Chimp Trekking

This morning we got up very early to drive to Kibale forest. The drive was absolutely beautiful. When we arrived for chimp trekking there were a few other groups there that were to join us (18 people in total). One group was of 6 Italians who couldn’t have looked more European. We had a good laugh at them and prayed that we wouldn’t be in their group as they were all chain smokers.

We were told to break up into small groups of 6 so we had a European couple join us. They were loaded up with fancy cameras and proper hiking boots, while we were in our running shoes with ankle socks. Before we entered the forest we were told to tuck our pants into our socks to protect us from the safari ants. Of course none of us could do that because our socks weren’t long enough, so we were just careful where we stepped.

As we started the walk our guide told us about all the things that live in the forest which included, chimps, several other types of monkeys, snakes, elephants, antelope, and of course many types of bugs. Two of the other volunteers were terrified of the snakes and were constantly on the look out for them. When I asked the guide what he was most afraid of, he told me the snakes (because they were extremely poisonous) and the forest elephants. He described a time where he was giving a tour to some older people and they came up on some forest elephants who started to charge them. They all had to run for their lives and many of them fell and hurt themselves. You know its bad when your guide starts praying to God and telling you to run as fast as you can.

We were very luck in the fact that we ran into some chimps about 15 minutes into our walk. They were in the trees as well as on the ground in front of us. We watched them groom each other for about 40 minutes while our guide told us lots of interesting stories about how they live.

After some time our guide radioed to the other groups to see if they found any chimps and none of them were successful. He invited them to come where we were so that they could see them close up. When they arrived they all swarmed the chimps and scared them off. Idiots. We just left and went for a walk through the forest where our guide talked about all the different trees and bugs and what they are used for. We even had a bit of a sex ed class. He pointed out a certain tree that is used for men “who have low batteries” (Africa’s own natural Viagra) There was also another tree for women “who are sexually dry” Apparently this tree will make you “soft and jelly” We all had a good laugh.

After the walk we started our 6 hour drive back to Mukono. When we arrived we just ate and went straight to bed.

Jenn