The apex of the Atlas range, 13,671ft (4167m) Mt Toubkal is also the highest peak in all of North Africa. You can get up and down the mountain in two days if summiting is all that matters – though making a longer circuit not only helps with acclimatization, but also offers a greater insight into local Berber culture. The total population of mountain gorillas is tiny: fewer than 900 are believed to survive in the Virunga Mountains straddling DR Congo, Rwanda and Uganda, and in the last country’s Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. Whacking up through the lush, dense vegetation of Bwindi to locate one of the habituated family groups is not for softies: it’s steep, it’s muddy, it’s overgrown, and it can be wet, cold, hot – or all three in one day.
