Month: February 2019

Well, this is a good sign. I get out of bed and the clouds are dispersing. Today we might be lucky. I sit on the verandah and prepare to pour myself a cup of tea. A tray has been left for me. It has a very heavy wooden cover over the top to prevent the vervet monkeys stealing anything before I can get to it. I pour my tea and eat a biscuit. The biscuits are home-made and so good!

I pack my backpack with cameras and binoculars, pick up my water bottle and head off for breakfast. We have again been told to eat breakfast at 08.00 and be ready to leave at a moment’s notice. I am just eating my eggs when Mwiga appears smiling. Some chimps have been found and if we take the boat to a nearby bay it will only be a short walk to find the chimpanzees. We gulp down our breakfast and make last minute toilet runs. Mwiga is impatient. He says “You do not understand. These are chimpanzees not gorillas. They move fast – you must hurry.”

We climb aboard the boat and head for the next bay. We quickly disembark and then walk pretty swiftly behind Mwiga. This is much easier than yesterday The terrain is fairly flat and we are on a broad track. We still need to watch out for ants and holes dug by bush pigs but otherwise the going is easy. Then after seemingly no time at all, Mwiga says “Look ahead. They they are.” We catch our first glimpse of the chimpanzees sitting ahead of us on the path.

To prevent us transmitting any diseases to the chimpanzees we are required to wear surgical masks when we get close. We also must keep a 10 meter distance from them. In practice this does not work as the chimps know nothing of this rule and very frequently approach us. We put on our masks and I pull my camera out of my rucksack.

I start trying to take photographs but immediately have a great deal of trouble. Everything is out of focus. The light is poor and the shutter speed is slow. This is hopeless. I switch my camera to video mode as that is always reliable in low light. Unfortunately, that is just recording blackness too. What the heck is wrong? I look at my camera lens. It is covered in condensation as humidity must be close on to 100%.

I grab a clean tissue and clean the lens. That seems better but I am still taking blurred shots. I pull out my little Olympus Tough and try using that. It’s OK but not a good enough zoom. In the meantime Mwiga has taken my camera to see if he has more success. He does not but as he hands it back to me I notice that the ND filter is on. I was using this to capture blurred rain shots yesterday and have not turned it off. That is probably the issue and it proves to be the case. However, these are incredibly challenging conditions and taking any quality shots is nigh on impossible but we all persevere. At the moment it looks like people are having more success with their iPhones. Shame I left mine in my room!

In our first encounter we meet Primus the alpha male. He makes his presence known to us by showing off. This includes screaming incredibly loudly and grabbing vines and shaking them violently.

He then sits on the path and is joined by two other chimps and they groom each other. Orion the No.2 is also here. Orion is not popular as he is selfish and is pushy with the females.He briefly sits with the group and then moves to the side of the track and sits on his own. Everyone ignores him and he is unlikely to ever become the alpha male as he lacks support from the other chimps. We end up watching a morning grooming session and then Nkombo (female) wants to play. Primus is not interested and she uses her best ploys to entice him. This includes playing with Primus’ tackle but he is not in the least interested. Very amusing to watch though!

Just as I am getting into the swing of taking photos on slow shutter speed the chimps decide to move from the path into the forest where it is much darker. They move slowly so we are able to follow them. More chimpanzees appear. Each chimpanzee has his own personality and we see a range of different behaviour.There is a combination of calm sitting, posing, and submissive screaming from a female carrying a baby. She rushes past us and disappears into the undergrowth to gain safety from we humans.

We follow the chimps deeper into the forest.

More appear and several walk towards me. I cannot believe how close they are. I continue filming and the first chimp walks straight up to me and stops by my feet. He is inches away. Unbelievable! I catch my breath, he moves on and another follows and does exactly the same thing. I never ever thought I would get so close.

There is one particular chimp called Michio who is a bit of a character. He took pleasure in posing on a tree branch and presented numerous amusing and interesting poses. We watched him closely, and at one stage, I obviously held eye contact for slightly too long. He jutted his head forward and looked at me as if to say “What are you staring at?” I looked away and he adopted a new pose with his back to me. Eventually he climbed down and proceeded to walk away. We were all fairly close and standing in a line. He strolled past us and as he came to Cristin, who was standing at the end he sidled up to her and gave her a quick slap on the wrist. She said that she also had been staring at him and reckons this was a chastisement from him. We share 98.7% of our DNA with chimpanzees and this was such a human-like action. I am delighted to say that I managed to capture the whole incident on video. This includes our laughter and surprised comments.

To protect the chimpanzees privacy visitors are only allowed to be with the chimps for maximum one hour per day and we are not allowed to track for more than three hours. All too soon our time is at an end and we must return to camp. We are accompanied by a ranger who ensures that we obey the rules. I think he was slightly lenient today as he felt sorry for us having walked for a long time yesterday with no encounter at the end of it.

Looks like we’re all in need of a snooze after our morning’s adventure!

When we arrive back at camp we are told our hot showers are ready. That shower feels so great after all the hot and sweaty trekking. I lie on the bed and write up some more of my blog until it is mid-day. Time for a glass of wine I think. I head over to the main camp and see a troop of vervet monkeys running around on the beach beside it. They are so cute and entertaining. I have my phone with me so stop to take some pictures with it.

The food here is really excellent and always seems to be exactly what you want to eat. Today lunch is Spanish omelette with lots of different salads. Totally delicious and the wine is pretty good too. Julien asks us what we should like to do this afternoon. Swim or boat trip or both? Cristin, John and I opt for an active afternoon so we choose both. Helen and Nina opt for a restful afternoon soaking up the ambience. Actually Helen is a great photographer and was eager to start editing her photos so I think she was quite busy in our absence.

We climb aboard the boat and head south down the coast. A direction we have not been before. Here there are tall reed beds and sandy beaches. It turns out there are also tsetse flies – nothing like as bad as on safari but nevertheless we all grab the bug spray pretty rapido!

I wish now that I had brought my big camera out. The birdlife is superb. Kingfishers abound and there are many varieties. They perch on branches and hover over the crystal clear water. The scenery is magnificent and I feel so privileged to be in this wonderful untouched wilderness. We head a little way up a small river. John and I wonder how we are going to turn round. It is pretty narrow and the boat is not very manoeuvrable. It turns out to be fine. The skipper has clearly done this before. He finds a slightly wider part of the channel and commences a three-point turn. It was all going very well until the boat hook caught on the reeds and snapped in half. I should mention at this point that the boat hook is home-made and you can see it on the bow in the pictures below. However it is a vital piece of equipment as buoys need to be picked up when we moor up and there are no handy chandlers in which to purchase a new one. We therefore nose the boat further into the reed beds to recover the broken hook and eventually complete our turn and head back to the lake.

This is hippo and crocodile territory. We do not see any, although we do see large imprints on the sand where crocs have been lying down. As there are so many hippos and crocs it is not safe to swim from the shore. We have to go out into deep water. Cristin and I are slightly apprehensive now. We have seen the evidence of animals that like to eat people. We are not totally convinced that the crocs cannot be bothered to swim a few hundred yards to devour us. Furthermore, as we cannot see any crocs on the banks, we are pretty sure they are all in the water just waiting for a tasty morsel!

Still, we do not want to appear churlish. We leap from the bow into the water with apparent enthusiasm. Today it is not as warm and deep grey clouds are forming over the mountains. John comments on how blue the sky is and “Isn’t it great that it is brightening up”. Hello?? The sky is black!! Now in fairness to John he was not wearing his glasses at the time but as Helen rightly observed later “This should not affect his ability to see colour”. I nickname him Mr Blue Sky. Inflatables are once more thrown down to us and we bob around in them for a while but the nagging doubt that beasties are lurking in the depths takes the edge off the enjoyment factor. Cristin and I lie and say it is a bit cold. We climb on board and I can then enjoy my sundowner G&T in complete safety. We head back to shore and the mooring ball is picked up with extreme efficacy by the implementation of a broom.

Another hot shower has been prepared for me. It is cooler tonight so I wear long sleeves to dinner. We eat inside as rain is definitely on its way. We can see dramatic lightning flashes over the Congo mountains on the horizon. Dinner conversation is easy. Cristin and Nina attack the amarula and conversation flows. Somehow at 23.00 talk turns to the pros and cons of having children. Julien sits politely at the end of the table but is very quiet. I am sure he is wishing we would all go to bed and stop talking about babies! We do eventually oblige but I am not sure at what time.

We have been told to meet for breakfast at 08.00 and be completely ready with cameras, water bottles and ponchos. The trackers set off at the break of day and as soon as they locate the chimpanzees they will notify us. Chimps move around the forest fast and can disappear into really inaccessible terrain so we need to be ready to move at a moments notice. Breakfast is good – there is a menu with lots of choices. I opt for scrambled egg and avocado on toast. It totally hits the spot, along with fruit, juice and coffee.

We sit and wait, 09.00 no news, 10.00 the trackers have found the chimps but they are in a valley and not easy to get to. Julien says he is sorry but we must wait and be patient. We are fine as we are all here for 3 days so feel we have time on our side. Then it starts to rain. Not a light shower but proper torrential stuff with a strong gusty wind. This sends us into hiding and the chimps will be sheltering too. Nothing for it but to chat, read and try taking clever photos of the rain. I have not really got much of a clue what I am doing but it seems like a good opportunity to become more familiar with my camera settings.

Eventually the rain eases up. Julien suggests we have an early lunch in case the chimps start moving about later. The rain stops and the sun starts to come out. We all go back to rest in our rooms having been trapped in the communal area for the past two hours. Someone will come to get us if there is any sign of action. I lie on my bed and write up some more of my blog when I here grunting outside my room. I think it must be a bush pig as there are many around here but it is a troop of vervet monkeys and they are arguing with the red-tailed monkey over territory. The vervets win and then entertain me for half an hour or so. I grab my camera and try to capture their antics. Boy they are quick and there are a lot of leaves! Combine that with the fact that they are in trees and the light is behind them and I am starting to realise that I have many camera technique deficiencies. I feel this is going to be another sharp learning curve if I want any decent shots at all. Well, I am never one to be beaten and in the end I think I did OK.

As the weather has cleared Julien asks me if I would like to do a bush walk. We probably will not see the chimps but you never know….

Mwiga leads the way and the five of us follow him down the track. This looks like a well used path so we do not need to claw our way through the undergrowth. This is a pleasant surprise as I thought it may be like the vegetation at Ngorongoro which was thick and lush. I suppose, because there is a thick tree canopy here, not much light penetrates to the forest floor. However this path has different obstacles. It of course rained very heavily earlier and the ground is muddy and slippery. Not a problem on the flat but much of our path is up and down valleys so watching your footing requires much concentration. Before we set off we were told to tuck our trousers in our socks as a defence against safari and Matabele ants. Mwiga says that their bite is the most painful thing that you can experience. Helen says he obviously has not had a baby! You absolutely do not want these inside your trousers and as we discover there are quite a few columns of them marching through the undergrowth. Before long we encounter a small stream and need to cross it by footbridge. The bridge is rustic with nothing to hold on to. I am not at all sure that it is safe. We cross one at a time and everyone is relieved to reach the far side. In fairness the drop is not that great – probably only 10 feet or so but it would still hurt!

We are not allowed to wear hats as they will block our sight and we will not see low branches. Equally sunglasses are not necessary and insect repellant has to be used in camp. No chemicals are allowed in the forest. I have to say I am surprised that actually there are very few insects in the forest. The eco-system must be very well balanced. I do hear cicadas which are incredibly noisy and I see ants and butterflies but little else. We march on, it is hot and humid but actually quite fun. I just get wary on slippery downslopes and like to take Mwiga’s hand to steady me. We walk towards the chimps and do hear them but they are in a deep valley so sadly we shall not meet them today. After a couple of hours hard walking we return to camp. At least we have all experienced the forest and know a bit more what to expect tomorrow.

Back at camp, never has a hot shower been more welcome (or a G&T). A campfire has been lit on the beach and we sit with pre-dinner drinks. Dinner is under cover tonight as it is likely there will be rain later. We look over the lake and can see flashes of lightning over the Congo. Julien apologises and says he is sure we will see the chimps tomorrow. We are all surprisingly relaxed – believing that it is only a matter of time. Although we did not see the chimps today it has been a wonderful day. Very relaxed after a hard week on safari so actually I think we are all quite happy to not have been too active today.

I head off to bed and fall asleep almost immediately. I wake at 04.00 to hear strange sounds. I have no idea what they are. A grunting outside then scratching above me. I could do with using the bathroom but really do not fancy the walk to get there. I think I shall stay put. There is nothing inside the mosquito net and that is of comfort. The best plan is to go back to sleep asap. Thank goodness I am one of those lucky people who can sleep at the drop of a hat. The next thing I know is that my early morning tea and biscuits are waiting for me on the decking.