High in the Virunga volcanoes of Rwanda live the largest of all the apes.
In these strange forests,
I hope to have my first-ever encounter with mountain gorillas.
In the last few years, this area's been ravaged by war.
and it's only very recently that it's been possible to come and see the gorillas.
I'm really close now. I can't believe it.
The gorillas have been here. You can see the ground's all been flattened.
This is where they've been stripping bamboo and there's celery.
I can hear them just ahead.
That's apparently good gorilla manners
that you actually grunt and let them know you're coming.
Here they are.
This is just... one of the most fantastic moments of my life.
I can't believe I'm sitting here...
surrounded by mountain gorillas.
And right in front of me is the silverback.
He's the dominant male.
On reaching full maturity, males get silver-grey hair on their backs.
On the ground, apes form larger, more organised groups...
and he is definitely the head of his family.
Everyone seems to know their correct place and acts accordingly.
They're just so calm and tranquil as well.
They're obviously having their rest break, their siesta, after feeding.
A bit of recreation time is also good for making friends.
Gorillas seem to have a very strong sense of personal space,
and always choose to sit together with their closest pals.
The younger ones, though, can never sit still for long.
During these siesta breaks, the young ones love to gather round the silverback.
You'd think he might be a rather intimidating father,
but he's really very, very gentle with them and also loves to play.
He's careful to curb his strength when he does.
Wrestling with each other encourages the youngsters, especially the males,
to be tough and test their strength...
but also to learn how to control it.
In these play sessions,
you can already see distinct personalities emerging...
and some very special friendships forming.
During the siesta time, there's always plenty going on among the adults, too.
A young male tries to get intimate with a female.
But she's not remotely interested.
But not much happens without the boss's say-so.
He can get pretty tough if he thinks anyone's out of line.
He's got to be one of the most impressive animals in the world.
He's 200 kilos!
He's definitely keeping his family in order.
But it's not long before everything calms down again.
It's lunchtime.
She's eating a mixed salad.
They're eating stuff called draquisha, which is actually quite bitter.
What they do is they mix it...
That's very good.
The bamboo makes it really succulent.
A recipe for the Naked Chef's repertoire, perhaps.
When watching the gorillas I try to keep my distance,
as humans share all the same diseases and can easily pass on a cold or flu.
But, of course, the gorillas are oblivious to this.
The silverback decides when it's time to move off
and then all his females follow him.
This is the other silverback, the number two in the group.
There's suddenly a whole load of activity.
From being completely calm and quiet, they're all moving.
The group head off a little way,
but a couple of adolescent males hang back.
This is a black-back. They actually act as like the rear-guard to the group.
These two are 11 and 13 and just like any young lads,
they're keen to show off, especially in the presence of a film crew.
A good show of strength, but has it impressed his friend?
It looks like there might be a bit of one-upmanship going on here.
Okay, that was good, but I wonder what's next?
Being kicked by a gorilla, I think's a privilege.
But I'm hoping the other one doesn't decide to go one better.
I try not to be pay too much attention.
Of course, that's one way of capping it.
An easy pushover.
Not that I was going to put up too much resistance to 140 odd kilos of gorilla.
And now he looks as pleased as Punch with himself.
I think that just might have won him the contest.
The rest of the family group has settled again nearby.
I get my first glimpse of the newborn baby.
It's tiny. It was probably just born last night.
The mother is called Mpanga and this is her first.
Like many of the gorillas, she lost her foot to a snare
and survived against the odds.
This baby is a good omen.
Gorillas face many dangers and every new baby counts.
There are fewer than 350
of these mountain gorillas left in the wild.
Over the last few decades,
they've been teetering on the edge of extinction,
but despite poaching and recent wars, they're still here.
thanks to international conservation efforts and dedicated local people.
So long as those efforts continue, these magnificent animals should have a future.