Nevertheless, we were up early again to
start our chimpanzee walk at 6.30am, heading straight off into the jungly
forest with Debra as our guide, hoping to see some of the population of chimps
who live here in Kalinzu Forest. We walked for a couple of hours, nothing too
strenuous, and did eventually find some chimps, thanks to a network of trackers
phoning in information. The chimpanzees were very high in a tree though, about 50m up (we
tried to work out the height from the time it took a fig to fall to the ground
but it was complicated. There were parsecs involved. I fell back on my standard
technique of picturing the finish line of a 100m race). Anyway, they were beyond the range of my lens.
There were parents with a young chimp and
we could see them moving and eating figs, but really they were just distant
silhouettes against the sky, that we had to tip our heads right back to see,
which soon got really uncomfortable and was also a bit disappointing,
especially considering the USD70 fee. But of course they are wild animals, a
law unto themselves, and were high in the trees because it was a cool morning.
Naturally, by the time we’d got back to camp, the sun was out and it was hot
and they would have been retreating down to ground level. The most exciting
encounter of the morning, it turned out, was a pretty furry orange caterpillar
I discovered busily crawling up my shirt. Apparently, if you touch its fur you
get a day of burning pain. Close call.
Then we headed off towards Queen Elizabeth
National Park – a huge flat expanse edged by big hills and surrounding Lake
Edward. It’s known for its elephants, and we saw plenty as we arrived, feeding
on the luxuriant vegetation. That turned out to be our downfall, as it
concealed most of the wildlife we might otherwise have seen. But there were
hippos in the lake.
We settled in for the night at a
lodge/campsite where most of the tour group opted for upgrades from our tents
to rooms – thatched wooden huts with mosquito net-draped beds and ensuites.
They looked really nice but it turned out they, like us using the communal
toilet block, had no hot water, muddy cold water, no wifi, and we all lost
mains power about an hour after sunset. Africa! (But at least all the staff
wear bow ties.)
I also discovered that even with two
mattresses, you can tell the difference in the relative hardness of the ground.
Yesterday’s grass was much softer. But never mind, these early starts ensure that
it’s easy to fall asleep – and even when you wake in the night, there are
grunting hippos to listen to. Hopefully down in the lake, and not wandering
through the grounds, which they are known to do…
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