Tracking Mountain Gorillas in the Mist

Volcanoes National Park sits about two and a half hours from Kigali, Rwanda, in the cloud forest of the Virunga volcanoes. Trackers radio locate a habituated gorilla family each morning, then you hike through bamboo and giant lobelia to spend one hour with them. A silverback may hold your gaze from a few meters away while infants tumble in the undergrowth. The dry seasons of June through September and December through February make the trails easiest.