Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Trip Report Rwanda

This is a continuation of my report that I started in Uganda. Our itinerary started in Uganda, then we moved on to Rwanda and then we went on to Kenya. The Kenya report will be submitted under Kenya.

When we left Uganda, we drove into Rwanda. The border crossing was easy. You could feel a definite difference between the 2 countries. The infrastructure in Rwanda is much better. We were only in a small portion of the country, but I definitely felt the difference.

Our destination is Parc National Des Volcans. We arrived at our lodge, Mountain Gorilla View. Lovely grounds, lots of birds. The next day was an early start for our 3rd and final gorilla trek. We set off in search of the Amahoro (means peace) family. The family has 18 members, our largest yet, and we found them on top of the mountain. Getting there was strenuous, but fun. The views were spectacular. Every once in a while I had to remind myself to just stop and look around. The tendency is to keep looking for the family so we forget to just enjoy the beauty of nature and our surroundings. But there they are. Lots and lots of gorillas. We see the females, the juveniles, the babies, but no Silverback. We spend the next hour enjoying life with them. A one year old actually walks up to my husband and puts his hand on his knee. We all stay very still. Don't want to spoke the adults. The children romp and roll and tease each other. Our hour quickly passes, but we don't want to leave. We haven't seen the Silverback. Our guides understand, so we hike a little further until we find him. He is massive. He stretches and decides to sit up. Click, click, click go the cameras, but I can't move a muscle, he is that majestic. He slowly stands up and walks right by us, giving us a thrill and some awe at his massive size. Then he is with one of his females, who is holding a baby just 3 months old. Can it really get any better than this? We hike out of the forest and back to reality. So sad to leave our new friends.

Back to the lodge to have lunch and clean up before we head to Kigali. We will spend the night at Kigali Serena Lodge before continuing on our journey to Kenya.

Kigali is a big city and I don't really want to be there. The Kilgali Serena Lodge is a lovely hotel with all the modern conveniences of a big city. I miss the gorillas. This was a once in a life time opportunity that was worth every penny, aching body part and exhausted feeling. I will truly never forget it. I would recommend this journey to anyone that holds a sense of adventure and yearning to see the unseen.

Thanks to our wonderful travel company, Born Free Safaris & Tours for arranging the trip of a life time. I will continue my story in Kenya.