The golden monkey is a species of Old World monkey found in the volcanoes in north-west Rwanda, the Virunga volcanic mountains of central Africa, including Mgahinga in south-west Uganda. It is restricted to highland forest, especially near bamboo.
This species was previously thought to be a subspecies of the blue monkey, and the two are similar overall, but the golden monkey has an orange patch on the upper flanks and back. Not much is known about the golden monkey’s behaviour.it lives in social groups of up to 30 individuals, its diet consists mainly of bamboo, leaves and fruit, though it is also thought to eat insects. Due to the gradual destruction of their habitat and recent wars in the limited habitat, the golden monkey is listed as endangered.
The golden monkeys eat mostly bamboo shoots. These have got two habituated troops within Volcanoes National Park, and the larger troop found in Sabyinyo has between 80 to 100 members, and this is the most visited troop. There is no limit on the number of people who can do the trek and also no age limit for golden monkey trekking. There is always one session for golden monkey tracking in the whole day, and this takes place early in the morning, like many other tourist activities within the Volcanoes National Park.
You will have to report at the headquarters at 7:00 am, where you will meet ranger guides for the briefing, and then you will drive to the starting point of the trek, which takes only 15 mins away from the edge of the park. These golden monkeys have long tails, which can also get stuck by the bamboo, and then these are cut off, as you will see some monkeys with short tails.
These are also some of the shyest monkeys you can come close to within a meter. They are delightful for photography, and the flash is allowed, which is not the case with the gorilla and chimpanzee trekking in Rwanda. These monkeys also love eating Irish potatoes, which is left behind after harvest. They dig and clean the Irish potatoes before eating, and this is so amazing to watch.
You will set off for the volcano at 4:30 am in order to reach in time for the briefing of the golden monkey hike.it will take about 2 hrs 25 mins to the volcano. After the briefing, you will start the trek. These monkeys will easily be found as they mostly live at the bottom of the volcano mountains within the bamboo forest and by just following the traces of fresh leftovers from the bamboo shoots eaten, the trackers are then able to locate them within an hour.
The guests also spend 1 hour watching these beautiful creatures as they try picking the bamboo shoots. And also make vast leaps from tree to tree. This is possible with their long tails that provide balance. You will have a lunch break, then drive back to Kigali to your hotel.
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