Set on the slopes of the volcanic mountains that make up Rwanda’s famous Volcanoes National Park and only a short drive from its entrance gate, Mountain Gorilla View Lodge is a great choice for a simple and comfortable accommodation at the heart of the life-changing gorilla-trekking experience.

Sensitively designed and built using local sustainable resources, the lodge’s 30 cottages are well spaced from each other and come complete with fireplaces and en suite bathrooms. The views from the lodge and your room are amazing – rugged, forest-covered mountains steaming with mist and mystery – and you will see birds and monkeys in the gardens as you stroll around and soak up the scenery. Daily performances of traditional Rwandan song and dance add to the uniquely African atmosphere.

The main focus at Mountain Gorilla View Lodge is access to one of the 12 habituated gorilla families in the Volcanoes National Park. Your trek to find them may be as short as 30 minutes or it may be several hours but the reward is an unparalleled wildlife experience shared by only a privileged few. It can be tough and muddy work trekking through rainforest so protective gloves and gaiters are provided by the lodge – a thoughtful touch, as is the complementary boot-cleaning service. There are also treks into the forest to search for the rare golden monkey as well as hikes to the grave of Dian Fossey, the late conservationist who first bought the plight of the mountain gorillas to the world’s attention decades ago.