You must stay...

Opportunities to learn, explore and work with our new friends abound. From the teachers and students at Katarara School to Grace and the other teachers at the Women's Clinic & Nursery School to the workers at the Golden Monkey Guesthouse we have been playing cards with this afternoon- everyone keeps saying 'You must stay'. But right now the person who I would consider (half jokingly) changing the itinerary for is Sandra Grey, a primatologist who we met that studies the endangered golden monkeys in the mountain next to Kisoro. Her work studying them and her conservation program are inspiring- and a great opportunity for the future. She allows groups to work with her researchers trekking the monkeys, aiding the rangers and monitoring the behavior of the monkeys- with real possibility of seeing forest elephants and buffalo on the mountain. Sandra, my new hero, and I bonded over our love of fieldwork and being in the forest. While it made me miss my times studying conquis in the mountains of Puerto Rico, it made me more determined to return to Kisoro with more students and work with her- that is unless I ditch the group in the middle of the night to ascend the mountain to meet the golden monkeys!! JK Mr. Bracker

The Boys and Paul playing cards