Rwanda is, supposedly, the best place in the world to see Mountain Gorillas. You can see them in Congo...if you don't mind getting caught in a poachers trap. You can also find them in Uganda, though they aren’t as plentiful. You can see them sedated at the zoo too...I guess. But Rwanda. In Rwanda they are quite alive and active. So alive one of the young gorillas eyed my friend, Nathan, with a mischievous glint and then proceeded to jump out of the tree, onto him. Yes. Jumped by a gorilla. Rwanda's Virunga Volcanoes are the heart of their natural homeland. Rwanda was the home of Diane Fossey's research.

Currently 13 gorilla families live in Rwanda. (I say currently because the families travel to Uganda or Congo on occasion. Sometimes to establish permanent residence. Probably when they don’t like the present government. Gorillas are too peaceful to stage a coup.) Each family has one Silverback, a whole bunch of females and a slew of babies. I have significant issues with this one male, many female set up. However, when I declare the females need to be liberated from such a primitive social structure, the gorillas stare at me blankly and go on doing their thing. There may be a Blackback in the group (young male), but he can't enjoy the Silverback privilege - the females. In fact, if a Blackback and female are caught shagging by the female’s Silverback, both Blackback and Female are beaten, “just like humans” the guide tells us.

Our group, the Amahoro Group, is unusual. (What group isn't?) There are 15 in the Amahoro group. It has two Silverbacks. That, guide explains, is because one Silverback is “a casualty”. He is not the alpha silverback. Besides the two silverbacks, there is one Blackback, and about as many babies as females. That’s because the two Silverbacks keep themselves busy when they aren't sleeping or eating. Females have a nine-month gestation period.

Our group contains 8 tourists: Kim and Lance from New Zealand, Luke from Australia, Kat and Unky from Sweden, Rupert from England, one Japanese and me. A muzungo must pay more than twice as much as a Rwandan citizen to see Gorillas. I don't mind because of all the jobs I'm creating. One guide. 4 porters. 2 soldiers. We meet 4 trackers, when we come to the gorilla group. We approach gorillas with the trackers and our guide. We file important items into our pockets – passport, money, cell phones and camera. The porters and soldiers guard our bags while we go to meet the gorillas. Bags make them curious. We don't need curious gorillas as gorillas have been known to enjoy muzungo food and drink and $90 camelbak. No walking sticks. It reminds them of the poachers. No flash photography. No pointing or shouting allowed and, if a gorilla charges, definitely no running. It will just give them confidence. We don’t need confident gorillas. No going within 7 meters of the gorillas. They brush against our legs.

Our gorilla’s are lounging in a thicket of stinging nettles. I have my father's sensitive skin. Three days and a professional coffee-scrub massage later my legs still itch.

Now, I’ll let the pictures do the rest of the talking. Even Pulitzer prize-wining prose wouldn’t stand a chance against these photos and video clips of...

• Mama gorilla, baby gorillas and tracker
• How to make a gorilla nest
  
• Baby tree tumble
• Baby tree tumble for the patient
• Chowing on sting nettles
  

(That line on YouTube that says "Uploading. Please be patient. This may take several minutes." It needs to be revised to "several hours" in Rwanda given internet speed. One videos have yet to be added. For the pictures, I needed to obtain more online storage. There will be more on Picasso soon too.)