Golden Monkey trekking in Mgahinga National park

The trekking involves moving on foot in the forest in search of the golden monkeys in their natural habitat and the park is located in the Southwestern part of Uganda in Kisoro district. The protected area harbors the endangered golden monkeys and the monkeys can also be found in Volcanoes national park in Rwanda, Virunga National Park, and Kahuzi Biega national park in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Trekking starts at 8 in the morning with a briefing at the headquarters where you will be given the rules and relegations before starting the trek.

After the briefing, you will continue to the jungle to start with the day’s activity which takes about 30mins-3hours depending on where the golden monkey families are since they jump from one tree to another looking for food but during the trekking, clients are advised to follow the trails of leftover bamboo shoots, leaves, fruits and once they are got you are allowed to spend one hour with them in their natural habitat where you learn their habits, behaviors, watch them feed, play, jump up in the trees where you can take photos, make videos that will always remain as a memory with the golden monkeys.

The park also offers a golden monkey habituation experience where the monkeys are trained to get used to the human presence for trekking. Visitors who want to engage in the golden monkey habituation experience are allowed to spend four hours with them.

The golden monkey permit is a document issued by Uganda Wildlife Authority or the tourists can get the permit through the assistance of tour operators and tourists above 15 years allowing them to visit the monkeys. A golden Monkey permit costs $60 for Foreign Non-Residents, $50 for Foreign Residents, and UGX 40,000 FOR East Africa Community and the price includes park entrance fees, the one-hour encounter with the golden monkey, and the service of a park guide.

Best time to go for golden monkey trekking which can be done at any time throughout the year but mostly, especially during the dry season in the months of June, July, August, and September since the trails will be passable and to be able to view other wildlife species.

Getting to the park can be accessed by road and air whereby a person using the road will take about 8-9 hours to reach the park and those who want to fly to the park will book from the Entebbe International Airport by the use of the Aero link.