Posh and I had to decide if we wanted to go on a canopy tour or go on a Colobus monkey trek in Ngunywe National Park. At first we planned to go on the canopy tour, but after the excitement of seeing the chimps, we wanted to see more wildlife and opted for the Colobus monkeys.
David drove us to a nearby tea plantation where we met our guide and our tracker.
We walked for only a few minutes before we came across the Colobus monkeys. There were dozens of them scampering in the trees on the tea plantation's periphery. Chimps are predators so Colobus monkeys tend to be found in the thin trees on the periphery of the forest because chimps prefer to be in denser trees. Colobus monkeys eat three times a day and spend the remainder of their waking hours grooming, resting, and playing. They live for about twenty five years and weigh about the same as house cats.
It wasn't long before a huge downpour drove us to seek shelter, so we patiently waited for the rain to pass. We were pretty wet, but the fast moving rain clouds caused dramatic changes in the sky which we loved watching.
When the rain let up enough, we headed back out. In addition to the Colobus monkeys, our guide pointed out blue monkeys, Mona monkeys, and a hybrid monkey (more on the hybrid monkey in the next post!). The rain continued on and off for much of the afternoon, but the monkeys weren't phased by it, so we happily stayed to watch them. The rain meant that the lighting wasn't ideal for photos, but that also meant we out down our cameras for awhile and just enjoyed the scene.
We were thrilled with our decision to see the monkeys instead of going on the canopy tour. Our guide was great company and answered a million nonstop questions from us about the monkeys. And the monkeys, of course, were fascinating and hilarious to watch!
