Chimps

We spent Monday and Tuesday of this week working on questions (which is exhausting!).  Finally, after it finished raining, Abe and I decided to go for a walk in the park. We started on the trail and ran into Gosia and her field assistants. Gosia studies mangabeys and she mentioned that there were chimps along the trail. We weren’t really sure if we had the directions right and if you see them in the wild and you aren’t chimp tracking, you are supposed to look away or pay (honestly, can anyone look away?). We didn’t see anything on the way in and we decided to turn around and there they were! I spotted them and pointed to Abe where they were. And instead of 2 like we were told, we saw 5! There were 3 adults, a juvenile, and a little guy. Not bad for my first walk in the forest! We watched them in the trees feeding. They were a distance away—I’m going to have to bring binoculars next year. After we finished watching them, we ran into about 3 L’Hoesti monkeys which are supposedly hardly ever seen. And if they are seen, they are usually seen running away. But no, we watched one male chewing on leaves. Finally, right at the edge of camp, we ran into red-tail monkeys. So, I think I have about 8 or 9 more primates to see in this forest. =)