Chimpanzee Trekking and So Much More

Off to Trekking

The sun was rising as the mist lay in the valleys when we leave the beautiful Kibale Forest Camp. It rained through the night but it will be a sunny day. 

We are full from the beautully presented breakfast.

Today we are chimpanzee trekking in Kibale Forest National Park. John and I are wearing our full trekking gear including zip off pants, long sleeve shirts, socks over our pants and I have hiking poles.

The park is only a ten minute drive from Kibale Forest Camp.

People in bright traditional dress are dancing at the check in and briefing centre. Click here for a short video.

Finding the Chimpanzees

Kibale has the largest population of chimps (over 1450) of any park in Uganda. Chimps live in communities of 20-150 members per community. The park has thirteen communities. Only six of those communities are habituated, meaning that they are use to seeing humans. Of those six communities, three are for research and the other three are for tourism.

We are broken down into groups of eight persons. Teresa and Manuel from our boat safari are in our group. We have a guide and three park employees escorting just our group.

They have sent trackers ahead of us to find a chimp community. We trek about half an hour before chimps are heard and spotted in the trees above. 

We are all told to put our face masks on to protect the chimps. Since we share DNA with them, they can catch some of our diseases.

It is really hard to see the chimps high in the trees. It’s mostly silhouettes against the sky. Chimpanzees spend the majority of their time in the tree tops… foraging for food, grooming and sleeping. 

Also wearing the mask is causing my glasses to fog. I take my glasses off and loop the arm through my shirt button hole.

We watch the chimp silhouettes resting, grooming each other and copulating (more on that later).

I suddenly realize that my glasses are gone. Miraculously, someone finds them ten minutes later on the jungle floor.

Chimp Facts

Chimps are mostly vegetarian but they do eat some meat.

Chimps live in communities. If these communities come into contact with each other there is warfare. Chimps will kill the males from the other tribe. They will keep the females to impregnate and grow their community.

Chimps have a lifespan of 55 years in the wild and 60 years in captivity. Click here for a short video.

Sex and the Single Chimp

Female chimps are ready to breed at 12 years and males at 6 years. However the males start practicing  sex as early as three … on their mothers. Creepy.

When females come into season, they copulate with as many males as possible so that they will feel kinship and protect her baby as nobody knows who is the father. Monogamy is not a thing in the chimp world.

Chimps copulate on the average of seven times a day. Females only have one baby every four years until menopause.

My neck is strained by looking up watching the chimps in the trees for so long. Finally at different times, some come down. They are so close. I love the expressions on their faces. Click here for a short video.

Heading Out

Then there are lots of hoots and cries and they all start peeing at once. Fortunately I am not in the line of fire. The guides inform us that the community is about to move on. Just like humans, they pee before they travel.

We are supposed to have one hour with the chimps but we have almost two. We begin the trek back.

Heading Back to the Visitors Centre

It’s hard to believe that elephants can live in such dense jungle but the proof is underfoot as we step over numerous piles of elephant dung.

Once we get back to the road we see thousands of butterflies fluttering all around us. Click here for a short video.

Back at the visitors centre we  collect our chimpanzee trekking certificates before heading out.

Rosie’s Restaurant 

We have been having huge breakfast buffets and four course meals for supper. I asked Bosco if at some point we could eat at a restaurant where locals eat. Bosco takes us to the town where he lives and to his regular restaurant for lunch.

You would never know it’s a restaurant from the outside. There are a couple of women cooking in front and a few tables inside. Bosco orders a number of dishes including a glutenous type of cornbread, Irish potatoes. sweet potatoes, matooke, pumpkin, plantains, boiled greens, a beef dish and beef and mushroom in sauce dish which I love. I ask him what it was called. Bosco looks at me and in all seriousness says, “beef and mushroom”.

Bosco takes us to see his office and after a short rest we begin our drive to Queen Elizabeth National Park.

At the Equator

The countryside is simply gorgeous: green, rolling foothills with  the Rwenzori Mountains in the background.

We stop to stand on the equator line. I had a deja vu experience from India… suddenly I have a number of people wanting to take their picture with me.

Sunset Safari at Queen Elizabeth National Park

We arrive at Queen Elizabeth National Park in time to have a sunset safari. The late day sun gives the herds of Uganda Kob a golden glow.

Our highlight was watching two snoozing lionesses wake and groom each other. The have colllars on them for tracking their location in case they need medication or leave the national park.

One lioness gets up and stretches while the other snoozes.

It takes the experienced eyes of guides and luck to see lions because they blend in with the grass so well.

Queen Elizabeth Bush Lodge

It is completely dark when we arrive at the Queen Elizabeth Bush Lodge. Several employees meet us in the parking lot and take all our bags. We are whisked to check in. A number of people (three carrying our bags) take us to our cottage which looks out over the Kazinga Channel (the longest natural channel in the world at 41 km). An incredibly large Giant Forest Hog with huge tusks is rooting at the side of the path as we walk to our cabin.

We are told that we are never to leave our cabin after dark without a staff member. The biggest danger are the hippos and pigs which are nocturnal and can be nasty to unsuspecting humans who stumble upon them. 

We both have showers in the outdoor double shower attached to the cabin. I can hear the large hog snorting outside

Staff with flashlights come to collect us at dinner  for the walk to the central court of the lodge. It is another delicious four course meal under the bright stars. The tables are set around a fire pit. We hear lots of animal sounds during supper which Bosco identifies as a male lion roaring,  hyenas howling and hippos grunting.

Through the night I’m serenaded by frogs, crickets, hippos and the odd Giant Forest Boar.