On our first full day in Queen Elizabeth we got up early to track chimpanzees in the rainforest of Kyambura Gorge. Spanning 16 km, Kyambura is home to many primates, as well as hippos, forest elephants, and many millipedes (note: they look like snakes). Photos by Oh MG and Elizabeth Eckel.
Once we descended into the gorge it was pretty terrifying. Below Leigh and I react after thinking we saw a snake (it was a millipede). We also witnessed a baboon turf fight (when baboons scream it literally sounds like someone is being murdered), saw hippos very close to the shore, had to cross a river infested with crazy parasites, and heard a forrest elephant crashing through a nearby thicket. No really, it was fun though.
As we tracked the chimps we looked for signs that they had recently been in the area. A telling clue: freshly eaten chimp food.
Finally we found a group of chimps! In all we saw about six adults and an eight year old. They were just hanging out up in the trees and at one point there was showdown with black-and-white colobus monkeys whom the chimpanzees like to hunt. We did not witness any bloodshed however.
Continuing to look up at the chimps. Tis hard on the neck after a while.
All smiles after surviving our trip down Kyambura.
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