Few visitors set foot in this enigmatic central African country without first enlightening themselves about the plight of its revered and cherished primate population.

Uganda's mountain gorillas are the single most endangered offshoot of the gorilla species - large hominids whose bulky heads, broad shoulders, stubby noses and soot-black coats have galvanised wonder and fear alike for centuries.

In sharp contrast to their lowland cousins - numbering a healthier but still disturbingly low 16,000 - just 700 mountain gorillas remain in the wild today. This makes them one of the world's most critically endangered sub-species - a conservation status made all the more alarming by the fact that not a single individual is currently held in captivity anywhere in the world.

If you want to see one of these uniquely social and intellectual creatures, therefore, there's just two places on the planet you can do so. The first can be found in the Virunga volcanic mountains, spanning Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and south-west Uganda's Mgahinga national park. The other is in Uganda's Bwindi national park, where three families - the Mubare, Habinyanja and Rushegura - have been habituated to human presence, inviting up-close contact with visitors for whom they consistently display a child-like curiosity and affection.

Steppes Travel have organised numerous trips to Bwindi, and we have strong connections with local guides - an absolute must if you're looking to navigate the region's aptly-named Impenetrable Forest.

Tracking mountain gorillas is far from easy, for obvious reasons. The huge but docile mammals are well adapted to harsh jungle conditions and find little difficulty in traversing vast swathes of land in a single day. We humans, on the other hand, must sweat a little for the same privilege. But in spite of the physical strain of trekking hours on end through misty, humid undergrowth - perhaps, even, because of it - an encounter with some of the world's last surviving mountain gorillas is a magical and sublime experience, and one that will surely last with you for the rest of your life.

Though gorilla tracking is the most common reason for visiting Uganda, it should be remembered that this prosperous land-locked country - dubbed the Pearl of Africa by Churchill - has numerous other drawing points as well.

In addition to such popular attractions as Lake Victoria, the largest tropical lake in the world - not to mention the splendid biodiversity of Queen Elizabeth Park - Uganda's placement right in the heart of Africa makes the country a veritable melting pot of cultures. The ancient Batwa and Bambuti Pygmies are just two of its 30-plus indigenous ethnic groups, nearly all of whom have lived in relative harmony and stability since the early 1990s.

This was not always the case, however. Idi Amin's former home has seen more than its fair share of national tragedies - the effects of which live on only too vividly in the hearts and minds of its stoic, battle-weary population. And while some travel agencies like to portray Uganda as somehow cocooned from the hardships of this impoverished and war-torn continent, we at Steppes Travel takes a markedly more candid tack in our visits.

With a belief that confronting the past is a necessary part of moving forward, your guide will endeavour to paint as full a picture as possible of Uganda - its lows as well as its highs - and once the sheen has been brushed aside and the true substance and unembellished beauty of central Africa exposed, we are confident that your memories of this unique place will be all the more engrossing and vivid.

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