Reviews: Golden Monkey Trekking

"This was a great trek, approx 3.5 hrs . An easy walk through potato fields to the edge of the forest then a degree of scrambling over walls and foliage to find the golden monkeys.

The hour was spent watching them in the trees and on the walls, a great experience" Read more about this whole safari

"The National Park HQ is set in lovely grounds, with modern buildings and excellent coffee and toilet facilities. The impression is of a big melee of people, but it is all very professionally organised, and people are soon assigned to their group and introduced to the leader who outlines the plan for the morning.

We had originally thought of the Golden Monkey trek mainly as a warm up for the Gorilla trek. However, the trek was very worthwhile in its own right, as they are beautiful and delightfully entertaining animals.

We went out in a group of about 14 people with our guide, Ignataus, who was pleasant and informative. It was an easy, but very interesting, walk through agricultural land - passing adults working in the fields and children, often guarding the sheep or cows or looking after younger members of the family, all of them happy to wave and say hello.

We met the trackers and reached the group of monkeys just at the base of the forest. At first it seemed that it might be difficult to spot them as they moved quickly through the bamboo, but then we realised that there were lots in the open field. This is where we spent a very enjoyable hour watching and photographing them. They seemed completely unfazed by our presence, and often walked very close to us, concentrating totally on the next juicy thistle or their next place to dig up a potato. The trackers kept a good eye on what was going on, but they remained very unobtrusive.

All in all a great morning." Read more about this whole safari

"The group of 15 people is too big, 8 people per visit would have been better" Read more about this whole safari

"We did the golden monkey trekking the day before the gorilla trekking.

A nice “warm up” for the main event. A short hike. Easy hike. Golden monkeys were fun and entertaining.

Well worth the hike." Read more about this whole safari

"This is a good warm-up trek but nothing like the gorilla experience. The group size was too big, and we had a mixed level of fitness among the different members, which made the pace of the trek frustrating for some" Read more about this whole safari

"The golden monkey trek was great and the area was beautiful.

All the guides and porters were very nice and helpful.

The only reason I gave it a good was because it rained the whole time and I was soaked to the bone when I was done.
Make sure you have really good rain gear!" Read more about this whole safari

"It was amazing to see so many golden monkeys!" Read more about this whole safari

"The Golden Monkeys came down to the fields right by the forest to steal potatoes.

We had a chance to take great pictures and the experience was just delightful." Read more about this whole safari

"enjoyable

It would have been good to know that porters are strongly recommended. Because there were no lock boxes at the hotel we carried our valuables.

If we knew about the porters we would have consolidated those items into a small bag and let the porters carry the large one. With no forewarning that was awkward.

Also it was not clear how much we should pay the porters." Read more about this whole safari

"I was pleasantly surprised by how enjoyable the Golden Monkey Trekking was since we added it as an activity when we had an unexpected extra day. The hike to get to the monkeys was mostly flat and easy although the terrain is sometimes uneven. The monkeys move throughout the canopy but many get very close and come within feet of you on the ground or in low trees. We were with a troupe of about 125 and many babies. They're beautiful animals and chatter to each other constantly. Our guide and the rangers were great and made sure each of us had multiple opportunities to get close to the animals. Very good experience that I would recommend.

Note to future travelers: Please hire one porter for each traveler. This supports the local economy and is the livelihood for the porters. It's worth the $20 US to have them help you through rough terrain, carry your backpack and make sure you have a good experience. This is their job. Please, please support them by hiring them for your trek." Read more about this whole safari