Sunday, December 13, 2009

Chimp Day

I was pressed for time but decided to try to squeeze in the chimpanzee sanctuary in the few hours I had left. My flight was to leave at 1400hrs and the chimp visit would not finish until 1300hrs! Check in for my flight was at 1100hrs. It was going to be a risk and it was going to be tight. My guide took me to the airport at 830am to see if we could find someone from the UN as it is a UN flight that I am on. We could not. After a great deal of negotiating we convinced the head of security to hold onto and deliver a note to the UN staff when they arrived in the morning. The note basically said that I would be arriving late, I would be able to carry both of my bags on the aircraft and that I would be at the airport at 1315hrs. we then departed for the marina to meet the boat that takes the visitors to the chimp sanctuary.

We arrived at the marina a few minutes early. This is where I took the pics of the MARABOO STORK. It is a large UGLY bird. It has the same personality and diet as our seagulls. The only difference is that it stands as tall as my armpit. The 900am boat finally arrived at 915am. I was a little stressed. My guide spoke to the boat captain to inform him of my situation and the importance of my arrival back at the dock. Off we went for the 1 hour boat ride across Lake Victoria to Ngamba Island.

The ride was nice however the water had a film on it and there was garbage floating in it (just a few things). There was a storm brewing in the distance just above the island we were travelling to. I thought everything might work out well and then it happened….we lost a motor! Of the two motors one stopped. I started thinking that this will make me miss my flight. After about 10 minutes they managed to get it started again and we were off.

Upon arrival at the island we were greeted by the staff and were given tea and coffee. Then we received a 30 min briefing on the sanctuary, the reasons that the chimps were there and the program they were following for the eventual release into the wild. It was sad to hear of some of their stories. There are presently 40 chimps on the island. The island is large but it can only support 40 chimps as the chimps need a vast amount of room.

We made our way up to the observation deck so that we could see the feeding of the chimps. The chimps were also making their way to the feeding area as they always know exactly what time to show up. These chimps are all still very wild but have human characteristics. As we walk up to the area you start to hear the chimps and see them playing in the distance. They are kept back by a 10ft electric fence and we will be standing on a 8 ft wooden platform.

We get introduced to the chimps as they play around and wait for food. One young climbs the tree closest to us. They tell us that she is the lookout for the group and she will let them know when the workers with the food are coming out. When the food finally left the barn and made its way to the chimps the lookout yelled out and then there were a few minutes of complete mayhem! It got so LOUD, they all started running around and jumping off trees. It was….ummm WILD!

I have a video that captured the noise and the mayhem. We watched the chimps interact and eat and play for about 40 minutes. I kept looking at my watch as it was now 1140 and the boat takes an hour to get back to shore and I need to be on shore by 1300hrs. I was beginning to get anxious.

As the chimps figured out that there was no more food they departed back into the vast forest. We made our way back to the souvenir shop. I tried to be the lead and get the other people back to the boat. It began to rain. We all made our way back to the boat. I asked the capt if the motor was fixed, he laughed and said yes sir, no problem. Once on the boat I realized that there were still 4 people missing…. Stress level going up as it was now 1155am and the rain was now coming down pretty hard.

Finally the other 4 arrived at the boat and it was 1158am. I felt better and was telling the capt that we should get going soon. They fired up the first motor and I was happy. Then they fired up the second motor and it failed. It continued to fail for the next 4 minutes…stress level getting higher..

Finally it started and we were off. All dressed in yellow rain cost supplied by the boat crew. We left at 1204 – 4 minutes behind MY schedule. LOL. Half way across Lake Victoria the rain stopped and it became a nice ride. As we pulled into the harbor area there was a military person on a boat attached to the dock that was next to ours (about 200ft away). He was visibly angry and yelling at our boat capt.

The boat capt wasn’t sure what he was yelling about and the capt looked very worried and slightly confused. The military guy was signaling the boat capt to bring the boat over to him. Our capt didn’t want to do that and wasn’t sure what the problem was so he cautiously continued slowly to our dock while trying to hear what the military guy was yelling. As we got close to our dock the military guy picked up an AK-47 rifle and then made a call on his cell phone all the while yelling louder at our capt. The capt finally said to us something about pictures. I quickly asked if anyone on board had taken pictures of that area where there were several boats tied up. One woman said maybe it was the picture she took. She just thought the boats and dock looked pretty. She hadn’t realized that they were military and shore police boats and that in this country (and many others) it is illegal to take any photos of government, police, military or airport installations. I told her to quickly erase the photos she took and if asked just say you were viewing the storm and the hotels through your camera but took no pictures. She followed my advice quickly. When we finally docked it was 1305hrs and I was anxious to get to the airport quickly. I didn’t wait for the military guy to arrive. I was met by my guide and we ran to the truck and he drove rapidly to the airport. It was a 7 minute drive.

I arrived at the airport at 115pm (flight is departing at 200pm) to find many long lines. I decided to do like to locals do, show my pass get pushy and bud in front! It worked. When I got to the screening area the security guard said that that my flight was already gone! I asked him to show me someone from the UN. He helped me to find a UN Agent and sure enough the one he found was sitting with MY note in his hand that I have left with the security guard that morning! I was soooo Happy. He quickly got me registered, through security and up to the gate. My flight had not loaded yet and I even had a few minutes to grab a sandwich and a pop.

It all worked out and I was HAPPY!

My flight departed and the rest of the trip I slept on the aircraft….

1 comment:

  1. Mike - you should know by now not to run a tight schedule in Africa. :-)

    At least you know how to work the system. hehehe

    Shane

    ReplyDelete