Uganda's Chimp Forests and Sanctuaries

Well, it's been an action-packed couple of days. We left very early Sunday morning to drive out first to Hoima and then to Masindi District, which are in the far west of Uganda -- this is about a five-hour trip depending on where you are going. The roads are good for the first part, but very degraded at the end of the trip, making for a seriously bone-jarring trip.

The landscape seems to be quite different to Tanzanzia - more densely populated, and I couldn't get over the fact that you pass small communities, each with at least one if not two schools, at least every five minutes along the way. Not surprising when you consider that 50% of the population is comprised of children. The countryside is lush and green, but every square inch of land is in use, which makes the Budongo forest, which we were heading for, all the more precious. The team tells me that they have seen forest areas disappear in less than a few years, most to charcoal making which is a big cottage industry in the countryside.

We had the chance to visit the Busingiro education centre in the forest, where the dedicated team does educational visits for schoolchildren in the area, explaining to them about the importance of conservation and respecting the forest and its animals, then taking them on a tour of the forest. Apparently for some of the children, this is the first time they have ever actually set foot in the forest and had an opportunity to learn about the creatures it is home to.

From there we visited the Sonso research centre and the "Royal Mile" which runs through the forest (so named because it was the King's personal hunting ground). The forest is thick with birds and small primates -- red-tailed monkeys, blue and colobus monkeys. Quite fascinating.

We ended our day at the Kayo Pabidi ecotourism site which JGI has taken over management of, through an agreement with the National Forest Authority, and is almost finishing a small lodge and cabins in the forest from where you can do forest-walks and do chimp tracking. The setting is lovely and the wildlife amazing. We had a wonderful quiet night in the comfortable cabins, and saw several chimps high up in the forest canopy on a walk that morning. The evening was marked by a drive up to Murchison falls which are quite spectacular and from where you can sit and watch the sun set over the Nile river. Absolutely beautiful! I also saw some very relaxed hippos in the river and African buffalo and bushbuck along the way.

Our time in the area was made more interesting by the fact that a young chimp, about a year and a half, had been confiscated just two days before from some villagers who were looking to sell him to the first buyer. The JGI team intervened, and he is now safe at the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre in Entebbe. He was apparently in terrible shape and quite traumatized -- his mother had likely been killed by the villagers previously. Part of our time in Masindi was spent visiting the police and National Forest Authority to ensure that the villagers, who had been arrested, would in fact be prosecuted for their crime. This can be complicated, and in this case involved Debby Cox, who runs JGI, actually providing the police with a copy of the Act that prohibits possessing or trading in chimpanzees, so they would know what law had been broken.

Today I am back in Entebbe, and have had a wonderful morning visit to Ngamba Island, which is run by the Chimpanzee Sanctuary and Wildlife Conservation Trust (CSWCT) which operates a chimp sanctuary on an island in Lake Victoria. JGI Canada provides support to this sanctuary each year through the Chimp Guardian program.

It takes about 45 minutes by speed boat to get to this chimpanzee haven in the lake and is absolutely worth the visit. Here the chimps have access to an island of their own during the day and can roam freely -- there are 43 chimps on the island, almost all of whom came in poor shape, victims of the trade in chimpanzees. The island is also a haven to other species -- covered in birds of all types, with a huge colony of bright yellow weaver birds, and many lapwings and plovers, none of whom appear to have any fear. We saw the 11am feeding of the chimps which was wonderful -- they emerge from the forest and feed on fruits and vegetables thrown down to them by the keepers -- you get to see all the interactions between the chimps as they battle with each other to get the food -- one or two are clever enough to use tools to access any fruits which have fallen on the wrong side of the fence. Once fed, they are relaxed and engaging before melting back into the forests to do their own thing.

You can stay on the island in lovely tented accommodation right on the lake, and enjoy an incredible environment with lots of time to view chimps up close in their natural habitat, even going for a walk in the forest with the younger ones in the evening.

I am now packing up to head off to Addis Ababa and the next leg of my journey. Tomorrow will see me in Congo-Brazzaville, where I will visit the Tchimpounga Sanctuary, and if I have access to a computer will do my next blog from there.