We are in Parc Nationale du Volcanos, which is nestled in the corner of Rwanda between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This morning we went trekking to observe Golden Monkeys. They are just about extinct - there are only two known communities left. We observed the smaller community, which has about 150 individuals. 
These monkeys like eating tender bamboo shoots, so they tend to make frequent trips to the ground to grab some fresh ones, and then ascend a short way into the bamboo to chow down. 
They are somewhat habituated to people, so they let you approach to within a few meters. They were absolutely fascinating to watch!!!
We had a ton of fun watch ing these guys! We were in a group of 13 tourists, but there were so many monkeys that each of us had our own bunch to watch. We were accompanied by 4 professional trackers, who follow the community as a full time job. We also had a guide and two armed rangers from the national park service - the armed guys were there in case of rogue elephants or buffalo. The fees to enter the national park are very, very steep, but they put 10% of the fees into local improvement projects such as schools and hospitals. The rest of the fees are used to pay off former poachers (they now work as trackers!), for conservation and to improve national infrastructure. Lots of road building here right now - most of it by hand!
Tomorrow - gorillas!!
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