Gorillas in our midst

The guide warns with unease “Crouch down and don’t move a muscle,”’ as the silverback charges towards us, beating his mighty fists against his chest. Squatting down in the thick vegetation of the Karisimbi forest in north west Rwanda with nowhere to run and absolutely nowhere to hide I began to question why I had come here and paid to come here at that.

Thankfully our guide Francis, knowledgeable in the ways of gorillas and particularly the famous Susa family that live in this massive forest bordering Uganda, made some awkward howling and grunting sounds and in less than a minute disaster was averted.

When we finally got the courage to raise our heads we saw a family of eight gorillas chomping on the lush greenery ahead of us. It really was a throwback to Gorillas in the Mist, the famous film about the life of gorilla conservationist Dian Fossey who went to Rwanda over 40 years ago to work with and protect the endangered animals from poachers and elements of a corrupt government on a macho killing spree.

And while the poaching of gorillas has been somewhat curbed, it is just a small part in a bitter past that Rwanda is still trying to recover from.

Violent civil war between the Tutsi and Hutu tribes resulted in the massacre of more than 900,000 people in the early 1990s. Nineteen years on, mention Rwanda and people still associate it with those darkest of days.

The key to its revival is in part tourism and while the Rwandese people still see travellers here as a relative novelty, they are also keen to help visitors. Kigali, the capital, is a hub of activity and is slowly but surely regaining its reputation as Rwanda’s party town. Its main attraction however is Rwanda’s genocide museum, the Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre, which is a must for any tourist as it outlines in detail the events that unfolded here to make the country notorious for one of the most vicious genocides in history.

For those further interested in Rwanda’s history, the museum is especially worthwhile for those intending to go south to visit memorials at Ntarama, Nyamata or Murambi (the site of one of the biggest massacres – 80,000 people were killed there over two days in April 1994). A ride to the museum, which is on the outskirts of town, on a boda-boda (a motorcycle taxi and a tourist attraction in itself) costs about 60 cents. Apart from that there are no other real sights and activities as such to see in Kigali, which makes for an excellent place to soak up the atmosphere and relax before embarking on any trip around rural Rwanda.

And it’s rural Rwanda where the real essence and beauty of the country lies. Known as Les Pays des Milles Collines (Land of a Thousand Hills), Rwanda is a country full of tumbling hills where almost every unprotected piece of land is cultivated; even the sheer mountainsides are edged with countless terraces full of beans, potatoes and millet.

From the distance the landscape resembles a large patchwork quilt of deep browns and greens making it look like something straight out of J.R.Tolkien’s The Hobbit.

And nowhere are the mountains more vast and stunning than the magnificent Virunga volcanoes in the north-west, where, hidden in the dense forests are some of the world’s last remaining mountain gorillas. The Parc National des Volcans – a chain of seven volcanoes on the border of Congo and Uganda and the definitive place in Rwanda to track these endangered animals – was closed for a time in the 90s due to rebel activity and as a result many travellers chose to see the gorillas at the Bwindi and Mgahinga National Parks in Uganda.

It re-opened however in 1999 and in the last 14 years numbers visiting some of the world’s 780 last mountain gorillas have steadily increased.

Rwanda is a relatively cheap country to visit, but tracking mountain gorillas is not. Permits must be booked in advance and the cost of a day trip is £490. And while that may sound like a high price to pay, the chance of encountering one of these gorillas is a once in a lifetime opportunity no tourist should miss.

So with our local guide Francis, myself and the seven others in the group managed to catch a glimpse of the Susa family within an hour of trekking into the Karisimbi forest (it can take up to seven hours to find them). After the short but gruelling hike scaling 2,800 metres through undergrowth with rain spilling from the heavens, we came across Dian Fossey’s obsession.

And it was clear to see why. When the early morning sun finally broke through the clouds and suffused the sky with gold that shimmered against the surrounding landscape, these creatures looked invincible. Gorillas from the pack encircled us from the sides and behind, but mostly just out of curiosity and the silverback that had been so territorial ended up sitting down and defiantly covering up his face from the prying eyes and camera lenses.

Rwanda may still be recovering from a bitter past but visit it and you will feel at times that you are one of the privileged few who are exploring the country for the first time. It’s the hidden gem in East Africa that hasn’t yet been exploited by mass tourism. Get there quickly before it is.

Getting there

When to go: The best time to visit Rwanda is between mid-December to mid-March/early April during the dry season.

How to get there: Qatar Airways flies from Manchester to Kigali for £723.

Where to stay: Kigali-Okapi Hotel £32 a night; Ruhengeri Hotel Muhabura is £16 a night; Kibuye Guest House Kibuye has rooms for £26 a night.

To track the rare mountain gorillas in the Parc National des Volcans you will need to book a permit through the ORTPN tourist office in central Kigali or by visiting www.rwandatourism.com, the country’s first tourism website established this year. Alternatively email [email protected]