The first day of trekking was fairly easy. We took a boat about 5 kilometers up the beach and anchored it and then walked into the forest. There were a few steep, slick spots and some soft muddy parts of the trail, but nothing to make you break a sweat until of course the temperature heated up. We ended up having to cross a shallow, rocky stream, which was a bit dicey due to slippery rocks, but everyone made it across without any problems.

The chimps were high up in the trees and peering down at us. There was the alpha male Primus – a sort of brute who has raped his sister – better known as a sistuh fuckuh. He was sitting with another female and her baby. The baby was sitting independently a few feet from her mother, while the mother groomed Primus. Food is scarce so the few figs they found they ate silently without calling to the other chimps in their group so they would not have to share. There was one who had been sitting directly above us, but he did not let his presence be known until he decided to drop a few poop bombs from the tree. Then two more who were jumping branches and teasing each other in the distance came swinging through. We are limited to 1 hour viewing and our time was up. Two more opportunities to trek them remain. Such great fun.

I just wish some of the guests did not have the need to provide a constant running commentary of the walk and the sightings. At one point I felt my ears ringing from the constant din of their nasal voices. Is it impossible for people to just walk in silence???

We got back to camp and had lunch. Yummy meatballs, avocado salad, and a pasta dish. For dessert, we had grilled pineapple with honey and chopped nuts. Of course the same people monopolized the lunch conversation as well. I wanted to go game fishing, but there are only 2 rods on the boat and the talkers also decided to go. Cameron offered to take me as well, but the thought of being trapped on a tiny boat with the talkers seemed more like a nightmare so I bailed and will hopefully go tomorrow. The wife now wants to go to the school when I deliver the supplies I brought. Jesus I may have to pass on going because I hate going with gawkers especially when they did not even bring anything. I think I will go on the boat and do a little swimming, touring and light fishing. Mahale is great, but I don’t like all the shared activities – I am really becoming a crotchety old misanthrope.

After lunch, I returned to my room and could see a troupe of baboons having a party in my bedroom. They were scampering and jumping about. One was sitting on the bench at the foot of my bed ripping apart a pillow and throwing the feathers in the air like confetti. When he saw me, he held the deflated remains over his head and chucked it at me. I stomped my feet on the wooden deck, which sent the four marauding bandits scampering out the back of my hut and into the trees to watch from above as I entered to survey the damage.

The naughty baboons had peed on the woven mats under my bed; torn apart the privacy shades and broken the rods they were attached to; knocked over the desk chair; and eaten some fruit from the trees and spit the peels and seeds out around my hut. I went up the ladder avoiding a bit of poo on one of the rungs to see what they had done to the second floor. Well this room was turned upside down. They had pooped on the couch; scattered the sticks of incense about; overturned the table; and ripped apart a pamphlet about the camp. I went back down the ladder to check on my stuff in the back of my hut. Fortunately, they had not touched anything. I went to the main tent to report the damage and one of the guys went immediately to my room to cleanup. No sooner then he started, the skies opened up and the rains started. It was only a 40 minute storm and then the sun returned. I went back to my now tidy hut to shower.
The afternoon was great fun: a short swim, a hippo and croc sighting, and fishing. Big Bird came with us again and joined in on the swimming and after he built up his appetite he sat on the roof of the boat to observe the fishing to see what he would get for supper. This time we used a rod and reel in addition to the traditional way, which is wrapping the fishing line around a spool and throwing the hook in and weighting the line so that it sinks. You “reel” the fish in by just pulling the line back with your hands. One guest, David, and I each caught a small fish that were to be fed to Big Bird when we got back to shore, and another guest James caught a 15 pound perch, which we later had for dinner. James had to fight to keep the perch on the line, and one of our trackers Matthias had to be held off the side of the boat so he could help pull the fish in.

When we got back to shore, we fed Big Bird the two small fish by throwing it up in the air for him to catch, but his beak/eye coordination is about as good as my hand/eye coordination. Needless to say he missed the fish and had to scoop them up from the sand. Then he came as me with his fishy, beak open seeking more food. Mwiga stopped him from beak-rushing me. As I turned to go back to my room, I ran into the talkers back from their fishing trip. They did not catch a thing.

Dinner was delicious – tilapia fish cakes to start, green curry chicken with sticky rice, squash, and broccoli, and the perch James caught. It had been pan fried with garlic butter. For desert we had banana pudding with chocolate shavings on top. Another great day!