We took a short flight from Rwanda to Uganda arriving in the evening.

Before leaving Kigali the airway staff questioned our East Africa Visa validity and made us promise to fund our own onward flight if we were rejected by Ugandan Immigration on arrival!

The Uganda Immigration people confirmed that our visa had not been activated when we arrived in Kenya a couple of weeks ago.

However, 5 minutes later we had entered Uganda with a stamped passport albeit $100 poorer, welcome to Uganda!

Early the next morning we started our three day excursion to the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park. We were off to see Mountain Gorillas in the wild.

Day one was a long 10-11 hour drive south west across Uganda.

Shortly after leaving Entebbe we boarded a ferry across Lake Victoria to slice some time off the journey.

Flying might have been more comfortable and likely quicker. But you can’t beat a road trip to get a better feel for a country.

Most of the roads were in good condition but there were plenty of dusty and rutted roads over which our driver and guide Ronnie excelled.

Like Lando Norris on safari, we zipped along our route, clouds of orange dust rising behind us.

There is so much to take in along the journey. Lush landscapes, busy towns and vehicles overflowing with people and/or produce of many kinds.

The landscape seemed a bit like Rwanda in places and we realised we were heading towards both the Rwanda and the DRC borders, not so far from Lake Kivu!

There were plenty of children playing by the roadside, some waving and smiling and others just intrigued to see us heading through their villages.

As we closed in on our destination we could just about see the distant peaks of the Virunga volcanoes.

The final part of the journey was tricky, even for us in a 4WD Land cruiser.

The flat bed truck below had it’s excavator load slide off, both resting precariously on the valley edge.

Our very long journey had come to an end and we settled into what would be our lodgings for the next two nights.

Our sunset arrival couldn’t have been more perfect, our balcony affording outstanding views across the forest below us.

We awoke early to the low light of day break with more sumptuous views around us.

Our forest trekking day was about to begin.

After a great breakfast we were prepared for the day ahead.

Luckily it was just us two on the trek, it’s still low season here. However, we had a porter each to carry our day packs and provide assistance along the way, as my wife demonstrates below…

Having a porter is encouraged even if not really needed. It helps the local community and binds them to the benefits of preserving the forest.

The park fees also include two wardens, one as the guide and the other with a gun slung over his shoulder, just in case.

We spent about two hours treking down the valley and then into the forest before we were met by two Park Gorilla wardens, we knew we were close.

The park is split into sectors and the 27 Gorilla families are spread across them. The park is 124 square miles in size!

The trained Gorilla trekers spend all day with their designated family, the intent being to normalise their presence.

As visitors we are only permitted to stay for one hour, just one encounter per day per gorilla group is permitted.

We wear face masks to avoid spreading human infections and are guided where to stand and to watch the group.

They led us to our initial sighting and we were immediately engrossed. The gorillas seemed very at ease, chomping away at the roots and leaves around them.

This group is 18 strong, with one dominant Silverback male and 6 babies.

They are spread out in front and around us, some visible, some not, but we know we are being watched as we watch them.

Our guides move us slowly along so we can see more of the group, with the guides making low grunting noises to avoid startling group members as we pass along.

We see the Silverback facing a tree, it’s size and clear muscular strength apparent even from the rear.

They all seem so relaxed, eating away, their faces full of character.

We saw this baby and some other slightly older youngsters too.

1 hour and 1,000 photos later, we were led back to our starting point, leaving the group in peace.

That was a most exhilarating experience and we left feeling privileged to have had such an encounter.

The trek back up the valley was a bit more arduous than coming down, but elated by our encounter in the forest, we glided up with ease.

The Gorillas had been known to leave the forest in the past to reach some banana plantations. However, to help the community and to deter the gorillas, a small tea plantation has been put in place.

Along the valley are all sorts of crops, below is a bean plantation.

At the end of our trek back we sat with our guides to await our driver to head back to our lodge.

A group of local children took an interest in us and we handed them our improvised walking sticks which they seemed pleased to accept.

They kindly posed for the photo with me below.

What a day and what an outstanding experience, we knew we would struggle to leave this wonderful place.

However, the next morning, after another great breakfast and a couple more attempts to photograph those distant peaks in the distance, we started our drive back to Entebbe.

Uganda has blown us away already and there is more to come!