Climbing up the rift

Now in Gombe, I'm finding it very difficult to compare to Serengeti. Gombe is gorgeous, though, it is way more compact and there is much less biodiversity; the entire camp is very chimp-centric. In the way of animals I have only seen insect species and baboons down near camp. There are very few birds here because they can't really lay egg lest the chimpanzees would easily find them and feast on them.

I was able to go hiking up the rift this morning to go "chimping," that is...to hike up a steep rift through forest for about an hour and a half until we reach the chimps. Every hike is led by a field guide who most of the time doubles as a researcher, collecting data for Lincoln Park Zoo projects. Our guide, Matendo, has worked with the project for many years now and can identify each chimp by name on sight!

Even though Gombe is a relatively small national park, it would be vurtually impossible to leave the chimpanzees in the middle of the day and still be able to find them quickly the next. Therefore the field guides follow the chimpanzee groups until they nest in the evening at around 6 PM. This way, they will know to go to the same spot in the morning - around 6 AM - to "unnest" them and follow them for the rest of the day. Being a field researcher takes a lot of dedication, patience, and above all a mighty interest in chimpanzees.

Matendo radioed the researchers who had unnested the chimps this morning so that we could find them easily. We hiked up the steep rift and after long we heard chimpanzee screams. We knew we were nearby! Ten minutes longer and we found ourselves surrounded by chimpanzees. They are so habituated that they will get within feet of you, sometimes without you even noticing. I have attached a picture of young Barazoa, just before he starts to display at us by stamping his feet on the branches and shaking them. (This is ridiculously cute since it's obvious he is trying to be like the big males he's seen display.) Park rules say we can only be near the chimps for an hour - this is to minimize infectious disease transmission. So we headed back down the rift. We plan on going back up the rift tomorrow. I'm very much looking forward to it.