Golden monkey trekking, is a physical exercise thus requires one to be physically fit to follow the monkeys at ahigh speed. Most times when they see humans, they run up on the trees but you wait patiently for them to descend to the ground and once you have met them, you will spend one hour with them in their natural habitat.

Golden monkeys live in bamboo forest areas and can only be found in Virunga volcanoes and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, the Golden monkeys are endemic Albertine Rift Valley, they share their home with the endangered gorillas. Mgahinga is the only park in Uganda where you can do golden monkey trekking.

Golden monkey trekking, involves Hiking in to the forest in search for the Habituated golden monkeys. The activity starts at 8:00am with a brief orientation at the park headquarters by an experienced guide on what to do during the golden monkey trek and while you are in the presence of this primates. After the briefing you will head in to the forest using the Gahinga trail in search for the golden monkeys. As you walk, you come to life with the noise and the sounds of the monkeys jumping from tree to another as they eat and play. The activity isn’t stramineous compared to gorilla trekking since the monkeys live in low land areas it can last for about 3 hours and one hour is allowed to be with them as you watch them.

Just like gorilla trekking and chimpanzee trekking, travellers taking part in trekking golden monkeys, are required to carry the following essentials during the hike in the forest including; Comfortable hiking boots, long sleeved shirt and trousers, sunscreen, snacks and drinking water in case you feel hydrated, insect repellent, a hat, rain jacket, Binoculars for viewing distant birds, camera and you can also hire a porter at a small fee to help in carrying your luggage, support you during slippery trails, or even push you. The walking stick, also come handy to give you support during the hike.

Best time to visit

Mgahinga national park, is open to travellers through out the year and you can visit the park any time of the year and it’s a guarantee that you will do Golden monkey trekking. the park can be accessed by both road and air transport and also from Rwanda Kigali to Mgahinga. From Entebbe to the park, it takes about 9-10 hours drive by road but there also chattered flights that can be arranged from Entebbe international airport to Kisoro airstrip and the guide will pick you up and transfer to the park.

Travellers can also use fly in Rwanda flights and land in Kigali then transfer to Mgahinga national park and do Golden monkey tracking then return back to Kigali, the park is situated at the boarder between Rwanda and Uganda thus the drive time by road takes about 4hours.
The park also offers golden habituation experience where you get to spend longer time with the monkeys. The activity involves learning the nature and the behaviours of the golden monkeys, you will be in the company of researchers and experts. Both golden monkey trekking and habituation experience requires you to purchase a tracking permit to be able to do these activities.

The permit costs $60 for foreign non-residents and $50 per permit for residents while East African citizens pay UGX40,000 per person per person, all tracking permits are used once and required to pay in advance. The permits can be purchased on the ground from the park headquarters of Ntebeko, or through a registered tour company.

For Golden monkey habituation, the permit costs $100 per person for foreign non- residence and $80 for foreign residence, for the East African community, the permits cost UGX 100,000 per person for habituation experience.