Just a few inches from here, in Mountain Gorillas of Uganda, we quote one of our rapturous travelers on the almost shocking joy that many people feel when they make contact with Gorilla beringei beringei, our very sweet, very large relatives.

In this week-long trip (a stellar extension to any of our Kenya or Tanzania journeys), we gently track the world’s largest primate in Rwanda’s Parc National des Volcans, the volcans in this instance being the personable Virunga Volcanoes, a chain of eight major peaks that top out at Karisimbi’s 14,787-foot summit (just barely above timberline in these tropical latitudes). Archetypal jungle volcanoes, the Virungas are densely, dramatically forested, and hiking in them would be a thrill even without the almost certain prospect of suddenly coming into the presence of these tremendous animals. We’ll get to know Rwanda a little before heading to the Virungas and comely, comfy Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge and then into the mountains, and before our couple of days of gorilla tracking, we’ll make a beautiful day hike in search of the area’s golden monkeys (Cercopithecus mitis kandti), a handsome species found only in the irungas.

Day 1: arrive in Kigali • Day 2: Kigali city tour 3 drive to Ruhengeri; visit local • villages, take short loosening-up hike • Day 4: gorilla trekking • Day 5: golden monkeys trek • Day 6: gorilla trekking • Day 7: drive to Kigali, board international flights homeward.

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