Above: Our trip to Rwanda had many special and unique experiences, but a big highlight of the trip was the day we hiked into the Virunga Mountains to see a troop of golden monkeys. Golden monkeys are endangered, and the remaining few thousand individuals live only in the Virungas. Spotting the first few monkeys, we all grabbed our cameras. I think we all took a ton of pictures of them before we realized that there were monkeys all around us—in the trees, in the bushes, on the ground—dozens of them. Several troops have been habituated to people so they mostly ignored our small group of larger primates and went about their business. They ignored us so completely that when I sat on the ground, several passed so close I could have touched them. Of course I resisted that temptation, but it was incredible just to sit in their space and soak it all in. Getting close-up pictures was not a challenge, but my big camera let me capture lots of detail and composition. I love this one because the youngster looks so contemplative.
Below: Our group opted for two days visiting the mountain gorillas of Virunga National Park. This silverback is leader of the Kwisanga group. Both days we had extremely close encounters with the gorillas. Just watching them eat, groom, and play was so fascinating. Several of us were moved to tears at how special the encounters were.
Photos and story by Geoffrey Reeves
Rwanda with Drs. Dieter and Netzin Steklis
