The frustration of fruitless searching

While there is always something of interest to make our forest visits worthwhile, I am ultimately here for the chimpanzees and it is these that I most want to see. Having seen only brief glimpses of the rear-ends of chimpanzees as they hurriedly move out of sight for almost two weeks now frustration is starting to set in.

Since last Saturday we have searched high and low in nearly every inch of our study site, covering many miles each day in the hunt for our ever-elusive study subjects. In our attempts to catch up with the chimpanzees we have run through savannah, scrambled up hills and pushed through thorn-laden thicket, but we have always found ourselves hot, sweaty and heavily scratched but no closer to our targets.

There are some days when, if I didn’t know better, I would think that the chimpanzees are deliberately tormenting us for their enjoyment. For instance there was the day when we had just stopped for a much needed rest and food break at the top of the huge hill that we had spent most of the morning climbing. We sat enjoying the rest and the stunning view and were just about to start on the food, much to my delight as my stomach was growling with hunger.

Just as we had got the chapatti-filled lunchbox out some leaves rustled in the valley below. Out came the binoculars, and after several minutes of observation I thought I saw the human-like hand of a chimpanzee emerge from behind some branches and grab a piece of fruit. Putting the untouched food away we got to our feet and raced down the valley towards where we thought the chimpanzee would be. We arrived just in time to see it disappear into dense vegetation.

It seems for now that I am going to have to make do with infrequent glimpses of chimpanzee arses. Whilst any sighting is good and even the arse-end of a chimpanzee is of interest, I hope that we will get some more substantial sightings soon!

Written on Friday 30th July

Animal of the week - week 3

Wire-tailed swallow (Hirundo smithii)

The wire-tailed swallow acquires its name from the two long and wire-like tail feathers that the adult birds possess. These extended feathers and their red caps make the adult swallows instantly recognisable as they swoop and dive with incredible speed and agility around the camp.

A pair of the swallows has nested in the eaves of our kitchen hut here and so I often see them collecting insects and ferrying their spoils to the three chicks that they are raising, with seemingly limitless energy.

This week the three fledgling swallows left their nest for the first time and I have loved watching them test their wings and perfect their flying in the kitchen – moving uncertainly from beam to beam, spurred on by the encouragement of their parents and each other.

In addition to being fascinating to watch, these swallows draw my thoughts to home. This is primarily because watching them swoop down from the nest reminds me of the house martins that do this when they nest under the eaves of my house and the delight that myself, my mum and my sister feel when they do so.

The resemblance of the swallow chicks to the martlet – a mythical bird that features in the crest of my college, also makes me thing of university and the lovely friends that I have made there and who I shall not see for a long time yet. I wish that these friends could be here now to share in my joy at watching the swallows.

Instead I shall have to make do with writing about the swallows and to look forward to being able to relate the stories of these birds and the other fascinating animals that I have encountered, and no doubt will continue to encounter, on my chimpanzee chasing adventure.

For the delight that watching them brings, and for the fond thoughts of home, family and friends that they evoke, the wire-tailed swallow has to be my third ‘animal of the week’.

Downpour!

During my time in Semliki there has been a lot of rain, an unusual amount for this time of year, which should be the dry season. But so far this rain has been restricted to the nights and the days have been clear and dry - until today that is.

This morning we had planned to visit a different region of the forest close to the nearby safari lodge as the chimpanzees had recently been calling from there. After the drive to lodge through the steadily falling rain, and the test of Edson’s still-brilliant driving skills that this involved, we arrived to discover that the chimpanzees no longer appeared to be in the area as they had not been heard the previous night.

As we headed back to camp Edson explained to me how difficult it is to find the chimpanzees when it is raining. On these occasions the chimpanzees are typically quiet and hidden sheltered on the ground out of sight. The noise of the rain also makes it difficult to hear any sounds that the chimpanzees do make.

Despite these words of warning we were eager to get into the forest when we arrived back at camp, as we discovered that the chimpanzees had been heard nearby. After over a week of seeing nothing but the briefest of glimpses of the chimpanzees I was willing to take even the remotest chances of finding them.

My initial optimism soon faded when I realised the realities of chasing chimpanzees in the rain. What had started as a drizzle steadily increased as we ventured deeper into the forest, until we were struggling to hear the shaking of branches and the calls of the colobus monkeys above the relentless patter of rain. The storm clouds overhead also meant that the forest was shrouded in darkness so that even if we could have found the chimpanzees we would have struggled to see what they were doing let alone identify them.

After slipping and sliding along the water-logged trails for a couple of kilometres William, today’s UWA ranger, decided that the search should be called off and continued in the afternoon when the rain would hopefully have cleared up. It was as we turned to head for camp that the heavens opened and the already fairly heavy rainfall turned into a downpour.

I was soaked to the bone within seconds and was just glad that I had thought to cover my rucksack with its waterproof cover this morning. We raced back against the flow of water now covering much of the ground and I was soon drenched, splattered with mud and looking and feeling a lot like a drowned rat. Even my feet got wet, as the normally low river was now deep enough to overflow my waterproof boots. We arrived back at camp dripping wet, much to the amusement of everyone sheltered in the dry of the kitchen hut.

This morning’s brief attempt at chimpanzee chasing reminded me of past excursions on Dartmoor and other rain-soaked regions of the UK, and was a far cry from the heat and humidity or our previous Ugandan forest walks. I just hope that rain disappears this afternoon so that we can continue our search for the chimpanzees, who I imagine right now are sat somewhere in the forest with dripping fur looking as sorry for themselves as a chimpanzee can manage!

Written on Wednesday 28^th July

Monkeys and a mongoose

With the chimpanzees here in Semliki being only semi-habituated to human observers, and with the multitude of hiding places and difficult terrain making them so hard to find, we can go long stretches here with nothing but brief glimpses of our study subjects.

Despite the frustration of walking many miles for days on end with chimpanzee sightings few and far between, the scenery on the walks is always beautiful and there is always something of interest to be discovered on our forest visits, even without a glimpse of the much sought after chimpanzees.

For a start there are several other primate species to be found here, most of which we see on a daily basis. Black and white colobus, red-tailed monkeys and blue monkeys are seen regularly as are the ever-noisy baboons. There are also vervet monkeys here in Semliki, though these are typically found in the savannah.

Many other animals besides the primates are seen on our forest visits. Beautiful birds flit between the branches and butterflies in an array of dazzling colours flutter past us on the trails. We have also had glimpses of a lone waterbuck in the savannah and of a large spotted genet (a small wildcat) peering out from a cluster of palm trees. Glistening dung beetles are often seen hard at work and giant millipedes are regularly spotted along with spiders and the occasional snake.

Today we were even lucky enough to see a baby mongoose, nestled within its den in the hollow of a tree. After a quick peek and a couple of photographs we left it to be reunited with its mother, that we could hear calling to it from the nearby thicket.

Animal encounters like these ensure that our forest visits are never dull, even when the chimpanzees continue to evade their chasers. The Semliki Valley is truly a fantastic place with many fascinating inhabitants!

Written Saturday 25^th July

Well-digging, river walks and very wet feet

Different populations of chimpanzees across Africa exhibit different suites of behaviours and can even be said to have different cultures. One of the most interesting behaviours in the cultural repertoire of the Semliki chimpanzees is the practice of well-digging. The chimpanzees here are known to hand-dig wells in the riverbed that they drink from, and will occasionally use leaf or palm pith ‘sponges’ to better access water from these.

It is not known for sure why the Semliki chimpanzees dig wells in this way. Whilst they do often dig them when the river has dried up they are also found next to clear flowing water, suggesting that water scarcity is not the predominant driving factor in their manufacture.

The project that I am working on whilst here in Semliki aims to tackle some of the questions that arise when thinking about the wells. Why do the chimpanzees dig the wells, and why do they dig them where and when they do? Are there any patterns for the location of wells and are there preferred locations for digging? These are just some of the questions that I hope to answer.

As part of my investigations I have been surveying the Mugiri River that runs through the study area, mapping sections where wells have been found in the past in terms of sediment type and several other factors. When I find wells I take a series of measurements of their dimensions, location, surrounding sediment type etc and undertake bacterial testing of the water in the wells and of nearby flowing water for comparison. It is always exciting to find the wells and to think of the chimpanzee digging it and to wonder about what made it do this. It is also good to be able to put the odd collection of equipment that I lug around each day to good use.

To search for wells and to survey the river I plan to do a ‘river walk’ at least once a week, starting from today. The aim of these walks is to proceed along the riverbed for a few kilometres taking data on the river itself and on any wells that are found along the way. The walk inevitably involves getting very wet feet as many stretches of the water are deceptively deep, but for the sake of the data collected (and to be honest for the fun of it) I am happy to sacrifice having dry feet for one day a week.

I loved the first river walk this morning and it was great to get a change of scenery from the now familiar trails. I felt very intrepid wading through the river, clambering over logs and debris and pushing through overhanging vines with my notebook in hand.

The first walk yielded four wells, 3km of mapping and many interesting sights along the way, perhaps the best of these being the seemingly never-ending line of ants we encountered. The ants were in the process of moving to a new headquarters and so the whole colony was on show, from the tiny white grubs and the multitude of workers carrying these to the large and viciously-jawed soldiers that guarded the procession.

Overall I would regard my first river walk as a success and so I will not even think of complaining when I have to put on damp boots tomorrow, as unpleasant as this may be! I am looking forward to the river walks to come and hope that they will enable me to begin to unravel some of the mysteries surrounding the well-digging practice of the Semliki chimpanzees.

Written on Friday 23^rd July

A trip into town

Every other Wednesday here is set aside as the day for the camp supply trip to Fort Portal. As we needed to stock up on snacks and were keen to eat a meal that didn’t consist largely of beans and plantain, Duncan and I jumped at the opportunity to join Edson on this trip into town.

We left early, aiming to avid the roadworks that are going on along the road to Fort Portal. Unfortunately the previous night’s rain had made the road out of camp treacherous and Edson was forced to inch the car along, exhibiting some lightning fast reactions with the steering wheel as he corrected for the slipping and sliding of the wheels. With this delay we were unable to get past the roadblocks before the day’s construction work began meaning that the journey took longer than expected. It seems that even in Uganda road works are the bane of many a driver’s life!

Despite the hold-ups, and the fact that a blanket of cloud ruined my chances of a ‘stunning view down the Rift Valley’ shot, I thought that the drive into town was a success, if only because it was on this journey that I saw my first hammerkop.

The hammerkop is a bizarre bird found only in Africa that I have long wanted to see. The name, derived from the Afrikaans word for hammer-head, stems from the peculiar head shape that makes the medium-size brown bird look so odd. However, it is not just its appearance that is strange about this unique bird. Mated pairs of hammerkop build the largest nests of any bird species, some being so large that they are capable of supporting the weight of a small car!

Upon reaching Fort Portal my first thought, and one shared by Duncan, was “food”, or more specifically “meat”. Due to the cost and the difficulty in storing it, we rarely eat meat in camp, and for someone with carnivorous eating habits like myself this is difficult to take. A bacon omelette and pile of chips soon put my food craving to rest, and that was just breakfast!

Once fed, and after a trip to the bank, Duncan and I headed into the centre of town to explore and to search for the items on our shopping lists. Fort Portal is a bustling town with a relaxed and friendly atmosphere and it made a nice break from the isolation of camp. We finished our shopping and wandered around the town and I even discovered to my delight that Cadbury’s chocolate here tastes not unlike that found in the UK and is pretty damned good!

We also managed to find somewhere in town that claimed to be able to cut mzungu hair (mzungu being an African word used to mean ‘white person’), as Duncan was in need of a haircut. Unfortunately this in fact turned out to mean ‘we can massacre your hair so that you look like a doll that a small girl has played hairdressers with’, and so the only reasonable option was to shave it all off. Duncan therefore left Fort Portal with significantly less hair than he’d arrived with!

Chores done, we enjoyed a cold beer before heading back to camp in the car, that was now packed to the brim with various supplies. After two weeks living in tents in the middle of nowhere it was great to get a day in town, but I felt glad to see the thatched roofs appear from the savanna as we arrived back in camp that evening. Revitalised and with my meat cravings fed I am now ready to face some more chimpanzee chasing.

Written on Wednesday 21^st July

Noises in the night-time

It was somewhat unsettling when Edson gave Duncan and I a quick talk about what to do if we stumble across various dangerous animals in the dark, especially as most of the advice is followed by “and if you do that maybe you can get away”. Considering that I have not long got over my apprehension of nightly toilet trips the talk was perhaps less than helpful!

The fact that various creatures can be found close to camp at night is evident from the variety of sounds I hear emerging from the dark as I lie in bed. Owls and baboons are often heard, as is the late-night frog chorus and the scuttling of lizards across the tent roof. The deep bellowing grunts of a male lion sometimes adds to the racket along with stranger noises that I am unable to identify. Occasionally the animal sounds are accompanied by the pattering of rain, booming thunder and the howling wind. With all this going on the night-times can be incredibly noisy here!

One night I heard what sounded disconcertingly like a leopard as I walked back to the tent from the toilet. I told myself that it couldn't be a leopard, they are very rarely seen in this area and it would be unlikely for one to come so close to camp. The next morning I ask Edson what the source of the noise that appeared just before the baboons starting screaming was. “Oh that was a leopard” he cheerily replied.

It now seems that the chance of a leopard appearing out of the long grass in from of me in the dead of night has slightly increased. Perhaps worryingly, whilst the idea of anything suddenly emerging from the grass in the dark is somewhat unnerving, the thought of seeing a leopard excites me more than it scares me. That said, my heart still leaps into my mouth when a nightjar flies up in front of my face when I almost step on it one night!

Written Monday 19^th July

My kind of work

After my brief encounter with the chimpanzees in the first week I was lucky enough to spend a lot more time with my primate subjects in week two.

On Wednesday we found a group of chimpanzees feeding in the treetops close to the trail. Having seen us a couple screamed and hid in the canopy, but a number of the chimpanzees carried on with their fruity feast seemingly untroubled by our presence. It is a sign of the ongoing success of habituation efforts here that the chimpanzees often allow human observers to get close to them, even going so far as to calmly groom each other in our presence.

We positioned ourselves where we could easily watch the chimpanzees and then Duncan and I proceeded to take notes on their behaviour. As I sat in the forest with my trusty binoculars around my neck and my notebook in hand I thought about what a privilege it was to be there and that it certainly beat a day of lectures! Lying back with my binoculars focused on the chimpanzees in the tree above is certainly my kind of work.

With the aid of identification charts and the impressive knowledge of the Semliki chimpanzees that Edson possesses we were able to put names to some of the individuals in the group. As I watched the chimpanzees for those wonderful hours different personalities became clear.

Among the group was Mzee, a large and haggard-looking old male who commanded the respect of the other chimpanzees and was confident in our presence. Then there was Buzz, the nervy male who seemed to spend most of the day alternating between screaming at us and lazing in a branch above our heads. Perhaps the most notable personality was the adult male Fuller, who seemed to have no fear of his team of observers and to delight in his repeated attempts (one of which was successful) to urinate on Duncan!

Hours flew by as I watched the animal that has fascinated me since childhood, and it was a sad moment when, after nearly three whole days of observation, the chimpanzees once again disappeared and we were unable to relocate them. However I knew that all good things must come to an end and the last few days have been fantastic. I now only hope that it will not be too long before I catch up with the Semliki chimpanzees again.

Written Saturday 17th July

Animal of the week - week 2

Crested Guineafowl (Guttera pucherani)

There are two types of guineafowl in Semliki, the helmeted and the crested. Whilst the helmeted species is a savanna-dweller, the crested guineafowl, including the western variety (verrauxi) found in Uganda, is commonly found in forests.

Indeed I do often see the crested guineafowl as we walk through the forest, generally in small groups calling nasally as they run through the undergrowth.

Their striking feathers can also be seen scattered across the forest floor; the iridescent blue stripes and spots standing out on the muddy trail.

I also decided to use the crested guineafowl as my first model when trying out the sketching and painting set that my mum gave me to bring out here, although I found it impossible to capture the vivid blue of the birds with my limited palette (and limited artistic skill!)

Whilst the guineafowl aren’t the most exciting of the animals you can find here in Semliki, I much prefer seeing them on a near daily basis than I do the pigeons at home. I like how they manage to be both beautiful and ugly simultaneously and enjoy seeing these odd-looking birds on our forest visits. The crested guineafowl is therefore my second 'animal of the week'.

Chimpanzee chasing

During my first week in Semliki I have been busy learning the ropes and getting to grips with life as a field researcher and chimpanzee chaser.

A typical day here consists of waking before sunrise at 6am in order to get ourselves and our kit ready to depart into the forest at seven. Once in the forest we begin to search for signs of the chimpanzees – footprints, dung, discarded fruit parts and the like.

If the chimpanzees are well hidden or have travelled farther afield then the search for them can take us up to 30km around the park; up hills and over streams, through forest and savanna. Indeed my first few days in the Semliki valley were spent trekking far and wide searching for the chimpanzees to no avail. Whilst the walks through the forest are always interesting and enjoyable even without a glimpse of the chimpanzees I soon impatient to see them.

If we do not find chimpanzees then we normally stop searching after several hours and get back to camp hot, grubby and tired around 2pm. If chimpanzee calls are later heard from camp then we will go back into the forest in the evening to search again for them. If all is quiet we have the afternoon and evening free to shower, read, type up data, measure samples, send emails and so on before dinner and then an early night in preparation for the next day’s toils. We largely follow this routine for six days a week, with a much appreciated rest day on Sunday allowing us a lie-in and a chance to recharge our batteries before going into the next week.

Whilst we have so far often been following the trail of evidence indicating the past passage of chimpanzees, I have found myself chasing the chimpanzees themselves on several occasions. Sometimes we have seen a group of the chimpanzees in the morning only to have them noisily career into the distance. Each time this has happened we have followed in the direction they went, but the speed with which they travel and their ability to remain silent and invisible amongst the tree-tops, undergrowth or tall savanna grass, has meant that despite our best efforts we eventually lost them for good.

Chimpanzee chasing in Semliki is an exhausting but exhilarating activity. I find racing through the valley with only the occasional tracks, vocalisations and glimpses of hairy black outlines to guide us very exciting, but also frustrating when our exertions are in vain.

Despite having so far been disappointed on several occasions after failing to relocate lost chimpanzees, the effort of the chase is definitely worth it when we do catch up with our fascinating targets. I am certainly willing to chase chimpanzees the full length and breadth of our study site for those special occasions when we are able to locate and observe the elusive Semliki chimpanzees.

Written on Wednesday 14th July

What a day!

Today was incredible!

Years of dreaming finally came true when I saw my first ever wild chimpanzees, and it was even better than I had imagined.

While almost every account you will read of chimpanzee encounters will tell you that the easily distinguishable calls of the chimpanzees were heard long before the chimpanzees were seen this was not the case for my first chimpanzee sighting.

Our first sign that our quarry was close by came when Edson first spotted a chimpanzee nest in above the trail. Chimpanzees build leafy beds, or nests, each night and so fresh one indicated that a chimpanzee had slept nearby. When I scanned the trees around the nest I was delighted to find not one, but two bulky black shapes in the canopy above me. They were sat munching on fruit, the only sound they made being the crashes of discarded fruit parts falling to the forest floor.

My brilliant and much-treasured binoculars allowed me to get a closer view of the chimpanzees and as I focussed on the face of one I was struck by how human the gaze was that returned mine. Watching those chimpanzees eating and moving around in the tree-tops for the first time was an incredible experience and one that I am sure I will never forget.

Sadly our joy at being able to observe the chimpanzees was short-lived as some noisy tourists caused them to take fright and quickly move out of view with much screaming and hooting. Damn tourists!

What followed was a frantic and exhausting attempt to relocate the chimpanzees. This involoved a great deal of forcing through, often thorn-laden, vegetation, clambering over and under branches and scrabbling up steep slopes. Sadly this chase was not successful.

However, we did find other things of interest along the way as we followed the trail of the chimpanzees, which at least made our off-trail exertions of some use.

First we stumbled upon a chimpanzee skeleton. It was a massive stroke of luck to find such a complete skeleton in the niddle of the forest and we were immediately keen to collect all the bones we could find. It looks like Duncan and myself will spend much of our free time in the next few weeks getting a hands-on lesson in chimpanzee anatomy as we attempt to reassemble the skeleton.

We also happened upon an Acacia tree with large strips of back on the floor beneath it, these having been ripped from the branches above. The Semliki chimpanzees are know to strip bark and chew bark wadss on occasion, and as Duncan is working on a project that aims to find out why they do so, this was useful evidence.

Now that we’d found a tree that had clearly been subject to chimpanzee bark-stripping the problem was how to get clear photographic evidence of this and samples from close to the sites of stripping for later analysis.

It was here that a childhood spent terrifying my mum by climbing every climbing frame, tree and cliff available came in handy, as I took it upon myself to clamber up the tree and get the necessary photographs and samples.

The twenty foot or so high climb was strenuous but easily manageable providing I put my trust in what I hoped was a very strong vine hanging down beside it. It turned out that the vine was indeed strong and I got to the top branches without too much difficulty. Having collected the necessary data I had a moment to enjoy my amazing bird’s eye view before descending safely to the ground.

All in all, today was fantastic and I hope that there will be many more like it to come!

Written on Monday 12^th July

Elephant encounters

Today I saw my first forest elephants!

The first indication that the elephants were nearby came from the trail of destruction, footprints and incredibly large dung that we happened upon. We continued slowly, listening carefully for signs of the elephants’ presence.

My first glimpse of one was a sighting of the top of a mountainous grey back as the elephant ambled noisily through the understory. Further on we found ourselves in the slightly scary position of having elephants at close range on either side of us, although our ranger William seemed, perhaps worryingly, unconcerned.

On one side I could see the back of an elephant’s head and I watched as its ear flapped to dislodge the tsetse flies that landed upon it. On the other side the sound of breaking branches and swaying trees indicated that more elephants were nearby.

It was incredible to think that such huge animals could move around the thickly overgrown forest and be hidden from view and it was an amazing experience to get so close to them.

After a couple of minutes of wonderful minutes watching and listening to the elephants we proceeded onwards, making sure we didn’t stumble across the paths of the forest giants as we went.

Written on Saturday 10^th July

A test of nerve

With the support of the lovely camp staff and UWA rangers it didn’t take me long to settle into life in Semliki. However one aspect of camp-life took me a bit longer to get used to.

The camp toilet is situated about 30m outside the main camp and can be reached by a gravel path lined on either side by head-height grass. When I first arrived in Semliki I found walking along this path at night somewhat unnerving, probably not helped by the number of horror movies I’d watched involving various terrifying creatures emerging out of long grass!

While I kept telling myself that a snake would not be lying on the path at night, and that the chance of a leopard leaping out of the grass at me was infinitesimally small I still felt uneasy making the first few night-time toilet trips and it was not until my third night in camp that I was able to walk to and from the toilet without a noticeable increase in heart rate.

Written on Friday 9th July

First day in the forest

Whilst at home I am terrible in the mornings, but here my excitement meant that I was awake even before my 6am alarm had a chance to go off. After hurriedly getting dressed and packing my field bag, and a scrummy breakfast of fresh chapatti and peanut butter, I was ready to go.

Soon I was heading into the forest for the first time with Duncan and Eli, our UWA ranger for that day. We dodged roots and vines and negotiated our way across rivers as we headed deeper into the forest, all the while with Eli pointing out things of interest - there was a fresh elephant footprint, that rustling noise was made by a black and white colobus monkey and that call belonged to the black and white casqued hornbill.

My senses soon became better attuned to the conditions so that I was often able to pick out the culprit when branches were shaken and identify some of the footprints myself. My memory for bird calls was however less impressive and Eli seemed to find it hilarious when I assigned obviously incorrect birds as answers when he tested me on various calls.

In parts of our study area the thin belt of riverine forest meets savanna and so I occasionally found myself pushing through shoulder-height grass in the blazing sunshine.

Being in the foothills of the Rwenzoris, the forest trails often climb steeply and so much of the first morning was spent clambering up slopes, carefully placing my feet to avoid slipping. With a drop of one hundred feet or so to the river below, falling from the trail is certainly something to be avoided!

We stopped on a steep slope to rest our legs and take on food after around 3 hours of walking. I was covered in mud and dripping in sweat but was deliriously happy as I sat eating my honey-covered chapatti and surveyed the forest below.

Another 3 hours or so of walking took us back to camp, where I enjoyed a much needed cold shower and a delicious Ugandan-style lunch. Whilsts we didn’t see the elusive Semliki chimpanzees today, it was still a fantastic day and I now can’t wait for my next forest visit.

Written on Thursday 8th July

Animal of the week - week 1

During my stay in Uganda I have decided to do a post each week on an animal that has been of particular interest. My first 'animal of the week' is the:

Black-faced vervet monkey (Cercopithecus aethiops)

I arrived at the Red Chilli Hideaway in Kampala after Duncan and, being a primate enthusiast like myself, one of his first questions to me was "have you seen the vervets?"

The Red Chilli vervets were used to humans and so I was able to sit and watch them closely, which I did whenever possible. There were many infants and juveniles present and watching them was often hilariously funny. The infant vervets looked like they were yet to grow into their bodies and they pulled some very amusing expressions, especially when startled by the click of my camera.

Watching the inquisitive vervets started off my Ugandan primatological experience and so they have to be my first 'animal of the week'.

Written on Thursday 8th July

The road into camp

The last stage of our journey was around a two hour drive along some of the most scenic roads I had yet encountered. As we wound our way down the foothills of the Rwenzori mountains into the Rift Valley the view was truly breathtaking. The roads got progressively bumpier as we got closer to camp, which was good as that and my excitement kept me awake and able to enjoy the views.

Once down the mountains we reached the savanna that makes up much of Semliki National Park. As he drove, Edson pointed out guineafowl, a francolin, Ugandan kob and a warthog to name just a few. Seeing the animals from my well-studied wildlife guides in the flesh was fantastic, and Edson promised that we would see even more wonderful creatures over the coming weeks.

Eventually we reached the project-site and I got my first glimpse of where I would be living for the next ten weeks. I loved the camp immediately.

Set right at the border of savanna and riverine forest the camp looks out over stunning and varied views in each direction. Duncan and I will be sharing a large and well-equipped tent during our stay, which has a verandah with a great view out over the forest that I soon discovered is a brilliant spot to watch birds from. The camp has long-drop toilets, a cold shower and a kitchen and is provided with electricity via a solar panel. What more could I need?

That evening Duncan and I met the Ugandan camp staff and Ugandan Wildlife Authority (UWA) rangers who live on camp, all of whom are lovely. After a brief excursion to watch the football world cup semi-final at the staff compound of the nearby safari lodge, I gratefully got ready for bed. As I drifted off to sleep I thought eagerly of what tomorrow might bring.

Written on Wednesday 7^th July

A long and bumpy bus ride

We left the hostel early on Wednesday morning to get to the bus that was to take us to Fort Portal, the town in which we are due to meet the Semliki camp manager, Edson, in order to be driven to Semliki.

People were crammed onto the bus like sardines, but somehow Duncan and I managed to fit ourselves and our bags into what at first appeared to be an impossibly small space.

A quick scan of our fellow passengers and a chat to those nearest to us, revealed that we would be sharing the journey with, among others, a doctor, two soldiers, several babies and a chicken. This was certainly a far cry from a typical bus load back home!

My initial fears of a travel sickness-related disaster were soon put to rest when it transpired that the bus was surprisingly airy and so just about cool enough to avoid me feeling naseous. This feat was achieved by having windows that were stuck open rather than air conditioning of course!

Every attempt to sleep on the bus was soon thwarted when the bus hit one of the fairly severe speed bumps that seemed to be placed on every couple of kilometres of road. I’m not sure that the old bus had anything resembling suspension as even crossing the bumps slowly often threw me up out of my seat. This process left me with a very sore bum and exhausted from a lack of sleep, but it at least forced me to stay awake and appreciate the, often beautiful, scenery that flashed past as we sped along the road to Fort Portal.

When the bus finally arrived at its destination I was incredibly grateful to unstick myself from the plastic seat-covers and unwedge myself from the pile of luggage. With a slight delay whilst the bus driver attempted to drive the bus away with Duncan still on it, we were both left standing with large pile of bags on the side of an unfamiliar road.

With Edson not yet in town and not answering his phone we had no choice but to sit and wait. We sat watching the world go by on Fort Portal highstreet until, just when I was beginning to get worried, Edson phoned to say that he would be with us in 20 minutes.

He was as good as his word and soon I met the man who was to be taking care of myself and Duncan during our stay and was reassured by his immediately obvious good nature.

After our bags were loaded into Edson’s car, and several chores were done in town, we were ready to make the final leg of our journey to the camp at Semliki.

Written on Wednesday 7^th July

Dust, fumes and the search for Garden City

While we were in Kampala, Duncan and I felt that we should explore the city a bit. We also needed to make a few purchases before heading to Semliki, and so we were pointed towards the Garden City shopping centre as a good place to start.

Getting to Garden City was a rather interesting experience. We first got on a small jam-packed minibus, known locally as a matatu, with the promise from the driver that it was heading to where we wanted to go. However, this didn't prove to be the case and we soon realised that we were not going in the direction we had hoped to.

Having persuaded the driver to stop and let us off, and that the price we were offering was more than fair, we decided to put our map-reading skills to the test and walk the rest of the way to the shopping centre.

It turned out that the walk to Garden City proved to test, not just our navigational abilities, but also our boda-boda dodging skills. A boda-boda is essentially a motorbike taxi and it is the fastest (and the most dangerous) way to get around Kampala. Boda-bodas are everywhere in the city and they seem to only stop to let paying customers on and off, otherwise preferring to simply swerve to avoid vehicles and pedestrians alike.

With great care, and having inhaled a large amount of the dust and fumes that blanket Kampala's streets, we finally made it to Garden City. Thankfully getting back to the hostel proved to be a far simpler affair!

Written on Tuesday 6th July

The Red Chilli Hideaway

During my two nights in Kampala I am staying at the Red Chilli Hideaway on the outskirts of the capital city. It is here that I meet up with Duncan, the other Cambridge student who will be conducting research in Semliki this summer.

From the moment I arrive at the hostel I feel sure that I am going to enjoy my time in Uganda. The Red Chilli Hideaway is tucked just outside the mayhem of the city centre and so is an oasis of calm, complete with a bar, a plunge pool and even a pig!

It is at this hostel that I have my first encounter with Ugandan primates, when I encounter the numerous vervet monkeys that can frequently be found in the gardens here.

After years of dreaming, and months of planning, I am thrilled to finally be here in Uganda. I am incredibly excited to think that I will be heading to Semliki this Wednesday, and look forward to the adventures that may await me there.

Written on Tuesday 6th July

Here at last

I arrive in Uganda at 9:10 on Monday 5th, after what can certainly not be described as a pleasant flight. Not only were neither my movie screen nor my reading light working, but a small child a few rows in front of me proceeded to be spectacularly sick for almost the entirety of my first flight to Nairobi.

Unable to sleep, I therefore spent most of the journey sat staring at an image of the plane moving unbelievably slowly across the main screens, accompanied by the sound of retching and the smell of vomit.

That said, it was definitely worth the unpleasantness of the flight to get here. In fact, 11 hours of boredom and mild disgust seems a small price to pay to be sat here in Uganda ready to face 10 weeks of chimpanzee chasing!

Written on Monday 5th July

Packed and ready to go

This is it. I'm finally ready to go and will be leaving for Heathrow airport in less than half an hour! My bag is near to bursting point with all my kit after a battle with it earlier this morning to shove in those last few wildlife books that I was determined to bring. I'm kitted out in comfortable travelling clothes, walking boots and my so-called 'chimpanzee chasing hat'. My mum bought me this hat for my birthday after deciding that if her daughter was going to spend her life studying chimpanzees then she needed to look the part!

I am feeling slightly nervous, but it is mainly a feeling of excitement that overwhelms me. I will soon be on my way towards Uganda and the chimpanzee chasing adventure that I have long dreamed of. Semliki here I come!

When I grow up I want to be a chimpanzee chaser

Whilst most children have treasured teddy bears, I collected a small army of cuddly primates. Of course, I had the typical teddies as well, but it was the array of monkeys, chimpanzees, orangutans and lemurs that made up the majority of my toy collection.

My childhood favourite, and a toy that I have to this day, I very originally named 'monkey'. I actually stole him from a shelf in my mum's shop as a one year old and stubbornly refused to give him back until she had to give in and let me keep him. I always kept him close to me when I was little, and even took him on every holiday, making him a very well-travelled toy.

In fact, monkey has travelled to some places that I myself have not reached. His I love NY t-shirt is a souvenir from when my mum and sister took him to New York in my absence. At that time I was in Costa Rica on a ten week conservation expedition and so my mum, who had never had me away from home for so long before, was comforted by the presence of my much-loved toy whilst I was away.

I think my mum actually found it slightly strange that her young daughter's favourite animals were the chimpanzees. She probably found it even stranger that while my younger sister was somewhat traumatised from viewing all of ten minutes of a documentary about her favourite animal, entitled "the dark side of dolphins", I only became more interested in chimpanzees after becoming aware of their carnivorous and even cannibalistic behaviour.

Having wanted to follow in the footsteps of Jane Goodall and study chimpanzees in the wild since I was a young girl, I cannot quite believe that I will soon be leaving for my first chimpanzee chasing adventure!