The flight from Johannesburg to Kigali (Rwanda) was only a few hours and I was kept mildly entertained throughout by the antics of the guy sitting next to me. Dressed in a cheap suit and clearly a stranger to flying, he was all elbows and flailing limbs, constantly fidgeting and jiggling around in his seat. When the in-flight meal arrived he bizarrely started tucking into a tiny packet of jam with a plastic knife, ignoring the three courses of proper food in front of him. But it wasn't until he started playing religious videos at full blast on his phone that alarm bells began to ring and I wondered what kind of nutjob I'd been saddled with! We touched down without any further strange behaviour and following a brief layover he thankfully didn't appear on our connecting flight to Uganda.

On our arrival in Entebbe we were picked up at the airport and as we drove towards the capital city of Kampala I was immediately struck by the feeling that we had finally arrived in the real 'Africa'! Dusty red-clay roads, chaotic traffic, farm animals roaming the streets, endless ramshackle wooden huts selling odd assortments of useless tat and locals carrying everything from jerry cans to baskets of bananas on their head. South Africa seemed positively Western in comparison!

Located just outside Kampala, we arrived at our hotel shortly before dark so there was little to do except enjoy the luxury of a decent room and free wifi. Luckily for me they also had football on in the bar so I was more than happy to sit there for the evening!

The main reason for visiting Uganda was to trek with mountain gorillas but we'd flown in a day early hoping to see more of the country than just the jungle. So the next day we decided to take trip into Kampala and check out Ugandas capital city. Ignoring the hotels extortionate quote for a taxi we decided to brave the torrential rain and walk into the city centre. 20 minutes later, as the rain began to ease off, we rounded a corner and walked into complete chaos! Flanked on one side by dozens of taxi buses noisily touting for business and the other by a bustling flea market, the heavily flooded street was filled with seemingly impassable crowds of people, motorbikes and cars. A massive free-for-all caused by the rain, as everyone competed for the only stretch of dry road around - a passage no more than 4ft wide! The choice was to go back to the hotel or join-in...and taking up the challenge, we ploughed headfirst into pandemonium! It was all I could do to stick close to Kate and keep wandering hands from fleecing our pockets but eventually we made it through unscathed and continued our stroll into town.

Winding our way through bustling streets, crumbling shops and past infinite street hawkers we eventually came to the city's central road - a comparatively modern area with parks, high rises, restaurants and banks. After stopping for lunch at Nandos(!) we carried on until we reached a shopping mall where we picked up some supplies. The walk back to the hotel took about an hour and was equally chaotic - we even managed to get a little lost, at one point finding ourselves in the middle of a poor township!

It was something of a relief to get back to the hotel. Although we'd never felt in danger, it was quite exhausting running the gauntlet of the local streets. Very much in the minority, most of the attention was nothing more than innocent curiosity but occasionally someone would grab us or shout at us and remind us Africa was a very different prospect to we were used to!

Early the next day our tour guide, Dan, met us at the hotel and we began the 9hr cross-country drive to Kisoro. The tour didn't get off to the best of starts when, after an hour, we stopped at the Equator. Obligatory photos taken, we got back into the van only to discover the engine wouldn't start! Leaving us at a cafe, Dan enlisted the help of some locals to push start the van before driving off in search of a mechanic. Assuming he'd only be gone briefly, mild panic began to set in when an hour later he still hadn't returned. We had our passports but our backpacks with all our clothes were still in his van! I was pretty confident he'd come back eventually but the fact he'd left us for so long without phoning was very strange. Kate made several angry phone calls to Gap's Ugandan head office - who weren't remotely helpful - and an hour later Dan finally returned. Sheepishly he tried to apologise and explain where he'd been but we were in no mood to accept his excuses and made it very clear how unacceptable the lack of contact had been. Day 1 - establish rapport with guide...tick!

Unfortunately the journey didnt get much better. After a buffet lunch of goat stew, matoobe (savoury mashed banana) and some strange local bread, we had to pull over three more times to put water in the overheating engine! In all the stoppages delayed us by over 3 hours and it was gone 8 by the time we pulled into our hotel in Kisoro. We'd missed dinner but the hotel made a big deal of 'kindly' serving us a three course meal we didn't really want restaurant - by the taste of it they'd already cooked it in expectation anyway!

The next day we were up at 5.30am to go gorilla trekking! After a quick breakfast and a 2hr drive into the mountains we arrived at Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. There we had a short briefing before 6 of us started our trek into the jungle with an experienced guide and two guards armed with rifles.

There are eight gorilla families in Bwindi and each tracking group is allocated one family to follow. The gorillas move around regularly - sometimes even venturing across the border into Rwanda or DR Congo - but each morning two trackers scout ahead to check where they are. Starting with the gorilla's last known location - normally where they were seen the night before - they are in constant radio contact with the guides and alert them as soon as they have a sighting.

The hike itself was extremely tough. Up and down very steep slopes, through dense jungle and over unforgiving terrain. The soft earth often gave way beneath us and the layers of bracken underfoot were so thick it was often impossible to tell if there was any solid ground underneath! Constantly falling down, the only things to grab onto were weak vines or branches covered in thorns. After two and a half hours we were exhausted! Just as we felt we couldn't go any further the trackers radioed through to say they'd found our family of gorillas. Trekking with reinvigorated purpose we closed in on the group and within twenty minutes we'd caught up with them!

Our first sighting was a glimpse of a huge silverback sitting 10 metres away, partially hidden by the trees. As we crept in closer - I say crept, but in reality a herd of elephants would have made less noise! - the silverback moved on and we followed it through the bush. Suddenly it looked right at us and, with phenomenal speed, charged over and took an angry swipe at our group. The guide seemed un-phased, nonchalantly batting the huge hand away with his stick but Kate and I were rooted to the spot, staring in disbelief at the angry beast just one metre away! The silverback ran off as quickly as he'd charged in and immediately the guide gave chase, hacking his way through the dense undergrowth to keep pace with our quarry. Warily we followed.

Several minutes later we ran into the whole group. Moving into the canopies as we approached, they were difficult to see at first - more shapes and shadows than anything identifiable - but within minutes, the entire family had settled in the branches of a gigantic tree. We sat in the bushes below and watched, awestruck, as 8-10 gorillas (young and old) went about their daily lives - eating, sleeping, playing and farting the morning away! Watching the silverback at the top of the tree, snaking out a long powerful arm and bending thick branches over at will to feed on the foliage, is a sight I'll never forget. All too soon it was time to go and reluctantly we moved quietly away to begin the trek back to base, stealing final glances of the impressive primates as we went.

The instant we moved away, the tiredness so quickly forgotten the moment we saw the gorillas, came flooding back and suddenly we were struggling to drag our our aching limbs through the difficult terrain. Mercifully we took a slightly easier route back to base camp - this time through a local farm - stopping briefly to eat our packed lunches restore our energy levels. Back at the base we were given certificates to mark our "achievement" before Dan took us and a german couple we'd met back to Kisoro. Back at the Travellers Rest we took much needed showers and drank celebratory beers before devouring a three course meal and collapsing into bed.

Another early start saw us rise at 6am for our second hike in two days. We were due to hike up Mount Sabinyo - one of three volcanoes defining the Kisoro skyline - , an 8+ hour trek over 3 steep peaks to 3600m. At the top of the 3rd peak its possible to stand in three bordering countries at once - Uganda, Rwanda and DR Congo. While that bragging right did hold some appeal, we were so tired from the previous days exploits we had neither the energy nor the motivation to make it that far! Luckily when we got to the national park, we saw there were several other hikes available and, much to Dan's disappointment (he'd already planned his day off!), we opted for the shortest and easiest one.

The 4-5 hour round trip into Sabinyo Gorge was laughably labelled a Nature Trail when in reality it was anything but! While no doubt gentler than the other hikes would have been, it still involved scrambling up steep slopes, clambering over slippery rocks and climbing old wooden ladders that were half rotten and crumbled on contact. A moody guide and a disinterested armed guard did nothing to stir our motivation but after two hours of frequent stops, muddy falls and snapped ladder rungs, we made it into the heart of Mount Sabinyo. Celebrating with an early lunch we sat on the rocks to enjoy the view before heading back the way we came. After a total of 4 hours we arrived back at the start where Dan was waiting to give us a lift back to the hotel, his infant niece in tow and bouncing around on the passenger seat as we negotiated the pot-hole riddled dirt roads. Satisfied with our efforts we were back at the hotel by 1.30 and spent the afternoon relaxing and napping our aches and pains away. Later, at dinner, we overheard a couple that had just returned from the Mount Sabinyo walk - it had taken them over 12hours! Relieved that we'd opted for the 'Nature Trail' we headed to bed.

The next days drive back to Kampala was largely uneventful. The van did get a puncture - hardly surprising given the state of the roads - but after the events of the outward journey I think we got off pretty lightly! Dropping us back at the hotel around 6 there were no emotional goodbyes but Dan did seem genuinely surprised when he got a tip. Exhausted, we ate a cheap dinner before heading to bed relatively early, less than enthused about the 4.30am start the next day!