Last week I visited Susa group – my first visit to this large group. The group used to be the largest in Rwanda, but recently had a relatively peaceful split. I went to visit Susa A, the larger of the two groups. Susa group also is one of the groups that range the furthest from park headquarters. We drove south and west for an hour before arriving at the parking point, then we walked up the slopes of Karisimbi for 2 and a half hours before we found the group. The walk was lovely, first through the bamboo zone which was cool and dark, with tall shiny bamboo all around us. Then we emerged into a more forested area with steep ravines. Fortunately we were walking up a ridge and did not have to climb down into and up out of the ravines this trip!

    The bamboo zone is dark and cool.                       Deep ravines were common along the trail.

After about 2 hours of a constant, gradual (and sometimes not so gradual!) up hill walk we emerged into a lobelia field where the lobelias and ferns are over 10 feet tall! It was here that we found the night nests, and trackers followed the trail for about 30 more minutes. The group was resting and feeding quietly in the mid-day sun, in a beautiful opening in the forest.

Vegetation in this forest is amazing and beautiful.
This is a young fern that will grow to be over 10 feet tall. 

There are 29 individuals in this group, and my job was to try to look at each one, being sure I was happy with their overall health. The tracker we were with has been working with this group for over 20 years, and he knows them very, very well, so I was in luck. We moved quietly through the group, first watching several juveniles play. I checked the identity of each individual, and then we moved on. At one point two of the adult females were wresting and laughing – it was so nice to see such a content group! During this play bout an infant of one of the two moms who were playing peeked through the foliage to see what I was doing.

This infant was curious but a little timid! 

In a large open spot we found Kurira, the head silverback, surrounded by 4 of his young children, all resting quietly. The other 2 silverbacks, Kiki and Igisha were also resting nearby. This group is well protected with 3 silverbacks and the blackback, Kuramba.

Kurira, resting in the mid day sun. 

There was an adult female I needed to check, who has had a chronic, minor skin condition on her stomach for several years now. It seems to come and go, and does not seem to bother her, so we keep an eye on it at every opportunity. She was sitting in deep vegetation – we had to wait a bit until she decided to move. Today the skin on her stomach is not very irritated. I made a note on my observation sheet. We had a couple more individuals to find, so we moved off again through the vegetation. It is amazing how close we were to gorillas and could not see them until we were nearly on top of them! We suddenly came to a new mom nursing her 3 month old baby – what a lovely scene! She was very relaxed, and did not mind our presence at all.

Here is Tuyishime and her new baby. He’ll be named at the Naming Ceremony in June! 

At the end of the visit I was sad to leave this group. They were so content on this warm January day. But I had more work to do, so I reluctantly moved away, and 3 hours later I was back in the office at my computer, doing the other necessary parts of my job. I carried that wonderful morning with me though, and it kept me smiling for the rest of the day!

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