Back From Chimpanzee Tracking
I’m back in Kampala today after spending the better part of yesterday tracking chimpanzees in Kibale National Park. It was a five hour drive, but it went extremely fast as we took in the Ugandan scenery. On the trip was me, another tourist, a British woman: Debbie, our driver Peter and the guide John. We spent about five hours total in the forest. We were very lucky in that we found chimpanzees right away, and were able to follow them the entire time. We were supposed to arrive at 5:30 AM to see the chimpanzees awake from their nests, but our tour operator thought we were supposed to be there at 8:00 AM. The Uganda Wildlife Authority was gracious enough to find us a guide despite the fact that we were late. Overall, it was an incredible experience, even though it was quite grueling walking through the forest. I took quite a few pictures, hopefully they turned out OK as the lighting was not very good and I’m still learning how to use my new camera. I’m going to stop by the office of the tour operator tomorrow and try to get a partial refund, as the accomodations that were delivered were not what was promised before we left. We were supposed to stay in a nice lodge, instead, the first night, we stayed somewhere with no electricity, and last night the electricity was out for a considerable amount of time, not to mention the two locusts in my room that were terrorizing me. The ride home was a bit surreal. I’m in the back of a minivan, driving through Uganda, listening to country and gospel music being played through the minvans terrible sound system. (The driver chose the tunes). I didn’t realize anyone outside of the US enjoyed American country music. I don’t know why anyone in the US likes it.
Don’t get bitten by a fire ant, it hurts like hell. Only two managed to get a piece of me. I can’t imagine how painful it must be to step into an entire hill of those little bastards.
I won’t be able to post pictures until I get back, the internet connections here are too slow. Although I’ve found one decent cafe in Kampala: Web City Cafe. Every other place has speeds slower than dial up.