“Excuse me, excuse me, coming through, coming through,” is what I imagined Intambara to be saying as he brushed gently past me. Intambara, of course, was speaking ‘beringei beringei’, otherwise known as ‘gorilla speak’.

I was standing in the middle of the rainforest of the now dormant Bisoke volcano, watching the amazing mountain gorillas of Rwanda. Intambara is the 250kg silverback in this group of 17. With his family around him, and his now extended human family watching, he soon settled down to enjoy some stinging nettles for a snack.

Our guide explained that the gorilla’s hands are hard and covered by a wax type substance that prevents them from getting stung. With my pinkie finger having just touched a stinging nettle I somehow wish we humans had the same wax type substance.

With less than 900 mountain gorillas left in the wild living between Rwanda, Uganda and the Congo I feel fortunate to be watching these animals. Sharing 97% of the same DNA as humans I also feel that I am watching a little bit of my family.

Our day had begun a few hours earlier where we went to the Volcanoes National Park headquarters to check-in and get our permits. Our safari guide Francis then went along with the other guides to start the delicate process of negotiations of which group was going where and how far they would need to trek. Made up of three options, easy, medium and hard, we opted for a medium climb. Our guide explained the do’s and don’ts of gorilla trekking, before driving for about 40 minutes to Bisoke to start the climb.

Taking the option of hiring a porter was the best decision I made all day. He proved to be invaluable in assisting me up the steep slopes of Bisoke.

We began our trek walking through small farms, growing mostly Irish potatoes. As we edged ever closer to the forest and buffalo fence, which forms the boundary between the park and the farm lands, we stopped for a moment to take in the view. Rwanda is not called ‘land of a thousand hills’ for nothing. I felt like I was half way to heaven looking down on a spectacular earth.

We trekked higher into the forest stopping every now and then to catch our breath. Our guide stopped and joked that Intambara called and says he can feel we are starting to tire so he his bringing his family to meet us. Leaving our bags with the porters and taking only our cameras we continued on.

And before I know it Intambara brushed past my leg. Strangely, I felt no fear, more of reassuring comfort and welcome.

The rest of the family were dotted around. Some climbed high into the bamboo trees to get the freshest and newest shoots. One of them underestimated his weight and came tumbling out from the canopy with a thud as the bamboo snapped. The younger gorillas seem inquisitive and came well within the 7 metre distance that we were told to stay away from them.

Rules to humans, easily broken by gorillas.