I'm not one for long, detailed trip reports, but I thought I would post our experiences and let you know what we thought of the places we stayed at and the sightings in the Mara.

First off, we booked our gorilla trek through R&N Explorer. I was hesitant to book with them because you have to wire them the money but we had no problems on our trip and our guide, Abdul, was fantastic. They do, however, contract out to a company out of Kigali, so it's not technically R&N that picks you up from the airport. And they saved us a lot of money (we paid half of what other companies quoted us) and amazingly they were able to get gorilla permits when no other companies were able to.

We stayed at the Gorilla's Nest, which I had read reviews about that were less than favorable, so I wasn't expecting much. I was pleasantly surprised. My husband kept saying he was looking for things to complain about, but couldn't find any! The room was clean and the grounds of the lodge are very nice. The food was good and it's in close proximity to the park headquarters which is about a 10 minute drive away.

Our first trek was the Susa group, which I thought I was well prepared for because we had been hiking and getting in shape before we went. It was a lot harder than I expected and my only saving grace was that the gorillas were moving down the mountain so our trek was about 5 hours. Don't always believe the myth that the slowest person goes in front, they just let me lag behind. Although in my defense, it seems that the altitude was my problem as I could never seem to catch my breath...my husband said it was like I was hyperventilating. Anyway, we finally reached the Susa group and it was so surreal. I couldn't wrap my head around the fact that after so many years of wanting to see the gorillas, that I was finally there. Our hour seemed to fly by and my husband was "punched" in the back by a black back, who was either playing tag (so our guide tells us) or just wanted to get him out of his way.

The following day we did the Dian Fossey trek, which I figured would be a piece of cake after the Susa trek. Unfortunately the night before it rained and the trail was a foot deep in mud. Our only other companions on this trek (beside the guide and guards) were two international observers of the Rwanda elections from the European Union, so it made for an interesting hike. Although I never dreamed it would take 6 hours, it was interesting to see the camp and although I already had much admiration for Dian Fossey, I left there amazed at how she could live up there and how she could make that journey up the mountain all the time (and she was a smoker!) There isn't much left of the camp, just cement posts and signs of where her cabin was, where the porters lived, etc. The grave site of Dian Fossey and the gorillas is very moving and I could easily see why she would want that for a final resting place.

The following day was our 2nd and last gorilla trek. We were hoping for Sabyinyo, although after two tough days of treking, I just wanted an easy hike! Sadly someone with a broken neck (?!) ended up getting our spot for Sabyinyo and to make matters worse, Francois was the guide for Sabyinyo that day so we were even more disappointed. We ended up with the Umubano group and while the treking was shorter and easier, the last hour of the trek was pretty much vertical and there was no evidence of a trail whatsoever. They hacked our way through with a machete. After our initial disappointment of not getting the Sabyinyo group, we were pleasantly surprised how active the Umubano group was and how they just seemed to "pose" for pictures. Again, my husband was touched, this time by a baby gorilla. I was extremely miffed as I wanted to have contact so bad! Although the silverback made it very clear he wasn't very happy that the baby had approached by husband! The closest contact I had was when a black back walked right beside me, but sadly apprently wanted nothing to do with me!

All in all, the Rwanda portion of our trip was amazing and an experience of a lifetime. A few recommendations would be to take gloves, as the stinging nettles hurt for a long time after. Long pants, long sleeved shirt and good hiking boots are a necessity. And like everyone else says, get a porter. My husband and I had one each and not only do they carry your backpack, they also help you up the mountain and over slippery rocks and slopes. The going rate is $10, we gave ours $20. You are also expected to tip the trackers and guide. You would be wise to tip beforehand as we gave our guide $20 before we did the Umubano trek and he always made sure we were in the best possible position for pictures.

We also brought along chocolate bars for the kids, who couldn't seem to believe their luck. Our driver said it was like Christmas day for them. It was so nice to put a smile on their face.

Next up, Little Governor's, Masai Mara....

After spending the night at House of Waine in Nairobi (an amazing place, but pricey) we headed off to Little Governor's for 6 days. Actually our tent wasn't available on the last day, so they moved us to Il Moran (more on that later).

On our way to the camp we saw lots of elephants, giraffes, etc. and even a hippo out of the water, which I had never seen before on previous safaris. Although for my husband the most exciting sighting was Simon King from Big Cat Diary. He was very nice, posed for pictures and laughed at my husband's awe at meeting him. Actually BBC had just arrived days before and were about to begin filming (more on that later, also).

Little Governor's was very nice, and your typical safari camp. Although the noticable difference was the service, which was amazing. The food is fantastic and I loved waking up every morning with hot chocolate and cookies! Our guide was Julius and since we're hard core safari types, we booked a private vehicle. In a nutshell, we saw tons of lion, leopard, cheetah, hyena and your usual herds of giraffes, zebras and elephants. We saw a hyena den, two jackal dens and two sets of cheetah cubs (one with two cubs, one with five). We also saw vultures and hyenas at two kills, fighting it out. Our best day, however, was when Julius took us all the way to the Tanzania border to witness the wildebeest crossing. We waited for about an hour (with 14 other Jeeps!) before the wildebeest decided to cross. It wasn't a massive crossing (probably a few thousand) considering we were surrounded by hundreds of thousands of wildebeest but the action was amazing. Right from the beginning, crocs started picking them off and then a group of about ten wildebeest became stuck on a rocky shore, unable to get up. One croc grabbed a wildebeest and started to pull it down into the water, but wasn't prepared for the fiesty wildebeest it had caught. The wildebeest fought hard and was finally able to get away, although with a bloody backside. At one point the croc just had him by the tail! Sadly, the croc just went back to the group of stranded wildebeest and picked another one, who went under pretty easily. We saw four wildebeest taken by crocs or so we thought until we looked at our pictures afterwards and zoomed in and you could see even more crocs taking wildebeest. Just an amazing site to witness.

Later that week, my husband was thrilled to see Jonathan Scott from Big Cat Diary, who was so nice and gracious and posed for pictures as well. He told us to send our Big Cat Diary books that we had just purchased to the main Governor's camp where he was staying and he would autograph them. Although our delight at meeting the Big Cat Diary hosts was lessened when we found out that the BBC had started a rumor that five cheetah cubs had been killed one night by hyenas, when in fact they weren't killed, it was just a way for the BBC to keep them to themselves and not have to deal with other Jeeps possibly getting in their shots.

The last night we stayed at Il Moran, which was unbelievable and the nicest safari camp I've ever stayed. Just like Little Governor's, the service was unbelievable.

Well, we are glad to be home after a "slight" delay in London due to the fog, which had us diverted to Manchester, which resulted in a five hour wait on the tarmac and then a four hour drive by bus back to Heathrow. Which then resulted in an overnight stay as we missed our connection. But even that drama couldn't put a damper on what was probably the best trip we've ever been on.

Now we just get to try to make some sense of our 6500+ pictures and start our Shutterfly books. I guess I know what I'll be doing this winter!

I believe you had one of the most fantastic trips that I have read or known about. Can't wait for pictures.

Thanks very much...it was amazing.

Of course I forgot to mention that we saw a caracal as well. Our guide said it had been 4 years since he'd seen a caracal. Our sightings were so good, our guide said "what are you going to see next, a tiger?!"

Love guide's comment!

Thanks for your report. A caracal, wow! What Kigali operator did R&N use? Looking forward to your photos.

Mercator Assistance out of Kigali. Funny thing is, the prices on their website are more than what we paid R&N.

I really shouldn't do trip reports at 4:00 am when I'm jet lagged and can't sleep! I totally forgot about our one day at Lake Kivu, which was beautiful and I wished we would have had been able to spend more time there. We even drove up to the DRC border. We stayed at the Serena, which was very nice and I would have liked to go on a boat ride around the lake if we had more time. I highly recommend it if you have time and want to relax after a few hard days of trekking.

Very exciting! Especially for your husband. And wow to the caracal.

As gorilla trekking is at the very top of my next-time list, this was great to read.

Thanks for the report. I can't wait to see photos.

Great trip. Very nice experiences. Where were the five cheetah cubs in relation to Governor's and (if you know it) Intrepids?

Seems strange that Big Cat Diary would do that to guides at Governor's, since they need cooperation from the camp guides to do the filming - doesn't take a lot of brainpower to work out that a stationary BCD vehicle means a big cat nearby and that the best view will be between camera a cat. Maybe it was a British sense of humour thing?

You forgot to mention the caracal? !!

Those naughty BBC photographers starting rumors. It appears they did not throw you off.

Fourteen vehicles at a crossing doesn't seem to be too bad really.

Glad R&N did a nice job for you. You had some tough hiking, but well worth it, especially for your husband who was touchy feely with all the gorillas.

Thanks for the report that is more than quasi.