A vacation to Rwanda might also offer the amazing and exhilarating experience of trekking with golden monkeys in the country’s Volcanoes National Park. After an intense gorilla trekking expedition across the slopes and plains of Volcanoes National Park in the Virunga ranges, tracking these gold-furred monkeys of Rwanda offers you an enthralling experience.
It will be impossible to resist taking thrilling pictures of these primates because of their striking golden fur skin.
Although it is not as well-known as the gorilla trekking experience, golden monkey trekking is nonetheless a worthwhile addition to the park’s offerings for those who have had enough gorilla encounters. This is why, when visiting Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park, gorilla trekking and golden monkey tracking are typically included in one package.
The Volcanoes National Park is home to the majority of Rwanda’s golden monkey population. Monkeys can be observed swinging over bamboo forests on the slopes of Mount Sabyinyo within Mgahinga National Park during the Golden Monkey Track. There are hundreds of primates living in the maximum concentration on the slopes of Mount Sabyinyo. There are smaller concentrations of additional troops in different parts of the park. Following the habituation process, two groups have been designated for tourist visits.
To observe the golden monkeys, visitors will depart from the Volcanoes National Park headquarters. There are presently two troops of these uncommon, endangered monkeys in the park that have acclimated to seeing people; they both number in the neighbourhood of 80. The golden monkeys, who inhabit the bamboo forest around the volcanoes’ foot, have overcame their initial shyness to welcome researchers and visitors on a daily basis.
In a group of no more than eight, you will journey in a manner akin to the gorilla trek to locate the golden monkeys, and once you locate them, you can spend an hour with them. They are incredibly agile animals that make hilarious leaps from tree to tree, though they can be challenging to capture on camera! To improve your chances of getting a picture of the golden monkeys and to accommodate low light in the thick foliage, we advise you to use a fast shutter speed on your camera!
Below the elevation where the permanent forest begins, golden monkeys inhabit the “bamboo zone.” On your first day in the Volcanoes National Park, this excursion offers an excellent introductory walk to help you acclimatise to the park’s altitude because trekking to them is less taxing and easier than trekking to see the gorillas.
The most popular periods to visit in search of golden monkeys coincide with the seasonality of the gorilla treks, which are greatest during the dry months, between December and February, and from around June to mid-September. This walk is typically a prelude to a gorilla trek. The ground can get a little more slick in April and May and in November during the rainy seasons.
Golden monkeys are friendly primates that often reside in groups of 60 or less. They usually eat fruits and bamboo trees, but they may occasionally eat tiny insects. Before retiring for the evening, the golden monkeys in Volcanoes National Park set out to search for fruits and bamboo shoots on a typical tracking day. Predators such as eagles cannot easily spot them while they sleep on the limbs of big bamboo trees.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has classified golden monkeys as endangered. Since it is estimated that about 5000 people are still alive, they actively support government initiatives aimed at keeping them safe.