Today was one of the real highlights of this trip, we were going to see (we hoped) the Mountain Gorillas of Rwanda. There are a number of families of the gorillas living on the slopes of a series of volcanoes in Northern Rwanda near the border with Uganda and The Congo. The Rwanda National Parks only permits 80 tourists per day to visit these families and a visit only lasts for one hour. We booked our gorilla trek over a year in advance showing the level of demand for places. We had heard all kinds of stories about these treks, deep mud, steep climbs, long hikes, thorny bushes and stinging nettles, and rain. We had been variously advised to, wear tough trousers, boots, gaiters, leather gloves, and full rain gear. So we did not really know what to expect as we waited at the front of the lodge for our driver and car.

At National Park head quarters each "trekker" was assigned to a group. Each group visited a particular family and was accompanied by two rangers. We were in a group of eight and were assigned to the Hirwa family of gorillas, the name translates as lucky one, The family contains a pair of twins, a single silver back and numbers about a dozen individuals.

The start of our trek was a few minutes from Park Headquarters and once there we engaged porters to carry our packs and got under way. About 30 minutes into the walk we met the group of armed trackers that track and protect our particular family. A few minutes later the ranger heading our group announced that the family was just a few meters up the trail and that we should get ready to meet them.

We spent a bit over an hour with the family, watching them forage for food in a thick bamboo forest, following them as they moved in their search. They seemed to take no notice of us at all even though at times we were within a few feet of them. At times one individual or another would simply walk through the group of tourists, bumping into our legs, but otherwise showing no concern at our presence. As a parting treat we saw a couple of the family stripping bark from eucalyptus trees so that they could lick the sap on the newly bared trunk. This is a well documented behaviour, but the reason behind it is not known.

We all left the forest, returning to our guides and cars ecstatic with the experience, and amazed at how close we got to these creatures. The only downside to the visit was that bamboo forests are more than a bit dark and good photographs require light.

Back at the View Mountain Lodge we packed, checked out had lunch and prepared for our afternoon drive to back to Kigali. But as it turned out our guide had a surprise ready for us. He had organized for us to visit Iby'Iwacu Cultural Community. We were not entirely convinced we wanted to do this but went along with the idea on the basis of "what is the downside". Well it turned out to be a hilarious few hours but with a definite serious side. The village is now a show piece, composed of traditional Rwandan housing where villages display traditional village activities and skills, such as a witch doctor, making of steel tools, archery, and even wedding ceremony.

The serious side of the village is that it is now a tourist attraction, and one source of income for the local community that was until 2005 engaged in the killing (poaching) of local animals for food.

The hilarious side of the village is that they have not tried to pretend to be an "authentic" functioning village but provided a little more of a theatrical experience while still telling the story of their traditional way of life. Part of this theater was to nominate two of our party to play the role of their King and Queen and through this to tell us about the way of life that was lived here up until the 1950's. It was a fascinating and entirely enjoyable few hours. At the end we all felt deeply that we hope they are successful in their efforts to make a new and better life for themselves by combining farming and tourism.

Then there was the three hour drive to Kigali. Interesting in its own right even though we were all quite tired from the day. The country is hilly, very steep. Every inch of the place seems to be under cultivation and it is all done by hand, not even animal pulled ploughs. The soil is tilled by hand.

Eucalyptus trees were everywhere. At times it felt like they were the only tree. One of the guides on our trek thanked us as Australians for providing the trees as they are central to the peoples way of life, providing fuel and building material due to its fast growth.