Monkeying Around

Apparently there are four types…sorry five types of primates including you and I; Gorillas, Orang-utans, Bonobos (DRC) and of course Michael Jacksons favourite, Chimps.  Uganda is famous as being home to some of the last Gorillas on the planet and a fantastic place to see them, but it is also a great spot to watch our other hairy cousins; the Chimps, and the best place to see them is Kibale Forest National Park south of the lovely town of Fort Portal.

Fort Portal was at one time home to one of Stanley Baker’s many anti-slavery forts he established across Uganda and South Sudan to thwart the Omani slave traders scouring the interior from their ships and early trading centres along the Mombasa coast.  Nowadays it is a shaded market town nestled in the tea field clad foothills of the mighty Mountains of the Moon in the West of Uganda, and to the south lies the Kibale Forest.

The morning after our arrival, we were awoken once more by the alarm clock, but this time unlike a working week, we shot out of bed relishing the prospect of tracking our closest cousin.  I beat my chest Tarzan style on the timber balcony of the Chimps nest banda overlooking the forest, as my ‘Jane’ brushed her teeth and looked on in bewilderment, but I knew she was impressed.  That was until I heard the real thing!  Scrambling into Stanley the Landy, after a swift breakfast, we were soon at the start of the trail and broken into our small tracking groups.  The guide, armed with the obligatory AK47, explained the mornings hike and the do’s and don’ts (apparently impersonating them is a no no!) and quickly disappeared into the thick undergrowth leaving us trailing behind.

We punched our way through the low trailing vines and foliage hoping they weren’t tree snakes or Baloo’s tail hanging down, and after no more than 30mins were treated to the first Chimp call of the day not too far off in the distance.  Within no time we were upon them and stared in awe as they awoke, stretched and started to climb down in search of food.  At this point the tracking started with the guide up front striding across the forest floor, faster than her little legs should allow, in pursuit of an adolescent male.  Every now and then, he would kindly stop, squat, start to eat and allow us to catch up and watch from the relatively safety of the next tree, seemingly happy for us to do so.  Soon after however, he would jump up, race towards the closest tree screeching at the top of his lungs and bang on the tree in the same way, and volume, that we might bang a drum, before strolling off in the direction of his family.

The four hours of tracking was certainly special, and coming within 5-10m of natural free Chimps in their environment going about their daily business is one not to be missed, but we were happy too when we arrived at our lodge for the night.  Perched between a crater lake on one side and with the Rwenzori Mountains spread out in the distance on the other, Ndali Lodge has to be one of the most special in Uganda.  Run by an English-Ugandan couple the lovely old tea plantation house makes you feel welcome as soon as you enter the House and Gardens style living room, making the evening gin and tonic obligatory.  Well you need something to make the quinine interesting!