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The Susa group of gorillas is one one of the largest of the five groups that have been habituated in the Virungas but they are the farthest away so the trek to find them is very challenging. But the fact that two twin baby gorillas had recently been born in the group swung the balance in their favour.

After a long hike through the forest it all become worth it when they found the group and the first gorilla to make an appearance was the huge silverback male. Tears sprang to Leanne's eyes at the overwhelming emotion of being so close to such a rare and amazing creature. They managed to see 28 of the 39 gorillas in the group but the mother and the two twin babies were hiding in the bush out of sight.

The next day they set out to find the Amahoro “B” group which is relatively small with only seven gorilla members. After a steep climb through the forest they reached the group which then started to move off after a few minutes down the side of the mountain making their own path as they went along.

The guide decided to follow them and everyone was in single file to step where the previous person had. Suddenly, Leanne felt a hand push on her back and left shoulder and she thought the person behind her had fallen and was trying to stabilise themselves. But she was wrong...

When she turned around she found herself face to face with of a gorilla who was trying to get past to catch up with his group. He decided to get by her by doing a flip over her left side. Amazing...Touched by a mountain gorilla and a show-off to boot.

The group stopped to eat and a young gorilla began to run up to about ten metres of one of the woman in the group, beat his chest and then run back to his mom. He repeated this a number of times.

Mountain Gorilla Tips & Recommendations:

• You are only allowed to spend an hour with these magical creatures so make the most of it and remember that there is no flash photography allowed so your photography might be difficult in the sometimes dim light of the forest.

• To reach some of the groups the hike can be very long and steep so you need to be in a reasonably good condition physically. The guide does slow down to match the pace of the slowest trekker.

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