Chimp vs. chump...(posting from the road)

When we finally caught up to the chimp and found him lying next to a log, I felt extreme guilt. This poor chimpanzee has had us hot on hit tail for the last 15 min, following him through the dense equitorial rainforest of Kibale National Park, and all he wanted to do was nap...or so I thought.

Our day, like most, started very early - this time the target of our wildlife search was the chimpanzee, our closest genetic cousins. We had a safety briefing (remember the chimp that ate that lady's face off?) and then started out in small groups, paired with a professional chimp tracker. Antone has been an employee at Kibale since the early 1990's and takes everyone from researchers to tourists out into the forest to locate the chimps in the dense foilage. The first challenge was in actually reaching the forest as it lay at the other side of a large field of buffalo grass that was home to approximately 250 Forest Elephants. These pachyderms are smaller, hairier and less friendly than their Savanah relatives - they have been known to charge tour groups. Antone made it quite clear that if we should encounter one of these elusive creatures that he would abandon us and run as fast as possible. Nice guide.

After a successful crossing of the field without incident and we set Antone to work...he made some noises, scanned the tree tops and seemed to be listening intently to the various nousies that bellowed from the woods. And then a chimpanzee walked across the trail in front of us - Antone did not notice it.

No matter how we first discovered these creatures, it was amazing to see them up close and in their natural habitat. Unlike the more popular Gorilla trekking, chimp trekking is fairly unknown. One of the main reasons that it has not become overwhelmed with tourists is the natural shyness of the animal. Even habituated groups, such as ours, these primates were leary of us humans. That is until we encountered a juvinelle male, who was kind enough to climb down from a tree and pose for us before setting off on a romp through the forest.

I should describe the forest to you - that way you can better understand the hardships of our trek. An equitorial rainforest floor is covered in vines, fire ants and bushes with giant thorns. Moving swiftly through these forests is best left to the primates, us humans, with the exception of it seemed Antone, struggle.

I think my group, which by now had been hacking away for a good 90 min was happy with the chimps we saw but Antone decided we should persue the young male...see where he may lead us. So the chimp took off with us in tow, him moving swiftly and us crashing behind him. Antone seemed to know which direction he was headed even when he disappeared from sight, and sure enough there we would find the young chimp waiting for us. Sometimes sitting, sometimes eating and one time he even had time for a nap before we caught him.

The nap is where I started to feel guilty, but once we reached his side again we were off, tearing through the rainforest with our backpacks full of DEET, SPF 70 and jugs of water. I am not sure how developed the sense of humour is in the chimpanzee but ours seemed to be having a grand old time at our expense. We actively pursued him for 30 min before he led us to a small group of chimps grooming themselves, seemingly indifferent to our presence. At the end of it all, we looked at Leila's GPS to see where we had gone - that chimp led us in three perfect circles. I swear I saw him and all his chimp buddies sitting back and having a good laugh while we looked on; panting and sweating. Cheeky little bastards, but at least they didn't bite me.