24th January - Kibale Forest

Today was chimpanzee tracking for Chris and me.  We were both dreading it as had heard you had to wear long trousers tucked into long socks to protect you from fire ants.  We also had to wear long sleeves to protect our arms from vegetation in the jungle.  Plus, we had been warned that you had to move quickly through the undergrowth to keep up with the chimps. So, had to be quite fit.......which I am not, for sure!!

We got up at 6.30am and got into our outfits.  My hair was wild as had slept on it wet so it was all over the place looking horrendous.  I also started feeling hot before we’d even started.  After brekkies, we met up with Shindishi at 7.30am and walked a short way down the road to the briefing centre.  We had to register 1st and then were assigned to a group of 6 with a guide, Richard, and a back marker, Paul.  We set off at 7.45am at quite a brisk pace and entered the forest.  We followed well-trodden wide paths much to my surprise and I thought this wasn’t going to be as difficult as I’d feared.  We probably walked for about 30 minutes up and down hill and suddenly we saw our 1st chimpanzees up a tree eating figs.  We got a couple of photos when suddenly we were urged to follow Richard as the 2nd highest ranking male in the troop of about 120 was on the ground just in front of us.  We then went off piste into the undergrowth at a reasonably fast pace and had to watch where we were treading as the ground was a bit uneven and there were lots of roots everywhere.  We followed the lone male for quite a long time and saw him drumming tree trunks and calling and then clambering up trees and grazing on the leaves.  It was amazing.

After an hour, we left him alone as you’re only allowed to spend a maximum of an hour with any chimp or group of chimps.  We retraced our steps back to the fig tree and saw various chimps high up in the trees.  Then, we were suddenly off again as “Mr Black”, another of the alpha males, was on the ground just ahead of us and on the move.  We followed him for while and it was amazing to see him so close up.  A couple of times he actually walked straight up to me and then passed me by almost brushing my trousers, which meant he was friendly apparently.  It was a real privilege.  We were told to freeze though when they approached us so couldn’t take any photos.

A couple of times, I managed to stand in some fire ants and I can testify that they have a nasty nip!  Paul, our back marker was most efficient in getting rid of the ants from my socks, shoes and trousers and I got rid of one in my shirt.

Apparently, we were very lucky to see 2 males on the ground and as we saw so many chimps so quickly, we were finished by 10.30am.  I was glad to finish then as had got very hot and sweaty as it’s humid and we were moving quite fast.  However, it wasn’t as tough as we thought it might have been and am very glad we did it. 

The swamp walk

We were told that there are 15 groups of chimpanzees in the park and the total number is 1450, so they form huge groups.  Only 2 of the groups are used to man and those are the ones that tourists track.  There are a total of 14 primates in the park, including man, of which 5 are nocturnal - 4 of them being bush babies.  Each NP in Uganda has a tag line, and the one for Kibale is fantastic - “Primate capital of the world”, which we thought most fitting.

We got back to the lodge and had a much needed shower and are now in our favourite seating area over looking the garden.  Lunch is at 1pm and we are being very well looked after by our personal waiter, Jockus.

Blue Turaco

There is a rogue baboon hanging around the camp which is becoming a nuisance and jumps on tables while people are eating and pinches food.  The waiters do their best to chase it off, but it’s become very bold.  It even pinched Mum’s glasses case this morning although it dropped it when it was chased off.  Before we went for out walk, we heard 2 gunshots and were informed that the rogue baboon is no more along with a friend.

Red Tailed Monkey

This afternoon, we have a 3 hour walk in the local swampland so am looking forward to some more new experiences.  We set off at 2pm and had a short drive to the local community and one of their guides led us on a short walk around the swamp.  We saw lots of beautiful butterflies and some monkeys too - black and white Colobus, the red tailed monkey and a poor viewing of L’Hoest’s monkey.  We also got great sightings of the blue turaco - a large blue coloured bird with a black crest and bright yellow beak.  We initially walked around the edge of the swamp and then got to cross it on a long, slightly dodgy looking board walk where you really did have to watch every step. I really enjoyed the feeling of being in the middle of the swamp being surrounded by papyrus and red ginger plus numerous different trees and palms.  James, our guide, told us about a lot of the trees including a strangling fig from which the bark is used to make paper and material plus another tree which had the common name of “Testicle Tree” due to the arrangements of its 2 fruits - need I say more?!

We’re now back at the lodge and are relaxing with a cup of tea overlooking the garden.  Bliss!!