Golden Monkey Tracking in the Virungas

The kids had the week of Oct 15-23 off from school so we headed north to a part of Rwanda we hadn’t seen before—the Virungas. The Virunga Mountains contain a number of extinct as well as active volcanoes. They are also home to the endangered Mountain Gorillas and the rare golden monkeys. Although Augustus is just old enough to visit the gorillas, the girls aren’t so we opted for the hike to see the golden monkeys. There are about 2 or 3 groups that have been habituated to humans and one can get really up-close with these guys out in the wild, although touching is not permitted.

It’s advisable to head to park headquarters and pay in advance because reporting time in the morning is 7 am. It’s also very chaotic as most of the park patrons are there for the gorillas and the guides spend a good deal of time trying to organize the groups before heading out to their respective start points. Our start point was a little village about 8 minutes away from the headquarters. We walked through a number of potato fields toward the forest. Having rained heavily the day before, it was quite muddy. Emma had rubber boots and faired the best. It was also quite cool and we were glad of the several layers of clothing we had piled on. We entered the bamboo forest at the edge of the cultivation where a sizable rock wall has been constructed to keep the buffalo from intruding on the farms. We could already see the monkeys foraging for vegetation in the tree tops from the entry point. When we got into the bamboo thicket itself, we could see the little guys were just everywhere. Hikers are allowed to spend an hour within observing the troop. We got to see them jumping through the trees, grooming each other and foraging for their favorite delicacy, tender bamboo shoots. Apparently, consumption of the bamboo shoots is somewhat akin to consuming alcohol—our guide likened it to drinking beer.

Because we have a resident visa, we were able to pay a reduced admission of $65/person. The fee for non-residents is $100 US. For a family of five, that’s quite a chunk of change just for admission. We were in a group of about 20 whose nationalities varied from European to Australian to American. We also stayed in a cool lodge (blog post to follow on that) as arriving from Kigali for a 7 am rendez-vous is virtually impossible, although some do. So, it was a nice outing for the kids and they got to enjoy a rarity that may not exist within the next 50 years. Was it worth the expense is debatable, however. I’m still trying to justify spending that kind of money in a place whose average per capita income is around $900US /year. Reid says it’s all part of the redistribution of the wealth burden that we muzungus must shoulder! Not sure, though that the wealth is reaching those who are in need of it most, unfortunately.