Our Closest Relatives, Gombe Stream National Park, Tanzania

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Titan Climbing up into the Trees

"WHOOOOP!"  I jumped out of my skin and turned around.  Our guide, Hussein, who'd also stopped, was calling out in to the jungle - loudly!  Silence. "WHOOOOP!"  Again, silence.  We waited.  Nothing.  Then from behind us in the distance came a response: "Whoop. Aggghh!"  Sweet!  They're close! We thought: now why hadn't our guide done that sooner? We'd gotten a late start because of the rain, and had been trekking through the central part of the park for an hour. Our poor tracker-guide had been searching for three hours already.

The steep valleys and hills of grassland and tropical rainforest on the northern shore of Lake Tanganyika make up Tanzania's smallest National Park.  Gombe Stream is special because it is home to one of the last remaining 'wild' populations of chimpanzees in Africa.  116 chimps live here.  In 1960, Jane Goodall was the British researcher who made this place famous by doing pioneering primate behavior studies - research that still continues here 52 years later. Chimpanzees used to live in all of Tanzania's western border, into Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda and DR Congo (old Zaire).  Now, due to deforestation and human population growth, their habitat has shrunk to just 20 sq miles (52 sq km) at Gombe and a larger area at Mahale Mountains further south.  The other main threat to chimps, is illegal poaching and trafficking.  Although it's not so bad here in Tanzania (Rwanda and Uganda are worse apparently), chimps are sought after on the world market  by zoos or by private buyers as pets. To capture a baby chimp means that all the adults around it protecting it are killed. Brutal.  That's why the Park has many rangers on its boundaries to deter poachers.

Nassa Lounging

As fast as we could, Martin and I followed Hussein on trodden paths in the direction of the chimps' call.  Within half an hour we'd tracked our first chimp sitting in a tree.  The storm that had raged through during the night had blown over now, but there was still the occasional shower. Because of this, chimps like to keep dry and are less active in the tops of trees, which makes them harder to find.  We lost sight of our chimp, Tarzan, but once we'd stopped and looked more carefully at the trees around us, the rest of Tarzan's group gradually came in to sight.

Hanging out, grooming each other or just sleeping and trying to keep out of the rain, we saw six chimps in one tree and sat and watched them from below.  We learned their names: Pax, Fuji, Fundi, Froidi, Nassa, Samson, from our guide who recognised their faces.

The Family up in the Trees

They have their own unique personalities, which is why Jane Goodall used names in her studies rather than numbers (scientifically unconventional at the time).  Chimps have 98% genetic similarity to humans which seemed about right -  judging by the amount of farting and scratching going on. If the males had had trousers they would probably have their hands down them fiddling.  We learned that the oldest chimp in the park is a female, Sparrow, 55 years old, and would have just been a toddler when Jane first came to Gombe. (Female chimps live to about 65 years old and males to 55).  Another fact, is that chimps make nests out of leaves and debris in the tree tops to sleep in! Didn't know that - wow!

Up Close and Personal

Gombe's chimps have become habituated to humans, of
course, because of all the research, but interaction is not allowed and visitors have to maintain a distance of 10 metres (Jane did interact with them when she gradually became accepted into their society).  10m is a good thing, but as we stood and watched thinking that we were quite far from the group, we suddenly heard a rustling sound and through the vines and undergrowth - following our same beaten path - came a chimp named Titan.  He brushed right passed us! So much for 10 metres!  There was nowhere for us to go! He had a small beautiful face, sharp gleaming eyes, and coarse jet-black fur.  He glanced at each one of us in turn making eye contact (another thing you're not supposed to do - looking them directly in the eye could make them feel intimidated!).  He wasn't bothered and obviously didn't think we were a threat.  It was A-MAZING being that close.

Titan joined his friends in the tree above us. Once in a while they would call out to each other or to other groups elsewhere (there are 60 chimps in this particular community), and made a huge ruckus.  Later that day we would meet a visiting researcher from the States who works on vocal calls and what the noises and behaviour might mean, especially surrounding eating and food. Get more info on Lisa's work Click Here.  Also, we learned that chimps are not vegetarian, and apart from berries and shoots, they will hunt and eat the young of Colobus monkeys and baboons - species also found in the park.

Titan back on the Ground

There was only one female in the tree and every once in a while she would go from male to male mating with him.  It happened so fast (about 4-5 seconds) and so subtly, that you had to be observant to catch it!  We learned that females generally mate with males from a different group so as to maintain genetic diversity.

Just as we were thinking of leaving, two of the chimps came down from the tree, again, giving us nowhere to go. We let them pass and then moved on ourselves.  Suddenly, another two, then two more followed catching us up on the path and passing right by us. It was super-special to have them so close; we could have reached out and touched them.  Feeling pleased that we had found the chimps despite the difficult conditions, we were happy to come back to camp.  Our luck just got better: as we relaxed with a Coca Cola, four more chimps came into camp and we were able to see them up close again.  Baby Gimley was super-adorable with his little pink face!   We followed Frodo down to the beach, and watched him eating from the bushes on the shore.

We were very excited at seeing the chimps. And even though it took us 5 days of riding buses and boats to get here, it was SO worth it!   What I will never forget, is Titan's bright, intelligent gaze catching mine before he ambled by through the undergrowth! * Mush

Frodo on the Beach

Gimley on the back of Mother Gremlin