Advertisement
Published: February 20th 2011
Edit Blog Post
I saw the chimps today on Ngamba Island and it was awesome!!! The tour company found three more people so it cost 25% of what I expected. We took a speed boat to the island - a very nice 50 minute trip on Lake Victoria. The island had lots and lots of birds - ibises, egrets, lapwings, and beautiful orange weavers. There were also many monitor lizards wandering around.
We had tea and then a 30 minute talk on chimps. By the end, we could hear them yelling for their lunch! They are free in the forest, but come to the compound four times a day to be fed. There were soooo many of them (over 40)! At lunch they get avacados and vegetables. The keeprs thrown the food over the fence and then chaos ensures. Some grab food and eat immediately. Other grab food and then find a quiet spot to eat. Some clap their hands to get food and one stood upright and spread his arms open wide to attract attention. There were some fights, but nothing serious. Once all the food was out, it calmed down and they all sat and ate. There was then some playing,
some pooping, and even some ''monkey business''! I took lots of photos from the viewing platform. I bought a t-shirt that says ''98.7% chimp''!
We took the speed boat back and paused on the lake right on the equator! We should be crossing it again at least twice and on the roads, there are signs and places you can strand with one food in each hemisphere.
The trip included a visit to the Uganda Wildlife Edication Centre which was fun as there are lots of animals. They had a big male lion that was roaring loudly in the morning (the tour started there), but who was sleeping soundly in the afternoon. There were also two female lions as well as zebra, ostrich, two rhinos, a hyena, more chimps (although they were no where to be seen but how could I be disappointed?), Nile crocodiles, otters, tortises, a lot of antelopes, and lots of monkeys, including tons of vervet moneys who were running free. There were at least 10 babies and they were very cute.
I came back to the guest house and the GAP Adventures sign was up. The bus is here already as half of the
group started in Nairobi while half are joining here. We are meeting at 5:00am (yuck) for breakfast then departing at 6pm. I'm leaving one bag here and will just take my back pack.
I must admit that I have booked a hotel room with AC for my last night in Kampala. This place is OK, but it is so hot in my room and the shared bathroom and public shower are a bit stressful. I figure after seven nights in a tent and shared bathrooms and public showers, I'll be ready for a change.
My last day, I am going to Jinji to see the source of the Nile as well as some waterfalls where people raft and kayak. It's supposed to be a nice drive and worth seeing. It's about two hours away so I'll leave in the morning and be back in the afternoon in time to shower and get ready to fly home at 11:30pm. The same driver I had today is going to take me.
There's a line to the computers so I shall sign off now. I will not have internet for at least a week and may not have it again
before I get home. Look for updates and photos then!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.07s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 8; qc: 24; dbt: 0.0477s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Diane & Luz
non-member comment
Can't wait for more pics!
It sounds like a fabulous trip! Hope you're resting up. Can't wait to see all of your pics.