Mrs. KI-NRT was apprehensive as well, given that she's somewhat frail and her stamina is on the low side. What you can do is ask for as short of a trek as possible. We did, and were assigned to visit a Gorilla family that was no more than a 30 minute hike away from the starting point. Bhrubin and his buddies, on the other hand, wanted to visit the most famous of families, and spent almost the entire day tracking them. It's really up to you.

That said, it's not an exact science. On the 2nd trek, we were expecting a relatively short hike, but two things happened to thwart that idea... First, it started raining quite heavily. Second, the family started moving (which isn't uncommon!), to the point where we ended up hiking for several hours over steep, rough and slippery terrain. Tiring for sure, but the experience was quite exhilarating and rewarding!

Rwanda is among the safest places on the planet. DRC, and to a much lesser degree Uganda, are known to have stability issues from time to time.

The newly opened Bisate Lodge is almost certainly the top choice in Rwanda, although Sabinyo Silverback Lodge (we stayed there, as did bhrubin) is nothing to sneeze - it's run by Governor's Camp, which operates some of the nicer lodges in Kenya, among other places. You can book the itinerary through a number of reputable outfitters, including Natural High Safaris, Africa Travel Resource and Expert Africa, to name a few.

Words can't describe the awesome experience of getting up close and personal with the Gorillas. At least in our minds, it blew away our Chimp expedition at Greystoke Mahale and is right up there with Antarctica.