Golden Monkeys. Rwanda
We were offered this trek only once we were already there—we hadn’t planned it back in Lithuania. But, as so often happens, unplanned things turn out to be the most wonderful experiences. Once again: an early wake-up, trekking clothes on, a drive to the center where we pay for permits and wait to be assigned a guide before heading out. Golden monkeys are a subspecies of blue monkeys. They are endangered and therefore protected. Like mountain gorillas, they live in the Virunga Mountains—only in Rwanda, Uganda, and the DRC. It’s estimated that there are about 5,000 golden monkeys in Rwanda. Our guide told us that there were no permits left—but because he had previously worked as a park ranger before becoming a guide, he somehow managed to get permits anyway.
Everything was official, since we paid by card—just that, as he said, “off the street” we wouldn’t have been able to buy them. Super duper! Everything moved much faster than with the gorillas, and soon we were already heading toward the area where we would again have to climb toward the forests where they live. The guide asked whether we had already seen gorillas. When we said yes, he laughed and said that today, by comparison, would be a “baby hike” (child’s play)
Golden monkeys love altitude (they usually live at 3,000 meters and above) and bamboo, which is why deforestation and human activity pose a threat to them—activity that is present here and actively being limited. Like mountain gorillas, their fur is denser, adapted to the cool mountain climate. True to the guide’s word, we climbed for only about half an hour when armed park trackers appeared. They track the monkeys and communicate with the guide to direct us so we don’t wander aimlessly through the forest. They took our walking sticks and backpacks, and we pushed into the dense forest, already hearing the monkeys’ calls.
These monkeys are much noisier—you can clearly hear where to go. And suddenly—there they were. MANY of them. Running around, eating bamboo (they do everything fast!), climbing, jumping, tumbling—you barely have time to turn around, let alone avoid getting peed on by one sitting on a branch above you, happily chewing bamboo! I found them incredibly beautiful—truly golden long-tailed monkeys. They are called “golden” because of the yellow-orange fur on their backs, tails, and cheeks. It’s believed they originate from a different monkey family than gorillas or chimpanzees. Although they also eat fruit and flowers (we even saw them searching for potatoes in harvested fields near the forest!), their main food is bamboo. Watching them eat is pure joy: breaking, peeling, chewing, scanning their surroundings—and if they don’t like a piece of bamboo, they toss it aside and break a new one. Hypnotizing to watch. The guide said that during fruit season they feast on fruit, but bamboo still makes up most of their diet. Bamboo is not only food for them—they also build nests in bamboo, and unlike gorillas, they often return to the same nests to sleep.
Golden monkey groups are large—sometimes 30, sometimes even 80 in one group. The guide explained that groups mostly consist of females and young, while males tend to “migrate.” Still, when we were there, there were males present too—one large male was followed by a group of monkeys. Because there were so many of them and they don’t appear threatening, our group (up to 14–15 people are allowed; we were two families—us and one from New York, also with four older children) spread out. The feeling was as if you were alone, surrounded by monkeys, barely keeping up with everything happening: some fighting, some eating, some swinging, some passing right by you along branches, others jumping down to the ground and sprinting past—blink and you miss it! I found the golden monkeys endlessly adorable—giving me feelings similar to what Bruknė (our miniature poodle) evokes! Their little eyes, hands, that seemingly soft fur, and incredible agility—it’s impossible not to be charmed.
If the hour with gorillas flew by because you were overwhelmed by their majesty, here it felt like you barely caught fragments of what these energetic creatures were doing. You giggle when a baby swings on a branch, gasp when they race right past you, jump aside to avoid being peed on—because one, looking straight into your eyes, decides she needs to go right here and now. And of course, they came very close—the closest of all—if not brushing you with their fur, then certainly with their tails.
The walk back felt light, full of impressions. And the views—enchanting. Sheep and cows on the slopes of a fantastically beautiful volcano, surrounded by other volcanoes (Rwanda’s volcanoes are not active)—I wanted to photograph everything. I understand that we came for the animals, and that our visit helps protect them, but I had to keep reminding myself to simply look around, because the nature of Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda is among the most beautiful, I’ve ever seen.
Golden monkeys are absolutely worth seeing—just make sure to arrange permits in advance, because your guide might not have park connections to secure last-minute permits. It would have been a real shame to miss this. Another life lesson learned: you will never regret trying. Many books say people regret what they didn’t try, not what they did—but still we hesitate, whether because of money, time, or who knows what else. I am (still) learning to say YES to experiences. Because even if I don’t like it—I never regret having tried.
