Elusive Chimps

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Today we set out at 9AM but the trackers warned us that the chimps were mobile and would be hard to locate.  We trekked over 2 hours and could hear some chimps far ff in the distance.  We were told to wait there while the advance rangers allowed them.  Unfortunately the chimps moved off into the high mountain range and were difficult to locate so we moved to new area about an hour trek away and then waited 30-40 minutes until we heard some chimps calling.  

Another hour trek brought us into range of 4 male chimps including Darwin sleeping on trail.  This gave us a taste of how difficult tracking and ending chimps can be and made us appreciate our ridiculous food fortune of the past two days.  We spent the allowed hour with these 4 males until they heard a cake from the mountain and erupted in screams and went dashing off up the slope in a furious rush. 




We then trekked back 45 minutes to the boat and enjoyed lunch in camp with cold beers. Afternoons swims led to evening cocktails and the guides told us of stories of leopard in camp.  I practiced several of my new Swahili words that I learned on the trek and that brought big laughs and smiles from the crew. It was fun to get to know Barbara and Fabio who were a very pleasant young couple managing the lodge.  Barbara has done a great job with the menu and we feasted like kings during our stay.



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