Living the Good Life: Chimpanzees in Kibale NP

Hey Guys!

We had a fantastic weekend getaway to Kibale NP. Here we got to do some chimpanzee tracking, and we also had a great walk through the Bigodi swamp. Let's dive right in!

We saw this guy within 20 minutes of being in the forest. He was moving pretty slow, which our guide told us was normal because they are usually a bit cold in the mornings.

This guy looked really sad, but I guess I get sad when I am cold.

Hey, it's me with a chimp!

I liked how uninterested they were in our presence. They went about their daily business, sometimes walking by a tourist like they weren't even there.

What was really interesting was when they decided to vocalize to each other. There would be an eruption of screams/calls and then it would all die down to nothing again. They also use the buttress roots of the fig trees to communicate with each other. They bang really hard on the tree and it makes a huge noise. It was kind of scary to think how powerful they are, but they are really gentle creatures.

Here was our guide for the day, he led us on a wild romp through the jungle. We were climbing for quite a while, with branches whacking us in the face. I felt kind of bad for the older people on the tour.

There are lots of other primates in the park, like Vervet, Colobus, Mangabey and red-tailed monkeys.

Dung beetle

This was on the ride back to town, we saw a troupe of baboons on the roadside. How incredibly cute is this little baby?

While we are on the topic of cuteness, this is Ekigyere, and she was the cat that lived at the homestay we visited. It means foot in the local language, because she was always at your feet. We got along just great. Don't worry Nmorange, momma loves you the best.

The next morning we took a tour of the Bigodi swamp, and saw all sorts of birds and monkeys. Our guide (pictured), was amazing with birds. He could hear them call from a while away, and knew exactly where to look for them to show us.

We saw hornbills, turacos, harriers, weavers, berbet, and a rare robin he only sees once every 4 months. What was really awesome was the shining blue Kingfisher, which was really lucky that we got a glimpse of it.

Photo credit to Jonathon Roussouw from the internet. I wanted you to see an actually good picture of this bird so you could know why I was so excited to see one.

We were totally immersed in the verdant excess of the swamp, there was vegetation everywhere.

Here is a black and white colobus monkey.

Swamp lily

All of these little balls are weaver's nests. At one point in the tour, we saw a harrier come by and start destroying these nests, trying to eat the eggs inside!