Golden Monkey Trekking in Rwanda

Gold­en Mon­key Trekking is a famous activ­i­ty in Rwan­da com­ing sec­ond after goril­la trekking. Gold­en Mon­keys belong to the “Old-World Mon­keys” which are one of the world’s endan­gered species. In Rwan­da gold­en mon­keys can only be tracked in the Vol­ca­noes Nation­al Park. Gold­en Mon­keys are a unique sub­species of blue mon­keys and live usu­al­ly in groups that can go up to 100 mem­bers as they swing through the bam­boo forests where they per­ma­nent­ly inhabit.

Gold­en mon­keys can be dis­tin­guished by their shiny yel­low­ish-gold­en fur at their back which is where their name comes from. Since gold­en mon­keys always live the foot of the vol­ca­noes from where the for­est starts, it’s eas­i­er to trek them com­pared to goril­las. One may not be able to get so close to the gold­en mon­keys as they keep swing­ing through the bam­boo, they are excit­ing and enter­tain­ing to watch.

How is Gold­en Mon­key Trekking done?

Usu­al­ly, gold­en mon­key trekking starts ear­ly in the morn­ing, brief­ing is done at the head­quar­ters as the guide takes you through what you expect to expe­ri­ence and also lets you know of the rules of the activ­i­ty. You’re then grouped and assigned to a guide who will help you track a par­tic­u­lar group of gold­en monkeys.

The time you spend before you reach a group of gold­en mon­keys depends on their loca­tion, how­ev­er the expe­ri­ence can­not be as tir­ing as goril­la trekking. When you find the mon­keys, you have at least one hour to be in close con­tact with them. Since these mon­keys have been habit­u­at­ed, they’re get­ting used to being in the pres­ence of humans and there­fore can eas­i­ly get real­ly close or even just past you.

When to go for gold­en mon­key trekking in Rwanda?

Gold­en mon­key trekking can be done any time through­out the year. How­ev­er, the activ­i­ty is more con­ducive when con­duct­ed dur­ing dri­er months of Decem­ber to Feb­ru­ary and June to Sep­tem­ber. The rainy months include April to May and Novem­ber, how­ev­er it’s usu­al­ly slip­pery and hence mak­ing the activ­i­ty a bit dif­fi­cult and less interesting.

How much does gold­en mon­key trekking cost?

When­ev­er you con­sid­er to go for gold­en mon­key trekking, you should know that a gold­en mon­key trekking per­mit is a require­ment. The cost of gold­en mon­key trekking is there­fore decid­ed by your bud­get since the trekking per­mits aren’t expen­sive. A gold­en mon­key trekking per­mit is sold at US$100 for all inter­na­tion­al tourists.

At a small fee you could also get some porters to help car­ry your bags through­out the trekking. Oth­er than the per­mits and porters, trans­porta­tion and accom­mo­da­tion will also deter­mine the cost of the activity.

RULES AND REGULATIONS.

Gold­en Mon­key Trekking rules and reg­u­la­tions are shared dur­ing brief­ing held at the head­quar­ters before the adven­ture begins. Among these include the following;

One is sup­posed to keep a rea­son­able dis­tance. This is because it’s easy for humans to spread dis­eases to these primates.
When you’re tak­ing pic­tures, you’re not allowed to use a cam­era flash as it may either dri­ve them away or force them to attack you which may lead to fatal injuries.
In case you move with eat­a­bles or bot­tled water, you’re sup­posed to keep the lit­ter with­in your bad as lit­ter­ing is not allowed with­in the park.
Silence is para­mount when con­duct­ing gold­en mon­key trekking. Loud voic­es usu­al­ly dri­ve away the mon­keys as the for­est should only be heard to pro­duce sounds of nature.
You always have to keep in the direc­tion of the group your mov­ing with and also fol­low the direc­tions of the tour guide.
OTHER ACTIVITIES IN VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK.

Goril­la Trekking.

This is the most famous tourism activ­i­ty con­duct­ed in Vol­ca­noes Nation­al Park. The Park is the only place in Rwan­da where moun­tain goril­las can be found and all over the world oth­er than in Demo­c­ra­t­ic Repub­lic of Con­go and Ugan­da. Goril­la trekking takes place through­out the year and it’s up to you decide what time to visit.

A goril­la trekking per­mit is a require­ment of any­one who wants to take part in goril­la trekking. Since the activ­i­ty attracts very many tourists, it’s always advis­able that you book your per­mit earlier.

Bird­ing.

The park has been a home to bird life through­out the year which makes it a per­fect spot for bird watch­ing. It is record­ed to have over 200 bird species. How­ev­er, since the vol­ca­noes are known for hav­ing mist, it could be a bit chal­leng­ing. This leaves a bet­ter option of con­duct­ing the activ­i­ty dur­ing dry months of June to August and per­haps Jan­u­ary to Feb­ru­ary when there is less rain.

Hik­ing.

Vol­ca­noes Nation­al Park is home to the Virun­ga Vol­ca­noes which include Mount Karisim­bi, Mount. Bisoke, Mount. Muhabu­ra, Mount. Gahin­ga and Mount Sabyinyo which makes the park a des­ti­na­tion for hik­ing tours in Rwanda.

Hik­ing is there­fore done on all the vol­ca­noes apart from Mount Sabyinyo which is dan­ger­ous for hik­ing due to its sharp ridges. These vol­ca­noes have dif­fer­ent trails which make hik­ing eas­i­er. Time spent hik­ing depends on the vol­cano and lev­el of fit­ness of the visitors.