Meeting the team

Karen – an ex-colonial stronghold, now home to wealthy Africans and Asians – was my pitstop for two days before the Africa Trails tour started on the Monday.

At Karen Camp (the local campsite and white Kenyan hangout) I met the team I was to be travelling with:

- Rachel and Dom ­- a British couple from Cornwall who were on honeymoon
- Jolie and Gareth and Nicky and Griff – two kiwi couples on their way home to New Zealand from London
- Ravi – a pharmacist from the US
- Jas – an engineer from Telford
- Clare – a solicitor from London
- Shane and Laura – a couple who had been travelling with Africa Trails for the last 4 weeks and were heading back to Aus after the gorilla track
- Jenny – a kiwi who’d just climbed Kili and was joining us for a three-week tour
- Jon – an animator from the UK
- Nat – an aussie guy who’d joined the tour at the last minute after working at camp in America
- And last but most definitely not least, Henry – our local driver for the next three weeks and his specially designed truck

We were going to spend the next three weeks together, heading deep into Uganda to Bwindi forest – situated only 2km walk from the Democratic Republic of Congo – where we were going to come face to face with some of the remaining 710 mountain gorillas. After that, some of us were heading south to Jo’burg or Cape Town, whilst others would hop on or hop off along the way.