In the mountains between Rwanda, Uganda and the Congo live the last remaining mountain gorillas, the same ones made famous by Dian Fossey. You can hike up and visit them. First, you need to purchase a permit months in advance. It's expensive and hard to get, but that money is going towards a whole army of trackers, guides and security, and conservation efforts.
First you amass at a staging center. You can visit one of 12 gorilla families, each family is somewhere in the mountains that day, and trackers have located each one. You can choose if you want to have an easy, medium or hard hike, and you are assigned to a group. I picked medium, and was assigned the Agashya group (named for the silverback male). We were led by guides, Odile and "Mr. D" who gave us instructions on what to do when we reach the gorillas (which mostly involved non-threatening body language), and security (note the machine gun).
It was a tough two hour hike to reach the gorillas, not so much because of the distance or climb, but it is a muddy, ankle-twisting climb through a dense jungle of vines, nettles and thorns. I wore everything recommended: hiking boots, thick socks (which I was admonished to tuck my long pants into "because of fire ants"), leather gardening gloves, rain jacket, long pants and shirt. I needed all of it.
Every hiker hires a porter, who carries your backpack, but more importantly helps you from falling. Mine was Ephrain - he had a kindly Morgan Freeman face, spoke no English, and had a firm handgrip as he held my hand during treacherous sections. (Ephrain is on the left)
Finally, you reach the gorilla family. It's amazing how close you get!
