MONKEYS!

After a farewell banquet of heroic proportions (rolex, spaghetti, cabbage, pork, beans AND fried chips), Chelsea and I set off on the long voyage to Kibale National Park to fulfill one of my longest standing childhood dreams: to hang out with chimpanzees in the wild. 

Now, when I envisioned this as a naïve twelve-year old, writing “animals and reading” as hobbies in my elementary school yearbook, I envisioned myself as the next Jane Goodall.  I was going to be a zoologist -- teaching sign language, finger painting and basically being awesome with all my sweet monkey friends. 

Although those dreams are yet unfulfilled, Kibale still one of the coolest things I have done in awhile.  Besides ya know…moving to Africa in the first place.

However, getting there was no easy feat.  First, we had to take bus down to Kampala, the capital of Uganda.  On a good day this trip should take about 6 hours.  Factoring in stops to purchase goodies through the bus windows and the road conditions, it took us about 8 hours of painful jostling.  Highlights from this prolonged journey:

• Guy in front of us purchasing two LIVE CHICKENS through the bus window from a vendor
• Strange lady throwing her purse at Chelsea outside the pit toilet, saying “hold this”
• Chelsea having to jump back on the bus as it lurched forward to avoid being left a rest stop

Arriving in Kampala, we were told to exit the bus at a place that turned out not to be the main bus station and were promptly greeted by a literal herd of men yelling “muzenga” (white person).  Considering we had Chelsea’s luggage, we were perfectly happy to accept a grossly over-priced taxi ride from the first (and most persistent) guy with a real car – one whose locks turned out to turn on and off continuously. 

After a stop for the driver to go grocery shopping, we went a little ways outside of town and turned down a very narrow dirt load lined with traditional village homes (read: scary shacks).  Given some of the “hotels” we have seen before, Chelsea and I exchanged glances of utter panic.

But then we turned into a palace: The Nexus Resorts.  Commence one of the most epic showers I have ever taken.  This was not only hot water; it was STEADY and CONSISTENT hot water.  The last running water shower we had was back in Gulu, and that was more an alternating trickle of scalding and freezing water.  Although that was mesmerizingly wonderful at the time, this real hotel quality shower alone was enough to warrant the trek down here.

Later, sitting on the hotel patio, we had the pleasure of overhearing a number of calls from a southern church group.   They were all excited to share their day’s experiences “in the slums.”  In their two hours there, they decided to start feeding some of the people – presumably from their Costco sized bags of M&Ms and potato chips – which turned into a “hairy situation” where they had to be “scooted away by the guide”  because it is just “so unsafe in Uganda.” 

[Soapbox alert]  Listening to the voyeuristic disgust in their voices as they spoke of “the slums,” reminded me how grateful I am for the opportunity to be more than a tourist here.  To me, the slums these people spoke of are not a line item on my printed itinerary; they are what our many of students call home.  Now, I do realize I have certainly been sheltered in my own way.   I have in no way experienced the true hardships Ugandan people face.  But I am grateful for the chance I have to know these people as more than just a string of sights to see.  The students and faculty have been generous enough to let me experience their varied lives with and through them.  And in that time, I have had a chance to glimpse past the dirty hovels and see the hope in these children – the desire they have to improve.  It makes me thankful for the chance I have been given to offer whatever help I can.  (And you can help too!) 

Okay, enough prosthelytizing.  Back to the monkeys!

Our driver arrived the next morning on African time (an hour late) and we set off on the five-hour drive to Kibale – after a quick stop at the Barclay Bank in a real, multi-story, modern MALL.  We’re not in Lira anymore…

Some notes on the trip to Kibale:

• The landscape in the southwest is much different:  lush green with hills galore.  Perks of being on the equator I guess.
• There is a much higher standard of living down here.  The houses have actual glass in the windows, walls are painted and there are power lines stringing the road.  The clothes are nicer, and usually match (a trend not observed in Lira).  This is a result of being closer to the economic capital of Kampala, but also because this region of the country was nowhere near has heavily impacted by the twenty-year conflict with the LRA.
• We saw many burning piles along the way, which turned out to be the locals making charcoal.  When I asked our driver how you made charcoal, he replied “deforestation.”    …..?

Road to Kibale

Turning down the narrow road to our hotel, we stumbled up on a gorgeous lake.  Turns out it is a crater lake, and our hotel in fact was situated right on the rim.  

The view at sunset

Standing on the porch

The views were amazing as we leisurely enjoyed tea on the porch of our thatched hut – complete with a toilet, lukewarm trickle shower and one lamp that was powered for about 4 hours a night.  The reprieve was made even nicer by the lack of stray children floating around -- the only other patrons were an Israeli father and son.

Our hotel room

Inside the room.  Awesome roof.  No other furniture.

Tea without stray children = heaven

The next morning, we arose at 5:45 am and set out for Kibale National Forest.    Kibale is a national park, and they only allow three groups of six people in at a time to see the chimps.  After a quick exchange with a park ranger, our driver literally sprinted to our van and rushed us inside.  We were relieved when a female park ranger – with a large gun – climbed in beside him.  Off to the forest we went!

The van dropped us off and we began a hiking into the Ugandan forest.  There was a passable trail, but nothing I would want to navigate alone.  And then the monkeys started yelling.  Here we are, standing in the middle of the dense African wilderness with unseen chimpanzees are screaming like banshees.  It was both terrifying and absolutely incredible.  

At first, we only saw the chimps way up in the trees.  It was a bit colder that morning, so they were hiding in their nest.  Although cool to see them swinging around, this wasn’t quite the face to face experience I had hoped for.

Then our guide started yelling “he’s coming down!” and we took off running through the brush.  Forget trails, we were getting whipped by stray branches as we chased a giant chimpanzee through the woods.  AWESOME.

One of the males came to a halt just a few feet ahead of us.  Our guide encouraged us to creep closer and closer until we were about 5-6 feet away.  And there he sat, just chilling looking around…watching us…looking up at the trees.  I have never seen a monkey up that close.  Eventually he sauntered way and we pursued another family, including a female with a baby on her back.  Each time they paused we were able to see them up close and personal.  It was truly incredible.

Yeah...I can't figure out how to flip these.  Bite me.  It's still cool.

As many of you know, I am a sucker for animal facts.  Here are a few more to add to my always popular party repertoire (I was serious in that yearbook):

• As you probably know, chimpanzees fight wars against rival groups – sometimes using sticks and rocks as weapons.  They also take prisoners of war and have been known to cut off the privates of the dead males to prove they weren’t strong enough.  They have also been known to practice cannibalism during times of war.  
• Older monkeys participate in war by checking that the fallen enemies are actually dead.  They kick, scream and prod them.  If the rival isn’t dead, they will break ribs and stab the rival in the heart with a stick.
• When chimpanzees from the same group have gone two or more days without seeing one another, they will often greet each other with hugs, kisses and handshakes.
• Chimpanzees have been known to raid the nearby gardens, particularly sugar cane.  They know they are stealing so they remain absolutely quiet, even the children.  They will also often leave a lookout to alert them before the farmers come.
• When a male monkey wants to mate with a female, he will tear leaves into pieces.  The female can decide if she is interested or not.  Sometimes, they will arrange a trade:  sex for meat.
• Mothers raise their young until they are 12 years old and babies live off breast milk alone until they are 3.  If a mother dies, the child is often adopted by others in the group.
• In Kibale, there are about 1,400 monkeys but only 250 are open for tourist visitation at any given time.  When they first introduce the monkeys to tourists, many of them are afraid of white people and will run away.  Monkeys are racist.

We returned from Kibale on Friday and the next morning was Chelsea’s departure day.  I lived in denial until the absolute last moment possible. 

I was, and remain, incredibly grateful to my best friend for coming to Uganda with me.  She had only six months to spend with her boyfriend in Ireland, and she chose to volunteer a good portion of that to helping KEFRAMA organize their financial records and implement a fee collection system.  Plus, she made me laugh daily.

Mosquito Net Fail -- You're Welcome Cote....

As I sat on the bus for two hours waiting for it actually to depart, the reality hit.  I am now…alone in Africa.    Well…until I meet my parents on safari!