Notice how we are so far behind already that we are doing”parts,” and not “days?” We have been busy non-stop on the go! There are safari ants here in Uganda, and they call them that because they are always on the go with no time for resting. And, boy, I can relate to that!

We’ve done so much, we will never catch up on the blog which is unfortunately pretty normal for us. Let’s give it a shot though.

Chimpanzee trekking! So extraordinary and amazing and awe-inspiring and all the adjectives.

We were in a group of 8 people with a guide named Francis and two guards–one was named Titus and I don’t know the other’s name. Anyways, the guards are armed so they can protect you from aggressive forest elephants and angry chimpanzees. They just shoot “scare shots” in the air if necessary. thetwinsontour did get very excited at the mention of forest elephants–wouldn’t that be A-MAZ-ING? Alas, it was not meant to be. We did however see fresh elephant tracks, elephant dung laden with small orange colored fruit, an elephant “bathtub” where they like to wallow in the mud, and a  CHIMPANZEE eating the undigested fruit scavenged from the elephant dung! Next best thing to an elephant!

Elephant possibilities aside, the star of the show is the chimpanzees. The hike to find them is fairly easy. The trails are well-established and well-maintained. The trail we took had a rickety and sometimes broken boardwalk, but it is still the dry season, so we could just walk beside it. There were quite a bit of tree roots on the path, but nothing of any consequence. We hiked for about an hour. Each group took a different trail in search of chimpanzees, but somehow we all ended up at the same spot josteling for a good view. They do have trackers out looking for chimps in advance. The guard also listens for chimpanzee calls to make sure we are headed in the right direction. Once you find the chimps, you get one hour in their presence. At 9:32 we put on our face masks and suddenly there we were–smack dab in the middle of them. And by them, I mean all the other groups of people. There was one chimp low down in a tree, and one guide was telling his people to get closer. It was basically mass pandemonium like a Black Friday Sale of yore at Walmart where everyone is trying to find where the flat screen TVs are hidden. Yeah, just like that.

That chimp quickly skidaddled up into the treetops. The very, very tall and leafy treetops. They got us into position and pointed up at the trees. We started snapping pictures, but it was not easy with my head tilted back so far like a can opener, heavy camera held above my head, and my glasses fogging over from being in the rainforest. Luckily, they let us pull the face masks down since all the chimps were a million miles up in the sky. We stood around waiting to see if the chimps were going to take a nap or come down lower and eat.

They kept moving us around for a better view, which rarely was in fact better.  Obviously, the chimpanzees don’t stick to the trails, so we were walking through actual forest vines and trees and sloping ground. I was very underwhelmed, thinking this was it–just some tiny blobs in the treetops obscured by leaves, other trees, and an incredibly sore neck.

All of a sudden, one of the chimps was coming down. Francis got us over there quick enough that I was able to get a couple of amazing shots. Then the ape was on the ground! Francis was like GO!, and our group took off, except there was another group of confused Black Friday shoppers that got in my way, so the group got ahead of us a ways. I was following them through the uncut jungle. Then we made it to a fallen log with some branches I was supposed to step on to make it over. Luckily, Francis showed up right then to help me over, and I was able to help my sister. I was following Francis through  jungle vines, over logs, picking up cockleburs on my pants, and dodging tree branches like the intrepid jungle explorer that I am. I didn’t even see the rest of the group ahead of us and was feeling quite proud of myself because I realized I was leading the pack! Cause I am awesome like that! That feeling of accomplishment lasted right until we stopped to watch a chimpanzee way up in the tree, and the German guy behind my sister asked where the rest of the group was. Yeah, they were already there with the guards and had followed that chimpanzee butt all the way through the jungle without losing sight of him. And the nice Irish couple got it on video! Darn!

Once again they were moving us around the base of the trees, and then we were trekking through the jungle again. Somehow we ended up at the pile of elephant dung we had been rightly excited to see earlier. There was a chimpanzee! Just sitting on the ground living his best life eating the undigested fruit from the elephant dung heap. It was glorious, obviously!

I don’t remember the exact chain of events, but we ended up back at the same set of trees several times that we had “followed” that chimp to. And then somehow we were in front of a fallen tree with a BABY CHIMPANZEE, a momma chimpanzee, and another chimp. The two big ones were grooming each other and eating bugs while the baby did cute baby things. We just stood there taking pictures through branches and leaves, twisting and turning to get the best angles. I have no idea how long we stood there, rapt by their antics. Then at 11:33, Francis called Last Picture, so the joy-bringing trio of chimpanzees got up and walked away. They were like, finally I can stop posing for pictures!

This is truly one of the greatest things I’ve ever done, so far. Even better than that one time I picked out the perfect papaya that was just the right amount of ripeness and deliciousness–which is not an easy feat and has never been duplicated.

The walk back to civilization was much quicker, only about 20 minutes. And Herbert was right there waiting for us with the vehicle.  But let me tell you, I was a muddy, filthy mess. My boots were caked with mud and my long sleeve shirt is disgusting. That’s the sign of a truly amazing adventure!

After a delicious lunch back at the lodge (I have to throw that in because you know Momma worries that I don’t eat when I travel.) we headed to Uganda’s second largest national park, Queen Elizabeth National Park which was renamed after Queen Elizabeth visited in 1954.

Guess what? We stopped at the Equator too. There’s a giant monument there. It’s just on the side of the road–you don’t have to pay admission or dig out your passport for registration. There’s not even a building, souvenir shop, wash room, or any vendors.

Then as we were about 10 minutes away from our lodge, there was a car stopped on the other side of the road. We were like, what are they looking at? I kid you not, there was a magnificent LEOPARD sitting on a dead tree trunk about 10 feet from the side of the road. And it just sat there forever! I have a million identical pictures, and they are all glorious! I’m not deleting a single one! After a few minutes, he jumped down into the grass to hide. We waited quite a while, staring intently into the grass but he never popped back up–not for lack of us desperately hoping to the contrary.

That pretty much sums up chimpanzee day. What a great day it was!

Love,
thetwinsontour

ps. They had entertainment at the lodge–kids from the local orphanage singing and having the best time. There was only a small handful of spectators, but that doesn’t stop them from having a great time. They even serenaded us with a birthday song–the longest birthday song I have ever been subjected to in my entire life. I have it all on video–three videos, actually. I kept thinking they were done, but i think all 20 of them had to sing a solo, throw flower petals at our heads, and dance in front of us. After 10 minutes, when I was covered in flower petals and flowers, they were finally done. 10 minutes!