A silverback (mature male) weighs nearly three times as much as the average man (up to 200kg). The Mountain Gorilla is a distinct species from its cousin the western lowland gorilla and was unknown to western science until 1902.

Gorillas share 97% of their genes with mankind. They are highly sociable, moving in troops of between 5 – 50
animals typically comprising a silverback, three or four wives and several young.

Females reach sexual maturity in their eighth year, males when they are around 13. Gorillas have few natural enemies and can live for up to 50 years in the wild. A female gorilla has a similar gestation period to humans, and may raise up to six offspring if she lives to old age. Gorillas spend most of their waking hours on the ground, but sleep in trees, each building itself a temporary nest.

“In the heart of Central Africa, so high up that you shiver more than you sweat,” wrote the eminent primatologist Dian Fossey, “are great, old volcanoes towering up almost 15,000 feet, and nearly covered with rich, green rainforest – the Virungas”. Situated in the far northwest of Rwanda, the Parc des Volcans protects the steep slopes of this magnificent mountain range – home of the rare mountain gorilla – and the rich mosaic of montane ecosystems, which embrace evergreen and bamboo forest, open grassland, swamp and heath.

An exhilarating trek through the cultivated foothills of the Virungas offers stirring views in all directions. Then, abruptly, the trail enters the national park, immersing trekkers in the mysterious intimacy of the rainforest, alive with the calls of colourful birds and chattering of the rare golden monkey, and littered with fresh
spoor

of the mountains’ elusive populations of buffalo and elephant. Through gaps in the forest canopy, the magnificent peaks are glimpsed, easily accessible and among the highest in Africa, beckoning an ascent.