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11.02.2021

ca. 340 km Murchison Falls River Lodge – Kibale Forest Camp

The road leading us south was passing through Bugungu Wildlife Reserves with features similar to the southern sector of Murchison Falls National Park and constituting as a buffer zone for the southern boundary of the National Park. We did not see any wildlife, though. But there was still much to see. Nevertheless … I fell asleep again … what can I do … if I do not drive myself … I cannot keep my eyes open …

Leaving the wildlife reserve, the wide road was basically skirting Lake Albert in the far western distance. A lot of cattle with huge horns was around … on pastures and along the road. This Ankole Cattle is a breed of African cattle which was probably introduced to Uganda 500-700 years ago by nomadic pastoralists from more northerly parts of the continent. It is distributed in much of eastern and central Africa. In Uganda most specifically the western part of the country is the best place to see them. These Ankole Cattle are good to rear because they can survive in the harsh conditions and can survive on less food and water, mainly feeding on grass found in the vast lands. Those cattle are majorly known for their long horns that can rise up to 2.5 m from tip to tip. The legends say that the horns are meant for defense in case the cattle are attacked. Over a million Ugandan households own cattle, according to the 2019 report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Uganda produces 211000 tonnes of beef every year and 1.7 bio litres of cow’s milk.

On the hazy western horizon we could sometimes make out Lake Albert – locally known as Lake Mwitanzige – and formerly Lake Mobutu Sese Seko – Africa’s 7th largest lake as well as the 2nd biggest of Uganda’s Great Lakes. Lake Albert is located in the center of the African continent on the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is the northernmost of the chain of lakes in the Albertine Rift, the western branch of the East African Rift. The lake is about 160 km long and 30 km wide with a surface elevation of 619 m above sea level. Lake Albert is part of the complicated system of the upper Nile. Its main sources are the White Nile, ultimately coming from Lake Victoria to the southeast and the Semliki River, which issues from Lake Edward to the southwest.

The road through the Rift Valley floor and enscrapment immediately east of Lake Albert was busy with traffic. Not only trucks were plying it, but also local busses and minibusses. Public transport in Uganda basically boils down to busses and other forms of motorized road transport following neglection and the permanent suspension of passenger rail services after independence. In addition to battered down old busses, most major routes in the country are covered by a regular stream of minibusses referred to locally as Matatus or taxis. We met many of them … all packed to the hilt with people – eventhough in the new normailty they were supposed to only fill up by 50% – and packed high with whatever needed to be transported.

What we saw all along the road near villages were women and children carrying big yellow plastic canisters with water. In rural communities access to safe water is still a major challenge. Over 21 mio people in Uganda are living without basic access to safe drinking water – that is 51 % of the population. The Joint Monitoring Programme – a UN and WHO mechanism tasked with monitoring water, sanitation and hygiene progress – reports that 19 % of the Ugandan population relies on unimproved or surface water for their daily needs. This means that over 8 mio people are drinking from sources like streams, ponds, unprotected hand dug wells and swamps. Another 32 % of the population has what JMP deems limited access – meaning the water is likely safe, but it takes over 30 min to retrieve it because of distance, overcrowding or both. There is an ever increasing school drop out for girls because of water fetching – this is attributed to the fact that water fetching is a domestic duty of girls and women. Often the nearest borehole is more than 6 km away. On average women and girls are walking up to 7 km daily to tap 20 litres of safe clean water from a protected well in their community.

In the settlement of Hoima we stopped so Matovu could fill up the car. We then turned onto the main Masindi-Kyenjojo Road. The road was asphalted and wide now passing through several larger towns. We were driving through the Lake Albert Basin – also known as the Albertine Graben – which is the most explored place in the East Africa Rift System and has been a source of interest for investors since the Ugandan oil discovery in 2006. Ugandan government geologists estimate Uganda’s oil reserves at 6.5 bio barrels – of which approx 1.7 bio are considered recoverable. The impacts of the development of these oil resources – exploration and extraction – on the lives and livelihoods of people living in the Albertine Graben region of Uganda are both positive and negative. We had already in the last days noticed the improvment of ifrastructure – road construction.

Moving fast now, we did make a lunch stop in Kigadi at Seyeya Courts, a nice resort in the middle of the town in a quiet area. We could sit on the porch and eat the lunch boxes, Matovu had picked up this morning at Murchison River Lodge. I had Beef Wrap and it was actually very good. And they had cold Nile Special!

The facilities were in the courtyard and they had a huge mirror there … the bites on my arms and back from yesterday had started to itch very much … Since nobody was around, I pulled up my T-shirt and tried to look at my back in the mirror … Dr. D came out of the men’s room just then and inspected the big red blotches … Very itchy … my arms and back were totally covered … But at least those looked just like mosquito bites … they did not seem to turn into pustules like when I had bedbug bites … I did not bring any salve for those … my travel kit had everything, but nothing against itchy bites … Dr. D offered to give me some if I wanted. He had come prepared. But for now I used a disinfectant alcohol wipe to take the worst itch at least off my arms.

After lunch my afternoon nap was in order … it overcame me and I basically slept through half of the afternoon … Not sure if I missed much, but maybe not. The road was pretty straight and Matovu drove fast making good progress.

In Kyenjojo – the administrative and commercial center of this district located at the intersection of 2 major highways – the Hoima-Kyenjojo Road making a T-junction with the A 109 Fort Portal-Mubende Road – Matovu did somewhat of a city tour with us … The road junction was right in the center of town and we inevitably passed the towns highlights … I did not even take one photo … I had just woken up … But Matovu found the right turn off even without me being a good co-driver …

From there it was not far until we reached the region with the Tea gardens I had been looking for seeing. Soon we spotted the first Tea plantations. I asked Matovu if we could stop for a photo … and he kept telling me – We will! We will! It will be better later! – OK, I shall be patient …

Tea is traditionally Uganda’s 3rd largest agricultural export commodity by value – with coffee and cotton being the other big earners. In Uganda, Tea is largely grown along the Lake Victoria crescent, the lower slopes of the Rwenzori Mountain and above the Western Rift Valley. These areas are consistent with Tea growing requirements of a temperate climate with an average precipitation of 1000-1500 mm for not less than 150 days per annum and a temperature average of 20°- 25°C as well as altitudes of over 1500 m above sea level with rich well drained fertile soils and certain soil alkalinity levels. We were basically passing through the heart of Uganda’s Tea region … Tea gardens were lining both sides of the road to the horizon.

Uganda has a relatively long history of Tea cultivation among African countries, but the Tea industry here has faced numerous setbacks. Tea was first cultivated in Uganda in the early years of the 20th century when it was introduced in the Botanic Gardens at Entebbe in 1909, but commercial cultivation did not begin until the late 1920′ when Brooke Bond – a tea-trading and manufacturing company from the UK since 1984 owned by Unilever – began extensive plantings. Unfortunately, Uganda’s Tea industry was decimated by political upheaval in the 1970s. Bushes became trees and factories became empty shells … By 1981, Uganda was producing just 5% of the Tea it made in 1974 …

However, the industry came back from near ruin to be stronger and play a vital role in the country’s economy. Commonwealth development money, foreign expertise mainly from India and investment by Indian companies all helped to rehabilitate the Tea industry at the end of the 1980s. In 2018, Uganda produced 50 mio kg of Tea, making it the 2nd largest producer in Africa after Kenya.

As Matovu had promised he stopped near one of the Tea gardens for photos and he explained some about the Tea. Ms Ping asked what kind of Tea was growing here … Black Tea? Green Tea? – What do you mean? It is Tea! – Well do not tell that to my Tea Shop Assistant at home! He regularly gives me lectures about Darjeeling Tea and Assam Tea etc … – Yeah, because all Tea comes from the same tree … Camellia Sinensis – an evergreen shrub native to East Asia – originating in the region encompassing today’s Northeast India, northern Myanmar, southwest China and Tibet. During the 17th century, drinking Tea became fashionable among the English, who started to plant Tea on a large scale in India. – Trust me, I know! I have been regularly translating the Tea Guru’s lectures when visiting a Tea plantation in Assam while on assignment cruising the Brahmaputra River.

Green Tea is made from unoxidized leaves and is one of the less processed types of Tea. Black Tea is a type of Tea that is more oxidized. Oolong is a traditional semi-oxidized Chinese Tea. For White Tea only the plucking of the youngest Tea leaves with much fine hair can produce good-quality of a high value. All 4 types of Tea are made from leaves of the same shrub Camellia Sinensis. Two principal varieties of the species are used – the small-leaved Chinese variety plant – Camellia Sinensis sinensis – used for most types of Tea and the large-leaved Assamese plant – Camelia Sinensis Assamica – which was traditionally mainly used for Black Tea, although in recent years some Green and White Teas have been produced. In China, where Black Tea was developed, the beverage is called Red Tea due to the color of the oxidized leaves when processed appropriately.

A Tea plant will grow into a tree of up to 16 m if left undisturbed,  but cultivated plants are generally pruned to waist height for ease of plucking. Also, the short plants bear more new shoots which provide new and tender leaves and increase the quality of the Tea. Only the top 2.5-5 cm of the mature plant are picked. These buds and leaves are called Flushes. A plant will grow a new flush every 7-15 days during growing season. Leaves that are slow in development tend to produce better-flavoured teas. Several Teas are available from specified flushes – for example, Darjeeling Tea is available as first flush at a premium price, second flush, monsoon and autumn. Assam second flush or tippy Tea is considered superior to first flush, because of the gold tips that appear on the leaves.

Why have we never heard of Ugandan Tea, though? Well, they are typically only available as blends – single-origin Teas from Uganda are generally unavailable in Western countries. Ugandan Tea enters the global market largely through Tea auctions in Kenya or India, where it is then blended in with other Teas and ends up in a tea bag …

Tea is now one of Uganda’s main exports and is grown by both plantation companies and small holder farmers. The Tea industry employs more than 60000 people and supports the livelihood of over half a million people. On average 93 % of Tea products in Uganda are exported while 7 %  are consumed domestically. It is said that most of these Tea plantations are nowadays owned by companies based in India.

In the far distance we spotted a few Tea pickers. Each plant was set and trimmed to be kept at approx 1 m in diameter. Workers walk through the tightly planted rows and harvest every week here in Uganda. An average picker can collect approx 100 kg starting at 6:30 and ending 14:00-15:00. Average price paid is approx 70-80 UGX shillings per kilo giving the worker about 7000-8000 shillings for the day – equivalent of less than € 2. Hard work for little money …  When it is main harvest season, people will come down from their mountain villages for the work. They will either stay in camps or stay with people they know while they are harvesting.

People who appreciate the irresistible taste of Tea say its richness depends on two people –
the one who picks the leaves from the Tea garden and the one who brews it.
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Since we stopped right by the roadside, we of course became somewhat of an attraction. Soon some locals came by to have a closer look. Bud – the king of selfies with the locals – was in his element. And they took photos, too. Mzungus were especially now something out of the ordinary.

Then we left the Tea gardens for a while when the road passed through the northermost tip of Kibale National Park. The park is protecting moist evergreen rain forest. It is one of the last remaining expanses to contain both lowland and montane forests. In eastern Africa, it sustains the last significant expanse of pre-montane forest. We did look out for animals on the short stretch of road, but nothing made an appearance.

This end of the park seemed to be completely surrounded by Tea plantations. As soon as we had passed the park section we were back amongst the Tea.

When Matovu turned off the main road to bypass Fort Portal and took us along a side road through Tea Estates, there was even more Tea to look at.

Tea as far as we could see … And we also spotted more Tea pickers. Tea gardens draw a majority of their workforce from the women-folk, mostly undertaking the task of tea picking. Tea pickers are among the lowest pay-grades in the farms. Statistic has it that the archetypical worker in the Tea garden is a woman aged 20-30 years. It is most likely that such a woman is a single-parent, with at least one child and living in company housing or in rented accommodation. Curiously, the large numbers of women are concentrated in the lower ranks of the workforce – men still dominate managerial positions in the Tea plantations. A number of reasons have been fronted in explanation for why women workers are a consistent majority in the Tea gardens. This has been attributed to – among others – their perseverance and capacity to complete routine tasks over long stretches of time. Apparently, women also handle delicate tasks as Tea picking much better than men. Their work attendance record is better than men’s – male workers have been said to absent themselves from work or abscond altogether at the chance of a better job elsewhere. Women’s comparatively lower levels of education and the financial pressures they face on account of raising families, leaves them little scope to take economic risks.

Tea leaves are harvested either by hand or by shears – here we only saw the workers handpick. Men carried the full baskets to the road side were other workers prepared the leaves for transport to the Tea factory for processing.

The vistas over the Tea gardens were fantastic. It was really Tea as far as we could see. We did a few more photo stops as well. The road through the Tea garden was well frequented by the locals as well. So there was much to see. Taking this road was a lot better than the asphalted but monotonous main road – I was busy taking in the scenery and had not time to fall asleep.

In the small village of Kiko we reached the main Fort Portale-Mbarara Road and turned south. The now asphalted road led south past Banana plantations and more Tea gardens before passing through Kibale National Park again.

The park was gazetted in 1932 and formally established in 1993 to protect a large area of forest previously managed as a logged forest reserve. Today the 766 km² park’s biodiverse terrain is home to the highest diversity and concentration of primates found on the entire continent – ranging from L’Hoest’s Monkey, the Red Colobus Monkey to the endangered Chimpanzees. Tomorrow we would go Chimpanzee tracking … but now we just passed through on the way to Kibale Forest Camp where we would stay the next 2 nights. We looked out for animals … a Bushbuck ran across the road ahead of us … too fast to even have a closer look … but a large troupe of Baboons was occupying the road like highwaymen waiting to collect toll …

Only a couple of kilometers south of the park boundaries we reached Kibale Forest Camp at the end of a dirt track around 16:30. The long-serving tented camp was set around a 2-storey thatched wooden bar & restaurant in a pretty forest patch.

Arriving we had to go through the usual procedure – mask up, temperature check, disinfection – and then did the check in at the bar. Rooms were allocated randomly and I made some fun asking if it was a nice tent and Hippos were sure going to come and visit … and why did I get a numbered tent while HD next to me got a tent named after an animal? … laughing, the girl took the check-in sheet from me and swapped it with another one – Here you have a room named after a bird! … I was happy, but until we departed I could not remember that bird’s name … the staff always knew my tent, though … I took a photo of the sign – it was Turaco!

What kind of bird was that? I had never heard of it! I had to google it! Happy I was – there was great mobile reception here! It turned out Turacos are also called Banana-Eaters, Plantain-Eaters or Go-Away-Bird and are commonly known as Loeries. They often have prominent crests and long tails and are noted for peculiar and unique pigments giving them their bright green and red feathers. I wish we would have spotted one somewhere, but we never did.

My tent – actually a tented hut again – was beautiful. This time it did not have a door, but a tent entrance. But the great thing was, that it was completely sealed and a mosquito net was not necessary! It had a slated floor and bright ethnic decor – a classic safari tent with a proper ensuite bathroom.

I immediately christened the porch enjoying a cold Nile Special and the forest view … it was just missing the monkeys jumping through the trees …

There was a short forest walking trail around the camp perimeter and Matovu had told us, that monkeys can be spotted around there. Since it was early yet – dinner was set for 19:00 – and we had been sitting in the car pretty much all day, I was all up for a walk and Dr. D joined me – both of us cameras at the ready! I parked my half finished beer in the fridge by the bar and off we were.

The forest trail started below the restaurant and lead through evergreen jungle-like forest around the camp back to the parking lot. It was not very long – probably not more than a kilometer. Nevertheless we spotted all kinds of cool things.

While we were always scanning the canopy for any monkey that might hang out there, we also looked for small creatures. Many Dragonflies were around – but so hard to take photos of. Same as the butterflies …

There were Acraea Lycoa – a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae – found in forested habitat in sub-Saharan Africa. It has elongate forewings and rounded hindwings, thinly scaled and often semi-transparent. The scales wear off very easily so that insects more than 4 or 5 days old have a glassy or greasy appearance.

The other butterflies … or moths … I could not identify. But they looked interesting. Dr. D found even more different ones to take photos off … He said – You do prefer colorful butterflies! – Yes, I do! … colourful butterflies just look better …

I found a cool flower of … what I thought was a palm tree … or huge fern. The flower was beautiful in any case. It turned out to be a Phoenix Reclinata – the Wild Date Palm or Senegal Date Palm – a flowering plant native to tropical Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, Madagascar and the Comoro Islands and found from sea level to 3000 m, in rain forest clearings, monsoonal forests and rocky mountainsides.

And then there was this shrub I was intrigued by … I initially thought it was maybe wild Coffee … but it could not be … It did look different … but the leaves were very similar to Coffee … only the flowers and the fruits were absolutely not … I researched a lot … but I could not find anything about it … until … I found an app that can identify plants and this came up with Oxyanthus Speciosus – commonly called Wild Coffee, Whipstick Loquat, Whipstick Tree, Zulu Loquat … I knew it! Wild Coffee!

The evergreen shrub or small tree 3–10 m tall has horizontal branches growing in deep shade in the understory of moist evergreen forest. The leaves are ovate, 150-260 by 100m120 mm, hairless, the upper surface is shiny dark green with conspicuous net veining.

The flowers are white, scented and held erect in loose heads on branched stalks. The genus name Oxyanthus means sharp-pointed flower and is derived from the Greek. The corolla tube is very slender, up to 80 mm long, with lobes about 7 mm long and a protruding style. The fruit is oblong, first green then soft yellow to pale red containing many seeds.

But I also spotted something I knew! Pepper! Piper Nigrum is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, known as a peppercorn. When fresh and fully mature, the fruit is about 5 mm in diameter and dark red containing a single seed. Peppercorns and the ground pepper derived from them may be described simply as Pepper. The Pepper plant is a sensitive climbing plant that only grows in tropical areas. It prefers heights of approx  600 to 2000 m.

The Pepper that comes on our table is the dried stone fruit that grows on the perennials or ears of this climbing plant which provides 4 different types of pepper – Green Pepper – harvested unripe and pickled in salt and vinegar – Black Pepper – harvested unripe and dried – White Pepper – harvested unripe, soaked in water, then dried and peeled to leave only the seed – and Red Pepper – harvested ripe and sundried.

I had often watched Peper being harvested in the Tea plantations of Assam where it is grown on the trees shading the Tea bushes. Here it was just growing wild in the jungle.

When Dr. D and I reached the end of the trail at the parking lot we had not hiked more than 15 min yet … and we had not seen any of the promised monkeys … so we decided to take the same way back. And this time … only a few minutes in I spotted something black & white moving in the canopy! It was an Abyssinian Black-&-White Colobus – a Mantled Guereza – Colobus Guereza – staring at us from its safe perch in a tree. The Mantled Guereza is primarily arboreal, but does sometimes descend on the ground to forage and travel, perhaps more so than most other colobines. This one did not hang a round for long and was off into the trees very quickly.

We were happy we had spotted it and kept walking, hoping it would make an appearance again. After all it usually lives in stable social groups usually containing 3 to 15 members … so there must be more around! Coming around the camp we heard them moving in the trees … and then we also saw them. There were several of them. It was very hard to spot them through the foliage, though.

Through the bushes we could also see huts … those were guest huts from the camp. Wait, we had heard HD and Bud talk in that area when we passed here on the way out! Those monkeys were hanging around their huts! I decided to hurry along the trail and walked quickly through the camp to those huts. I wanted to have a closer look and better photo. And I was not disappointed. Since I had seen HD and Bud sit in the bar glued to their mobile phones using the WIFI, I would not disturb them when sneaking around their huts.

I was not delighted … a whole troupe of Black-&-White Colobus were hanging around there in the trees. Close to the huts the vegetation was less dense and more garden like, so I had a fantastic view of them. Due to its low quality diet and the dispersed distribution of its food, the Mantled Guereza has a resident-egalitarian social structure. Relationships are relaxed and friendly with rare signals of dominance or subordinance. Physical aggression within the group is usually not harmful and rarely escalates into a conflict.

Dr. D had followed me there a couple of minutes later and another tourist with a big camera came around as well. Together we were treated to some great poses by the monkeys. The Mantled Guereza has a distinctive pelage – it is mostly black with long white fringes of silky hair – known as a mantle – along the sides of its body and tail. The bands that make up the mantle start at the shoulders and extend along the back until they connect at the lower torso. The tail is long and ends in a white tuft. The mantle color can range from white to cream or even yellow.

Its face is framed by white hair and it has bushy cheek hairs. Infants are born with pink skin and white hair. The hair and skin darken as they age and by 3-4 months they attain adult coloration.

The gestation period lasts 158 days with a 16-22 months interbirth interval. The newborn Guereza relies on its mother for support and must cling to her. As they grow older, infants can move on their own but keep returning to their mothers. The infants take up most of the attention in the groups. Infants can eat solid food at about 8-9 weeks and by 50 weeks they are fully weaned and no longer need to hold on to their mothers.

Because it can live in both dry and gallery forests and move on the ground, the Mantled Guereza is less threatened than many other colobine species. Unlike most other primates, it can survive habitat degradation and can even thrive in degraded forests. Sometimes, logging may increase the number of preferred food trees for the Mantled Guereza, therefore it might be more abundant in logged areas than unlogged ones. However, complete forest clearance causes dramatic declines in numbers. In Uganda complete forest clearings caused a decline of 50% over 8 years. It is also threatened by hunting for meat and its skin. Mantled Guereza meat sells well as bushmeat and the skins have been sold for fashion or in the tourist trade.

The Mantled Guereza is diurnal and rests for up to half of the day. Foraging or travelling are the next most common activity. Sometime after dawn, troups leave their sleeping trees and will return to them at dusk. During the day, the Mantled Guereza has long rest periods in between periods of moving and feeding. Other activities – including grooming, greeting, playing and being vigilant – are performed to a lesser extent. Allogrooming is an important part of their interactions and mostly occurs between females.

Despite its reputation as an exclusive leaf-eater, the Mantled Guereza is not an obligate folivore. While it mainly eats leaves and fruit, its diet is quite variable. The amount of each food item in its diet varies by area and time of year. Nutritional factors like protein, tannins, and sodium levels in leaves influence its food choices. It may even intermittently travel longer distances to access plants with higher levels of nutrition. Leaves usually make up over half of its diet, although fruits are occasionally eaten more depending on the season. When foraging for leaves, the Mantled Guereza prefers young ones over old. With fleshy fruits, it prefers to eat them unripe, which may serve to reduce competition with primates that eat ripe fruits.

I stayed a good 15 min and took soooo many photos! The opportunities were endless and Dr. D was not any different … he stayed even longer than me. There was always another angle for a better photo or the monkey turn around … I think I took a hundred photos before I decided it was time to go and finish my beer! I could not see the sunset anywhere, but that did not matter … I could sit on my porch and have a sundowner anyway! So I picked up my beer from the fridge at the bar and did just that … sit on the porch and enjoy. In the garden they had lit a fire … maybe to scare of the mosquitoes?

At 19:00 we were set for dinner. The restaurant was upstairs from the bar and it was open air … well, under the roof … but all open. Dinner was OK … but not Ugandan … The choice was again only meat or vegetarian … Why could they not as well offer a local special? Since Matovu was staying in the same lodge and was having dinner with us, I did ask him, if we could expect to get local food at some point? He did not really have an answer … HD was complaining already only at the thought of having to eat local food … Well, you would not have to eat it, they could give the choice, or not? Did I come to Uganda to eat roastbeef with potatoes and veggies? When on assignment in India there is always a local choice on the menu as well … and when I travelled with diamir in Madagascar, Ethiopia and West Africa we had often the possibility to taste local food. I miss this here.

Back at my tented hut I treated myself to a Vodka & Tonic – they had icecold Tonic in the bar! The mobile reception was excellent here – so I could post some photos and even make a video call home. Apparently whatsapp had been opened again in the country, but facebook was still blocked – with VPN it worked fine, though.

After a shower I tried to have a look at all the bites on my arms and back. They were huge and very ichy in spome spots. I tried the antibacterial alcohol wipes again to get some relief. It helped some.

Enjoying the freedom of not having to use a mosquito net in this tent, I sat on the bed and sorted through photos, made notes in the journal and listened to the sounds of Africa. There were a lot of jungle sounds – especially Frogs were having a party. At least I think those were Frogs singing in the nearby swamps.

 

12.02.2021

Kibale National Park

This morning wakeup call was at 06:15 with Tea on the porch. We had made the breakfast order yesterday after dinner and it gave the option of a wakeup call, so I took it. I was up before 06:15, though. But when the soft call came from outside, I opened the tent and sat on the porch in the dark relishing the moment – early morning jungle sounds and a cup of Tea in front of my safari tent … Ahhh, Africa …

Breakfast was at 06:45 today. It was as usual – fresh juice, fruits and eggs made to order. We had Maracuja on the fruit plate today – very good!

The others said it had been raining last night … I did not hear anything … I slept very well … This morning though the bites on my back and arms were very itchy again. When I told Dr. D he promised to give me salve later today. Maybe that would help.

At 07:40 we departed for Kibale National Park and our Chimpanzee tracking. It was only a few minutes’ drive to Kanyanchu Gate where we had to go through the usual procedures of temperature taking. The guard measured mine with 28.7 … Really? … Dr. D got 31.7 which was the highest of all of us … His reaction? – Wow, I am a volcano!

Facemasks were mandatory here and we went for check-in at the headquarters of the rangers. There were surprisingly many tourists … I had not expected that many … We were 6 and there were 7 more people … However, it was still only half of what would be allowed. In regular times a max of 36 permits were issued for the morning excursion and the same for the afternoon as well. Permits cost regularly US$ 200 for foreign non-residents, but had been discounted until the end of March 2021 to US$ 150. Probably in an effort to attract tourists …

We all sat in the briefing room – the head guide gave a short but rather funny briefing and then announced the groups. Obviously we 6 stayed in one group and the other 7 got divided into 2 groups since they were not all together. So there were 3 groups going out Chimp tracking this morning.

Geocaching was indulging me – there was a secret box hidden right here at the briefing room. I had already yesterday noticed it on the map. Before the briefing started I had a stealthy look around … but nothing jumped at me … The listing stated – If you cannot find it, then asked one of the guides rangers, they will help you! So when we met our guide Alex I immediately asked him, if he knew where the geocache was hidden. He started laughing and said – Of course, I know! Did you not find it? – No, I did not … – Well, after the tracking when we come back you look again and if you still not find it, then I will help you! – OK, that is a word!

Our Chimpanzee tracking adventure started with a short ride in our car to the trail head. It was not far, just a little south down the road. All 3 groups started at the same trail head and would head out to find hopefully different Chimp troupes. Trackers had already left earlier to go and check out the happenings in the forest.

Before we started our trek, they made us tuck the trouser legs into the socks, if we did not have gaiters – of course, I did not … Ree had come prepared and HD as well. They had specially ordered those gaiters for the Chimp and Gorilla tracking. Those were recommended because of the Safari Ants – Dorylus – also known as Driver Ants, Siafu or Army Ants – which are found primarily in central and east Africa. They could crawl up our trouser legs … they are capable of stinging, but very rarely do so, relying instead on their powerful shearing jaws. Alex said, we would not die of the bite, but it would be very unpleasant … Oh well, OK then, I tuck in the trousers, too … The guides and trackers all wore gum boots …

Kibale’s varied vegetation offers different varieties of wildlife habitat, ranging from the moist evergreen forest – wet tropical forest – along the Fort Portal plateau, through the dry tropical forest – moist semi deciduous – to the woodland and savanna along the rift valley floor. In the central part of the park around Kanyanchu the high forest consists of a mixture of evergreen and deciduous trees with the evergreen species being dominant. The vegetation rises to over 55m height and establishes a semi-closed canopy of massive stratified tree crowns. With shade tolerant herbs, a variety of ferns, shrubs and broad leaved forest grasses, the undergrowth is sparse. And there was an actual trail leading through the forest – we did not have to thrash through the thicket …

It was very humid. We trekked for almost 1 hr through the forest. Our Guide often talked on the radio with his colleagues from the other groups and with the trackers. Sometimes the trail was wide, sometimes it was narrow. A couple of times we had to crawl under huge fallen tree trunks. Some of the trees were really tall.

Then Alex said that they found some Chimpanzees! We initially got all excited … only we could not see any … We did not hear anything either. Alex and the guide of one of the other groups – which we had caught up with in the meantime – pointed up into one of the tallest trees – Up there! – Where? – THERE! – … we did not see anything … disappointing … I took a photo anyway  … maybe it could be a furry ball … maybe … but … hopefully this sighting did not count as the start of our 1 hr. Because the rule is – once the troupe is found, then the tourists get to stay one hour to watch them and then leave them alone again …

Fortunately even the guides did not think that was a good sighting … and there were no signs of more Chimps around. Then Alex was talking on the phone with the guide of the 3rd group – they had apparently gone a different direction and trackers had found a troupe of Chimpanzees now. He told us, we can go there, but we had to backtrack for about 30 min and we had to hurry, because the Chimps on the move … Well, let’s go then!

Eventhough we were walking briskly, I had time to admire the awesome forest around us. By now I was sweating a lot – it was humid – and I had put my hair in a pigtail. Otherwise my shaggy hair would be hanging in my eyes … Mind you, I was never somebody to visit the hair dresser every week. But now after a good 6 months of no haircut … the sweat did not make it any better. So a pigtail it was. And I had to take off my spectacles … they were constantly fogging up from wearing the mask, the sweat and the hair hanging in.

Alex kept pushing us on – Let’s move faster the Chimp group is moving! He was always talking with somebody on the radio and imitating some bird’s call to let the group behind us know our direction. All 3 groups were on the way to the same location now. Then we heard the Chimpanzees talking in the distance – the first real sign for us! – Move move! They are leaving! – I was huffing and puffing along the trail leading uphill … we saw the 3rd group up ahead with their cameras at the ready clicking away … There must be something! … and then we saw it! One Chimpanzee was sitting right next to the trail only some 10 m away! Awesome!

The Chimpanzee – Pan Troglodytes Schweinfurthii – is a Great Ape native to the forest and savanna of tropical Africa. The Chimpanzee and the closely related Bonobo – sometimes called the Pygmy Chimpanzee – are classified in the genus Pan. Evidence from fossils and DNA sequencing shows that Pan is a sister taxon to the human lineage and is humans’ closest living relative.

Kibale National Park is the most perfect destination in East Africa for Chimpazee tracking. However, these being wild animals, chances of spotting these Chimps are not always guaranteed – although they are over 95% within the Kibale Forest. We were lucky! We found this one and there was much Chimp talk in the vicinity … hopefully we would spot more of them! This one was answering his mates now and walked off …

Then we already heard more Chimps coming through the forest. Alex lead us off the trail into the open forest. One Chimpanzee came barreling down the hill running past us so fast, we could do nothing but watch in awe … Then all of a sudden the entire forest was loud loud loud from Chimps calling! It was amazing!

 

Vocalisations are very important in Chimp communication. The most common call in adults is the “pant-hoot”, which may signal social rank and bond as well as keeping groups together. Pant-hoots are made of 4 parts – starting with soft “hoos” – the introduction – that gets louder and louder – the build-up – and climax into screams and sometimes barks – these die down back to soft “hoos” during the letdown phase as the call ends. Chimps use also distance calls to draw attention to danger, food sources or other community members. “Barks” may be made as “short barks” when hunting and “tonal barks” when sighting large snakes for example.

We were all basically running down the hill now, thrashing through the thankfully sparse undergrowth of the forest following our guide Alex who followed the Chimps. There were Chimpanzees all around us at some point, one of them running down the trail … There was absolutely no chance to take a photo of this, so I just held the small camera out and shot video sequences … Why did I buy an expensive GoPro if I did not use it? … It was in the bag … good and safe place for it to be … and I had no time to take it out …

 

At the bottom of the hill the Chimps stopped running and climbed up into the huge Fig Trees. There were no good photo opportunities against the sky … but we saw them and they were still talking with eachother.

 

Alex said we should stay here and wait, because the chief of the troupe would eventually come down the hill and then all the others most probably would descent from the trees and move on. So we stayed where we were and watched them … and listened …

Chimpanzees live in communities that typically range from around 20 to more than 150 members, but spend most of their time travelling in small, temporary groups consisting of a few individuals of any combination of age and sex. Both males and females sometimes travel alone. This fission-fusion society may include groups of 4 types – all-male, adult females and offspring, both sexes or one female and her offspring. At the core of social structures are males, which patrol the territory, protect group members and search for food. Among males there is generally a dominance hierarchy and males are dominant over females.

The Chimpanzee is covered in coarse black hair, but has a bare face, fingers, toes, palms of the hands and soles of the feet. It is weighing 40–70 kg for males and 27–50 kg for females, standing up to  150 cm tall. Little was know about Chimpanzee behaviour until the early 1960s, when 3 seperate pioneering studies – all still active today – were established in East Africa. Best known is the behavioural study established by Jane Goodall in Tanzania’s Gombe Stream National Park in 1960, but other projects were founded in 1962 in Uganda’s Budongo Forest by Prof. Vernon Reynolds and in 1965 in Tanzania’s Mahale Mountains National Park by Prof. Toshisada Nashida.

Then the old female came walking past us and there was much Chimp talk again … and indeed they started moving … All 3 groups of tourists were there now and the guides decided each group would follow one of the chiefs that walked off. They walked past us very very close …

One of the Chimpanzees just walked along the trail that we had reached again at the bottom of the hill. It looked at us and then just sat there … waiting … for what? … Maybe it was thinking … What the heck are you staring at me ? … It was sitting just like a human …

Watching our closest living relatives, the Chimpanzees,
is reading the first chapter of human being’s adventures in this universe!
Mehmet Murat Ildan

 

Another one was sitting not far away in a tree rather low down and was looking at us curiously and – I swear – he was showing us the finger! … 100%! … As if he wanted to say … Get out of my forest! … For sure he was showing off his crown jewels … and he had much to talk about with his buddies as well …

If we look straight and deep into a Chimpanzee’s eyes,
an intelligent self-assured personality looks back at us.
If they are animals, what must we be?
Frans de Waal

We were all so excited! The Chimpanzees were all around us now and they were climbing up the trees again. The Chimpanzee is listed on the IUCN Red List as an endangered species. Between 170000 and 300000 individuals are estimated across its range. The biggest threats to the Chimpanzee are habitat loss, poaching and disease. That is why it was mandatory for us to wear our facemasks and keep a distance of 10 m.

 

 

The Chimpanzee is an omnivorous frugivore. It prefers fruit above all other food items but also eats leaves and leaf buds, seeds, blossoms, stems, pith, bark and resin. A study in Uganda found that 64.5% of the Chimp feeding time concentrated on fruits – 84.6% of which being ripe – particularly those from 2 species of Ficus – Maesopsis Eminii and Celtis Durandii. In addition, 19% of feeding time was spent on arboreal leaves – mostly Broussonetia Papyrifera and Celtis Mildbraedii.

The longstanding assumption that Chimps are strictly vegetarian was rocked when Jane Goodall withnessed her subjects hunting down a Red Colobus Monkey. While they are mostly herbivorous, they do eat honey, insects, birds and their eggs as well as small to medium-sized mammals including other primates. The Western Red Colobus ranks at the top of their preferred mammal prey. Others include Red-Tailed Monkeys, infant and juvenile Baboons, Bush Babies, Duikers, Bushbucks and Warthogs. However, such food actually makes up a very small portion of their diet – from as little as 2% yearly to as much as 65 g of animal flesh per day for each adult Chimpanzee in peak hunting seasons. We of course did not witness them hunt … We just saw them sitting up in the Fig Trees munching away and throwing down half eaten fruits. The forest floor was littered with them.

Chimpanzees are essentially inhabitants of the western rainforest, but their range does extend into the extreme west of Tanzania, Rwanda and Uganda – which have a combined population of perhaps 7000 individuals. These are concentrated in Tanzania’s Mahale and Gombe National Parks, Rwanda’s Nyungwe Forest and about 20 Ugandan National Parks and Reserves – most notably Budongo, Kibale and Bwindi amongst others. Also East Africa’s Chimps represent less than 3 % of the global population, much of what is known about wild Chimpanzee society and behaviour stems from this region’s many ongoing research projects.

Chimpanzees, Gorillas, Orang-Utans have been living
for hundreds of thousands of years in their forests,
living fantastic lives, never overpopulating, never destroying the forest.
I would say that they have been in a way more successful than us
as far as being in harmony with the environment.
Jane Goodall

I was totally mesmerized by all the Chimps around us. There were a good 5 or 6 up in the trees munching away and then all of a sudden all the other chiefs came back … The 3 tourists groups merged again and the Chimps groups did the same … Chimps everywhere … It was spectacular … and hopefully some of those photos would turn out …

The guides had given us 1 hr … that is what they said … I did not check the watch, but looking at the photos … they had started the clock only more or less when that one female came walking down the hill joyning the group …  I think … I was totally happy … and just as Alex announced we had to leave now … one Chimp walked right at us … it was coming down the trail and was not at all bothered with us … I was so stunned … I did not even take a photo … I was just taking the sight in … the last Chimp we saw on this awesome tour …

Then it was really time to go … and we headed back up the trail towards the park headquarters … I was sure excited … Chimps are loud and mobile … sitting up in the tall trees … but it had been so grandious encountering them … We still kept hearing them talk in the distance as we trekked back …

Walking back we all chatted excitedly but did not forget to look out for more wildlife … I spotted a beautiful blue butterfly and even got a photo of it … No idea what butterfly it is, though.

Usually this Chimpanzee Tracking takes approx 3 hours … today we walked into the Headquarters at Kanyanchu Gate around 12:15 … almost 4 hrs after we left … We had hiked a rather large circiut through the forest … To my delight Alex had not forgotten about that geocache! We had to go in the briefing room anyway to get our Tracking certificates … But Alex was not one to just say – Hey, look there! There is the box! … He asked me where I had looked before and what other idea I had and then he pointed in the right corner … Ahh … I had not dared to look in the hatches … eventhough the hint in the listing was pointing there … Gosh, was I happy! FINALLY a secret box in Uganda that I actually found and did not have to photolog!

It made my day even more perfect than it was already! The geocache was well maintained and in a safe place. So I placed 2 of the Trackables, I had brought with me, in it and hopefully at some point during this year this cache will be found again … it had been 8 months since it was last logged before I came here …

Of course I also got my Tracking certificate! That is why we had to write down our names in blockletters when checking in this morning … I loved it!

I also did not leave without visiting the souvenir shop! This morning I had seen they sold carved Chimpanzees! I needed a couple of those! Handcarved, small and UGX 30000 each … less than 7 € … I saw it as supporting the local community!

It had been an outstanding morning with the Chimps! And a Geocache! I was in heaven! Only grumpy Bud had things to complain about when we reached the lodge at 12:45 to have lunch … I ignored him …