Jan. 24, My Birthday

Chimptracking and chimp habituation are activities on offer at Kalinzu. Robert assured me I would see chimps here because I told him my story of Queen Elizabeth and I didn't want to waste any more money but I did want to see chimps again. The price for habituating the chimps for the day was just a bit more than double the tracking, where you only spend one hour with them. It was my 32nd birthday and I thought this will be my present to myself and arranged to do the habituation.
Habituation is the process of getting animals so used to humans or vehicles that they act like you are not even there after time, thus making it easier to study their natural behaviour. Now this wasn't real habituation, that can take years but it would be me spending 10 hours with them in the forest following them where ever they went and stopping when they stopped. Accompanying me would be 2 trackers, Robert and Yoshia, a Japanese researcher who has been studying the group we would be following for the last 2 years. We would be following group S, which has about 25 individuals. Group S is already habituated, so they wouldn't run from us when we found them. We left the office at 8 and headed left on the main road. Robert heard the chimps calling near there from his house in the village. We got to a point and entered the forest without a trail. Our tracker lead the way with his machete. The other tracker was in the forest looking for the chimps and directing us to them.

We found the other tracker, Joseph and shortly after he lead us to the chimps who were feeding in trees on a steep hillside. It was 9.15. I got comfortable looking at them through my binoculars, super happy to be seeing our closest relatives again. They didn't stay still long though and soon we were heading down the hill following them. When chimps move long distances they move along the ground. When ever we saw them all beginning to descend, we knew they were on the move. As we moved through the trail less forest I was stung badly by an intense pain in my crotch. I had to immediately whip down my pants to see the cause. It was an ant biting the hell outta of my penis! I squished him right away and after a bit the pain went away. I can't believe an ant bit me right there. It's just another one to add the list of things that have tried to feed on my genitals - leeches, ticks and mosquitoes. They won't have them!
It took us a little while to catch up to them. They were a small group but spread out and I wouldn't realize were they all were until they begin calling. There was a female in heat in the group and this was driving some of the males crazy. The chimps settled down near a main trail and we sat and ate some lunch. As they called I realized they were all around us. Chimps spend a lot of time on the ground feeding and the dense bush of Kalinzu makes them hard to see. They didn't stay too long again and we were on the move. I asked Robert if this was normal. He said they were on the move a lot today but some days they stay in the same place all day.
Around 1.30 thunder begins crashing loudly and the wind picks up. It rains lightly and picks up later but on the forest floor I feel nothing and don't put on my raincoat. Sometimes we cross trails during the day but mostly we are bushwacking all day. I look ahead as to where we are going and wonder how we are going to get through but we do. Joseph just hacks away. The one bonus and big difference between here and Semliki forest is that not many plants have thorns here, it's very gently going, except for the occasional stinging nettle type plants that I brush on that burn like fire. In the mid afternoon we have lost Yoshia and the other tracker. They have followed the female in heat and we continued with the rest of the group.
When we do find the chimps, everyone is busy taking notes. Robert has a photo album book of the chimps to identify who's who. Around 3.30, we've lost the trail of the chimps. Joseph is searching hard. Robert and I sit and wait and hope to them to call to reveal their whereabouts. Joseph picks up a faint trail and we follow. At 4 we hear them call, we are close. We find them one last time as Robert suggests we get going. I tell just until after the group is gone. This last sighting is one of the best, with clear and more close views. After the last chimp has swung out of sight we begin the way back.
Chimps don't move like monkeys at all in the trees. They use their arms a lot to move around and swing and are fascinating to watch. There's also something special about being in a forest harbouring chimps. It has a definite feel to it, like the forests containing tigers or Rafflesia ( the world's largest flower, up to 1m across).
We hacked our way to a trail and then to the research road and back to Kalinzu. We arrived 10 hours after leaving. The weather was overcast and cool all day and I hardly sweat at all. I didn't feel to tired either. Yesterday I walked to the small village on the hill opposite Kalinzu to look for coffee and see what else they had. I didn't find coffee but I did find coffee spirit, 40% coffee flavoured booze. I bought a few 2 ounce packets for 50 cents and a couple of sodas because I was drinking so much water I wanted to treat myself.
Frank had a hard day before he arrived at Kalinzu and he spent the entire day lounging around camp. After dinner we made a fire and I brought out my ipod speaker. It was an enjoyable evening to top off an extraordinary day. A birthday I won't forget.