Golden Monkey Trek - Rwanda
 

Can't seem to locate this answer in a search.

Looking for some details regarding visiting the golden monkeys. How long (typically) does it take to reach them? Is it a strenuous walk?

If planning on 2 gorilla treks and 1 golden monkey trek, would you do:

- gorilla, gorilla, golden monkey?
- gorilla, golden monkey, gorilla?
- or golden monkey, gorilla, gorilla?

We are planning a "rest" day in Kigali, upon arrival, before any trekking starts.

Thanks,

Shane

Well I have not done the Golden Monkey Trek, but I did a google search and read a few sites. It sounds like the monkeys are habituated to people and so hopefully they will not dash off when you come close.
Unlike the chimp trek I did in Nyungwe which was phenomenally hard.

I think the key to which to do first is what you want to do from the gorilla trek. There are groups that are typically quick to get to: Amaharos or Sabinyos, less then 45 mins usually. There are also groups that take HOURS and HOURS to get to... I think Susa & Group 13.

So what type of gorilla trek do you want?

Waynehazle, we just want to visit the gorillas. ;-)

ok, seriously...we actually will make requests for the "easier" gorilla treks. My travel companion is a great friend of mine who is in her early 60's. Earlier this year, she was diagnosed with non-progressive MS. It's always been a dream of hers to visit the gorillas, so here we go. She doesn't have any less ability to walk or anything at this point, but there is still a slight concern of keeping it on the less strenuous side of things - realizing, of course, that "easy" or "less strenuous" is never a guarantee when "chasing" wild animals.

Truth be told, she'll probably beat me up the mountain. lol She very active and runs a llama/sheep farm in New Zealand.

Shane: you may want to reconsider the golden monkey trek given that your traveling companion may not be up for strenuous activities. The golden monkeys are very elusive and much more active than the gorillas -- constantly and quickly on the move from tree to tree. Once we found the monkeys, we had to follow them, which involved going off trail and through some pretty dense trees/underbrush. We covered a lot of ground while tracking them, which was part of the fun of the adventure. My wife and I really enjoyed seeing the monkeys, but it is a very different experience than seeing the gorillas. Our trek to reach the Susa group was much longer and up quite higher, but once we found the gorillas it was pretty easy since they were just lounging around together all out in the open.

Cheers,
Darren

Is it possible to request a gorilla family--and expect to be assigned to trek THAT family?? I would definitely consider treking for an hour each way but don't think I could last any longer. I have almost given up the idea of seeing the gorillas.
Jane

hmmm...good to know, Darren. Thanks for the info. She wants to do as much as possible with this before, God forbid, she is not able to someday. But we also want to be realistic in our expectations.

Shane
This January, I did both the gorilla trekking in Rwanda and the Golden Monkey. I really enjoyed the Golden Monkey trek, it was good fun and they were great to watch.
The trek was probably about one/two hours to the area where the monkeys were and then we scrambled through the forest to follow them. About an hour to get down the mountain again.
The climb up was tiring in parts but it was worth it (even in the rain!) and my group all enjoyed the experience.
I did 2 gorilla treks and one golden monkey and then another 2 gorilla treks in Uganda.

Jane, the earlier you show up at the park station the day of your trek, the earlier you can put in your request -- so the better the chance that you will get your request. Or if your trip is organized with a tour operator, they might be able to send someone to the headquarters early in the morning to put in your request. It's kind of chaotic there on busy days, so it is good to have someone lobbying for you who knows the guy who is assigning tourists to groups. That's how we got the Susa group, which is a pretty popular request (but probably not the group that you want to see).
Darren

Thank you, Darren. I might re-think gorilla treking. We hope to go to East Africa in 2008.
Jane

JaneB, I didn't mean to dissuade you from gorilla trekking! It is an incredible experience, and definitely the highlight of my trip to East Africa last summer. There are groups that are close and relatively easy to trek to.
Darren

No, no--I'm now considering it again after crossing it off my list! :)

Good for you, Jane. I hope you get to do it.

I SO want my friend to get to see the gorillas. I think if she felt like she couldn't make it, I'd piggy-back her up the mountain.

I can just see the look of excitement on her face when I first even mentioned the trip to her. Now that she's gearing up for it, I would do anything to make it happen for her.