MY I-DAY GOLDEN MONKEY TREKKING EXPERIENCE BY GLORIA

Volcanoes National Park is found in the Northern part of Rwanda in Musanze District. Its one of the 3 homes of the endangered mountain gorillas which also exist in Mgahinga National Park and Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park. In addition to Mountain gorillas, it’s also a home to golden monkeys which brings the phrase of silver meeting gold to practicality. The long-wished desire to explore and experience the life of golden monkeys came to pass on this eventful day.

Requirements.

Before I could head for trekking, I had to first make sure am well equipped with good hiking shoes, a warm sweater since we were in a rainy season , drinking water ,a rain coat in case it rained though it didn’t rain that day .I made a mistake to carry a brightly coloured sweater  to the jungle, and trust me it became more distinct when I reached the RDB offices when everyone else was in dull coloured clothes. It was not that bad but displayed a lot of unprofessionalism.

Golden monkey trekking has a provision of booking a permit that very morning so I headed to the RDB offices in Kinigi since its near my home using a motor cycle since there are no public vehicles that take individuals to that area. I was asked to give my national ID so that my permit could be processed then before I could realise, it was ready and a guide was assigned to me to head for a briefing.

Briefing

 When I reached the briefing square, I found other guests already there so I joined and the briefing started. During the briefing, our guide asked us to introduce our names and countries of origin so that we enjoy the activity and interact as a group knowing each other. We were 8 people and at the end of the experience, it was a wonderful achievement as a whole group and we bonded so much through the experience and constant

conversations we had on our way to the trekking. He told us some ways of differentiating the male from the female golden monkeys, the males have longer and bigger tails while the females have smaller and shorter tails and regarding the size and weight, the males are way bigger and heavier compared to the females. After briefing, we headed to the vehicles to go to the starting point for the trek in Ndabaruhuye which took us about 15 minutes then we started our trek.

Start of our trekking

On reaching the parking area, there were porters who are there to help carry guests’ bags and are paid by that particular guest at the end of the trip for 20$. We were also given walking sticks to help us on our trek. After that, we were led by our guide, passed in potato garden as we passed by residential homes for the locals in the the area as the guide kept explaining how the golden monkeys are the most destructive animal that destroys the potatoes. they usually uproot the potato plant feed on potatoes making the farmers efforts get wasted, However, the government of Rwanda through the amount guests pay for their permits takes some percentage of it to compensate for the loss caused by the golden monkeys. We had a number of stop overs to either rest or catch a glimpse at something. We passed by a grass thatched shelter in potato fields and we were told it is used for protection whenever the buffalos and golden monkeys come to their fields to destroy their crops, they chase them since they be watching over them. The shelter is also used   as a dining area whenever they come to do gardening without having to go back to their homes.

It took us about 30 minutes trekking to the national park entrance and by good luck, we found the golden monkeys outside the park feeding which helped us not to move long distances looking for them. On reaching the golden monkeys, we were given face masks to avoid transmitting any colds to the monkeys or contracting any from them. We were also told to leave our bags behind with the porters and also not to feed the monkeys. It was such a wonderful moment observing the golden monkeys feeding on bamboo shoots and potatoes and it was amazing to see that they aware of food hygiene, they know that they have to first clean the soil off the potato, peel it with their teeth then eat later. They usually go at the base of the bamboo to look for the youngest shoots uproot it then remove the outer leaves and eat the soft inner part. My highlight was the moment a monkey was jumping from one tree to another and it almost jumped on my head and i wondered if it was because I wore a bright colour(pink) to the jungle.

We had a whole full hour with the golden monkeys observing them jump from one area to another, some were having their pleasure amid the feeding we were told it’s the female that makes advances to the male. The golden monkeys are always feeding for most hours of the day and rest in the evening. They are always in groups of 80 individuals per group, which is led by an alpha male and the males are free to mate with any female in the group.

After the one hour of observing them, and taking enough pictures of all views, we were led back to the parking to head back.

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