Tacugama

Category: Chimpanzee, Tacugama | Date: Apr 20 2008 | By: admin

The Eco-lodges at Tacugama

Bernie, one of our long-time friends here at Tacugama stayed in our eco-lodges for a while and wrote this evocative blog entry for us, detailing his encounter with Congo the wild chimp we see here occasionally.

“They are there!”

Staying a couple of days at the Tacugama Sanctuary, I had the opportunity to stay on my own at some of the various viewpoints to the vast Tacugama enclosures. Yesterday I chose the far end of the Tacugama Sanctuary. There was not a lot of sound from birds that daytime, it was very calm. Sometimes sound was generated by dry falling leaves hitting some others on their way down.

Watching into the sun flooded trees I suddenly got aware of some bunches of old leaves on branches accumulated in some bigger tree forks. Suddenly it occurred to me that these must be sleeping nests the chimps have build. I actually could see five of them.

While looking out for more nests suddenly behind me was the sound of something moving in the forest. I stood up and looked around. Nothing to see; so I waited a little, hoping to hear the sound again. I could look in the correct direction and I could even see a smaller tree bending side ways, but still giving no hint about what was causing the noise. Suddenly my eyes caught a movement 30 meters to the left on a higher branch and I could glimpse something quite big and dark and then I realised the bright bum of a chimpanzee. Wow. I was at Tacugama and there are more than 80 chimps here, but this one was definitely outside the enclosures. Seconds later I saw the Chimp for another 2-3 seconds climbing down a big trunk of a tree and that was all I saw of her. Surprisingly all the moves of the chimp were not creating any sound - they were performed in complete silence.

I was stunned. I really saw a wild chimp. I expected having to be really deep in the jungle where no footpath is close to see the wild chimps.

Sitting back on my stone with a big smile on my face I was very happy and that short sequence definitely made my day. Just reflecting it a bit suddenly there was this clear but a little hesitant sound like uuuiiiiii, uuiiiiiiiii and that sound a little bit chimp like. A whimpering, a kind of message like: Where are you? Are you around? I am here.

Shortly later, the leaves where moving again, but again I could not see anything. After 5 more minutes suddenly something small and dark climbed a tall tree. It was a smaller chimp, a young one.

One of our few pictures of Congo

After it reached a higher level above the floor I could see him or her a little. The young chimp had a bright face and was very elegantly climbing there in the top of the tree nibbling here and there on some leaves. I was standing now quite openly as I could see him well, but the little chimp obviously did not see me. I could watch him for 10 about minutes and then I was made the mistake.

I moved, only about 2 meters that needed a couple of steps on dry leave litter on the floor. As I moved I crunched some leaves with the soles of my shoes. He stopped doing what he was doing, moved a little, looked around down, found me quickly, hesitated another 5 seconds, then climbed down the tree in a good speed and was gone.

Lesson learnt – do not move, even you think you could do it without causing attention, it is most likely not possible.

But no problem, I had been coming so sit and enjoy the silence of the forest and had the big luck to see 2 wild chimps in their natural environment, great.