travelblog post by kreynolds15 (via postie)
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The trip that we took to Gombe National Park was not only amazing but it was a life goal. In January 2007, I made a life goal to make it to Gombe to see the chimpanzees in the wild. Although it took some three years, almost to the dayâI finally achieved that goal. Many of you may know that I have always had a fascination with chimpanzees. I am probably the only child that cried for the chimp at the zoo, asking my mother why he was in the glass enclosure. When that same chimp, reached out to me and touched the window, I felt an instant connection that twisted my heart and never left. A few years ago I started a draft for a childrenâs book about chimpanzees. Now that I am here and have seen the chimps for myself, I am completing chapter 8 of the book and will have a finished draft when I return home! Now about the forest. If you want to know if God is real, all you have to do is visit the forest. There are amazing tree-scapes and beautiful varying colors of greens and browns twisting and wrapping and climbing over everything: trees and rocks and hills. Multi-colored butterflies peek in and out of their hiding places and large shafts of light descend from above, making you wonder if God himself has sent you special passage for which to cross over . A natural waterfall cascades over a rock wall and beyond it, a pair of yellow and black-winged bird made its nest, suspended from the vines of the trees hanging in front the waterfall. These sites are just part of whatâs there. I could not dream-up a more naturally beautiful scene.
The trip from Kigoma to Gombe took approximately 3 hours by boat and was breathtaking within itself.
The park sends out scouts in the morning to locate the chimps and follow them. When tourists arrive, the guides will know where to lead them because this is not like the zoo, where you know where the animals are located by checking your little map. The first day the chimps were in the northern part of the park and so for about 45 minutes we hiked straight up on the steepest incline Iâve ever been on. To the left there was the edge of the hill and so I tried not to look down. After breathlessly climbing until I thought I would faintâthe chimps moved. So, then we descended for about 30 minutes and then made a sharp right straight into the thicket of the forest. I asked if there was a path and Dr. Anton, who is in charge of the Chimpanzee research there, responded, âOnly animal paths.â So, for the next 30 minutes we twisted our bodies, crawled on all fours, unwrapped vines from our ankles and pushed our way through the forest to see the chimps. Once we finally arrived where they were we had to get close in order to see them because of the denseness. We may have been 3 to 4 feet away when normally you are at least 10 feet. It was amazing to see them up close! At one point, one chimp ran to discipline another and jumped over the heads of some of us sitting on the branches.
The next day was better as far as hiking. The chimps moved to the southern valley called Katombe Valley. The forest was very different on this side. It was not very dense and the hills were not as steep. On this day, the chimps were separated and spread out more into small groups so we had to hike to several different locations to see them. My favorite location was by this old, massive Mango tree. At one point, the chimps started displayingâwhich means the male chimps run and charge at each other until the other chimps submit to the Alpha Male. But once the displaying starts, the mothers and children scream and run for the trees. At one point, a chimp was charging straight for us and Dr. Anton has us all stand slowly to try and show that our size was bigger than theirs, something that gains respect from chimps. It was all very scary and very exhilarating at the same time!
We also visited the famous âJaneâs Peak.â It was from this peak that Jane Goodall would sit in the mornings throughout the years and listen down into the valleys for the chimp calls so that she could hear where they were located and could go observe them. We all sat on a bench at the peak, although there was no bench there when she was sitting there. Jane still comes back to visit her favorite places in the forest still, her ultimate favorite place being the waterfall. A new favorite of mine as well.
The forest is filled with such wonder and mystery. I feel honored and blessed that I finally got to achieve my dream of visiting the chimps in the wild and I hope to share that wonder with each of you soon, either through my tales or through my book.
kreynolds15
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