I'll spare you details, but note to future self: avoid the hotel buffet. Especially the night before a mountain gorilla trek.

Ten hours in the backseat of a jeep across Uganda's rolling landscape. From Kampala, through countless villages, we finally hit the highlands of the western country where the topography becomes noticeably more dramatic. Here, we're in Uganda but a stone's throw from the border with Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, an intersection marked by Mount Sabyinyo, which lords over the landscape.

Early evening we arrive at Lake Mutanda. It's sublimely beautiful. It's also the portal to mountain gorilla treks in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park — one of three places in the world where one can trek to mountain gorillas (other two the aforementioned bordering countries).

With much advance planning and a bit of luck, we've secured our permits through Gorilla Link Tours. One night at the serene Mutanda Lake Resort to pull myself and my gastrointestinal tract together before the adventure of a lifetime.