Chimpanzee Trekking
Nyungwe Forest National Park, Rwanda - Day 3
Today's adventure comes in two acts and a lunch intermission.
Act 1 - Chimpanzee Trekking
At 4 AM, two zombies reluctantly staggered from their room to the lobby to meet their guide James. He herded them into the car and drove to a dark, gravel road where they met a ranger. The friendly ranger wished them good morning, the zombies groaned a reply. After an hour long rough road (MISS YOU TATIANA!), we made it to the section of the Nyungwe Forest National Park that we would start our trek in search of chimpanzees. Two other parties joined us. One was a couple a little older than us from France and the other was a young couple from Germany (the airline lost their luggage and they only had what they were wearing!) After we cut into the jungle, we weren't so much hiking as sloshing through the mud. It was very slick and on one 'mud slide' the German fellow and myself fell right on our bums. The sticky, red mud was a nice addition to both of our attire (We later saw them at lunch and I had to keep myself from telling him I had nick named us the 'Dirty Bottom Boys'). A little bit of a hike and a few curse words later we rounded a corner and there they were, wild chimpanzees! The ranger said the troop was made up of about forty Chimpanzees. We saw maybe fifteen different ones, several adults, a mom and baby, and a four month old. The four month old was really fun to watch because it was a bit playful and a little clumsy. The calls of the other Chimps could be heard from time to time, but we never spotted the rest. After watching the chimps and monkeys do their wild chimp and monkey things, we made our way back to the car with only minimal damaged from the HUGE RED BITING ANTS FROM HELL.
A Brief Intermission
Isn't learning fun? For instance, did you know that 'beignets' are a decadent fried pastry? For part of our lunch today Katie and I ordered "Sambaza Beignets" thinking, well I don't know what Sambaza is, but beignets are delicious! When a plate of lightly breaded, whole small fish were dropped at our table I knew that words were futile and life was pointless. Sambaza turned out to be the little fish. At night, Rwandan fisherman take out these boats made from what looks like three canoes. The fisherman use lights to attract the Sambaza and then catch them in nets. I assume 'beignets' in this context means they are coated and fried.
Act 2 - Lake Kivu and Ile Gihaya
The original itinerary for the day included a canopy walk, but we learned after the chimpanzee trek that the canopy was closed for repairs. Instead James booked us a boat tour on Lake Kivu, one of the African Great Lakes. During the tour, we docked on an island named Ile Gihaya and walked the streets to a house that had a bunch of craft goods. When we walked by, some children would wave and some would follow us. By the time we left we had an entourage of ten or so. One college aged man named Claude helped translate for us (our boat driver didn't speak English) and we talked on the way back to the boat. He is going to college in the DR of Congo and had a brother named Daniel. Before we hopped back in the boat Claude gave me his email address to stay in touch. We waved good bye to our island friends and made way back to our lodge.
