Of Golden Monkeys and Stunning Views

Our first trek in to the Volcanoes National Park from Musanze. Mike Cranfield, the Director of the MGVP, and our contact here in Rwanda, had to run to Uganda just before we arrived to save a baby Gorilla from a snare. The news is very good, and he will be returning today after successfully removing the snare from around the baby’s neck. Mike and the rest of the people involved in the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary project are working tirelessly, and this is a prime example of how much they are doing for the local population. As Mike is on the road home, and the orphan Gorillas (that we plan on spending lots of quality time with) are still upset from the loss of their leader (who was relocated only a few days ago) we decided it was a good day to visit a little known second attraction in the park.

The Golden Monkeys are indigenous only to this very small region of the park; you cannot see them in any zoo as they are very protected by the local governments. It was also a great dry run for our Gorilla trek tomorrow, giving us a chance to test out our theories, and figure out how we are going to shoot in the deep jungle. The sun was shining and the day was perfect.

Today was also our first real view of Mount Mikeno, the volcano depicted in Akeley’s Diorama and focus of our mission here. The sky was clear and you could see much of the range before it got shrouded in thick thunderclouds and misery. We may be unlucky when it comes to our visa issues, but we were lucky in light today and blessed with hundreds of rare monkeys.

The hike through the jungle was great. Bamboo season brings the monkeys and gorillas down low in the hills in search of sweet shoots. Interestingly enough, the trackers believe the Bamboo shoots are a bit like catnip for gorillas, as they tend to be a bit wilder during the bamboo season. More fights break out and they all act a bit squirrelly.

Interesting bits of learning for today:

The monkeys and gorillas move constantly. In order for the guides to find the migrating tribes, there are permenant ‘trackers’ who follow the families all day, until they tuck in for bed at night, then resume their jobs all day every day so that they won’t lose them.

In the last few years, the park has encouraged poachers to become porters. It has become very important to get a porter for the high cost of ten bucks for the day to carry your gear, no matter how light the load. Keeping poachers employed as porters is saving the animals for the tourists. Plan on having a porter no matter how odd it feels to have someone lug around your gear.

The monkeys are totally worth the extra hundred (+ cost of cab) if you love primates. This is a blast. Bring a long lens for your camera cuz they like to sit up high in the bamboo. I love monkeys, so this was an amazing experience for me.

Bring some small change ( 5’s and 10’s) for gifts and souvenirs. Once again, the local area is trying to get local artisans to become part of the Gorilla business. The art may be simple, but it is hand made and supports the local community, which in turn gets everyone on the side of conservation.

There is plenty more to learn here, but lets get back to the story.

Steve and Jeff were ecstatic to learn that our guide Fidel was very knowledgable about local birds and plants. He was a quiet and friendly soul, soft spoken, excellent english and very funny. I think that a good guide should always have these traits, and I am sure the Park makes sure that all the guides are like this. We leaned so much today, and he took real pleasure in showing us his forest home.

Good news! My construction boot idea worked! I had super grip, and out of all the tacky tourists, I fell in the mud the least. Bully for me!

We spent and hour with the monkeys; the time flew by. The hour rule is enforced for all the tours. You would think that it was all a marketing ploy but really it is a part of the wonderful work MGVP is doing here. Keeping the visits to the Gorillas to 1 visit a day, for 1 hour a day, helps stop the spread of human diseases to the fragile animals. As our new friends also explained to us… No one wants visitors all day every day, eventually you would get frustrated and tell everyone to leave you alone. The hour may seem short, but if it keeps all these creatures alive, then I am 100% behind it.

After a short and laughter-filled trek out of the bamboo jungle, we had a quick lunch and went next door to visit the MGVP to see if Mike had returned from his quest. The guard at the gate explained that Mike was not back, but welcomed us in and took us to the open arms of a person we had wanted to meet for a long time.

Jean-Felix Kinani is MGVP’s Rwandan in-country field veterinarian. What a wonderful person. We spent over two hours with him discussing his passion for the local wildlife, and his love of his people. We learned so much today, things like the local Gorilla population has showed a 17% increase since 2008 ( I am pretty sure that was the number). What an epic increase! We can spend our lives doubting human impact, global warming, deforestation, light polution, plastic ocean destruction, but numbers like that prove that conservation efforts work. Done.

Tomorrow we go on our first Gorilla hike. Only a handful of people get to do this each year. I count myself blessed to get a chance to be part of it. Thankyou.

Don’t forget to check out Steve and Jeff’s blogs for a different perspective!

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