2 Tage Wandern in den Bergen Bisoke/Gahinga/Golden Monkey Trekking

I hiked Bisoke Volcano, trekked to the Golden Monkeys, and canoed Mukunga River. I left at 4:30 am from Kigali on Saturday and returned on Sunday at 7:30 pm. A full weekend! This is the beginning of the rainy season, so trail up to Bisoke Volcano was very muddy! Very, very muddy! Maybe the muddiest I have hiked and I have hiked around the world. Walking sticks and porters were indeed helpful. Good to have high hiking boots with gaiters or rubber boots. Those can actually be rented. Also good to have gloves to avoid the stinging nettles, which, believe me, really sting. Long pants, long sleeve good too, with something warm for top (10 F) and rain jacket and water. Hiking up is tough with elevation but hiking down is tougher with mud. Takes about 5-6 hours in total. Five Volcanos did a great job cleaning up my very muddy shoes and socks after that trek while I enjoyed a delicious lunch. I spent the night at La Locanda, which is the economy choice. This was a simple, lovely hotel, tastefully decorated, with excellent meals. Rooms are spartan but comfortable. The common area is warm and music-filled from a turntable playing La Vie en Rose. Trek to Golden Monkeys was easy and really enjoyable. Easy hike in to the bamboo forest close to the edge of the park. Easy to find the group of 30+ golden monkeys feasting on bamboo shoots this time of year. The moms are having babies at this time of year so we got to see some little babies. The monkeys have been habituated to humans so it's really an intimate, peaceful experience. We spent about an hour quietly walking around and then departed. Great experience. I spent a an hour or so then at the Ellen DeGeneres Annex of the Dian Fosse Museum, which was definitely worth the $20 donation. Very interesting, very informative, though I would check against the Wikipedia entry for Dian Fosse. The canoe trip on the Mukunga River was a lot of fun and a great way to see a variety of birds and crops grown in the area. I was in one canoe and the guide in another. The river winds through the countryside with a decent, but not too fast current. There is a small class 1 rapids under the first bridge which was fun. There were also two short portages. Finally, a section of the river that the guide called "the bamboo experience" in which the river narrows, current speeds up slightly, and you have to navigate a bit more carefully, was definitely better than any Disney World ride :) The trip took about 2 hours or so. We got rained on but I didn't care since I was wearing my bathing suit and it wasn't really cold. Finally, I of course need to say a few words about my guide and driver during the weekend. Mr. Tuma was safe driver and most excellent companion providing interesting bits about the area and letting me sleep when I needed to. He took good care of me for those 40 hours or so. All in all, hats off to Heritage Safaris for a great weekend,

Could not ask for a better organized, more thoughtful and engaging guide / your company. Everything was so well organized from the preparations on what to bring (saving much angst) through to helping us get the kind of trek we wanted. I cannot recommend them enough - just do it!