south. The largest remaining tract of montane rainforest in eastern Africa, it’s a fairyland of towering mahogany trees…
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