Translation Results Requested Through Conyac Made Public

The next morning before sunrise, while the surrounding volcanoes were still veiled in a rosy mist, I shared a ride with other tourists to the Parc National des Volcans. The park was the base for Dian Fossey, who studied the primates here in the Virunga mountain range for two decades, as recounted in her biography "Gorillas in the mist".

At the entrance, we were divided into small groups of 8 people and assigned guides. Each guide is in touch by walkie-talkie with trackers on the slopes of the volcano, to guide the visitors towards the few groups of gorillas who have been habituated to human presence. We set off along pastures and fields, then into the thick rainforest. We trudged up muddy paths. We clawed our way through thickets of bamboo.
We clambered over fallen trunks. We sweated. At last, after hiking more than two hours, we reached a ridge. Ahead of us lay the crater of the dormant volcano, covered in thick, lush vegetation.

"The gorillas are down there," said the guide, pointing to what looked like impenetrable green. Working our way down, we came across the trackers. The family of a dozen individuals that they had been following was just a little further on, so it was time to prepare for our encounter. Drop our rucksacks here. Take nothing but cameras, flash off. No pointing. No shouting. No touching the animals. And our hushed group marched ahead excitedly.