We walked uphill, deeper and deeper into the forest, in search of humankind’s closest relatives on Earth — the chimpanzees. A forest ranger was our guide. He walked ahead of us carrying a panga — a long bush-knife — to clear the foliage concealing the path.
We did not consider how long it would take to find them. But our hope in this challenging search was sustained by constant encounters with troops of red-tailed and vervet monkeys, as well as families of olive baboons. If they had been able to speak, we would have asked them to show us the whereabouts of their bigger brothers and sisters. But they said nothing, offering only pensive stares and rustling movements in the trees.
We crossed several streams in single file and laboured over slippery, wet terrain. After about an hour of climbing uphill, the guide hooted — imitating the sounds of chimpanzees — but there was no response.
We were visiting Kigoma and had decided to explore Gombe Stream National Park, the home of these relatives of man. To reach Gombe, one must sail along the coast of Lake Tanganyika. Unlike most other national parks in Tanzania, game viewing here is done on foot — feeling the pulse of the wild beneath your boots, not from the comfort of a safari vehicle.
As we ventured further, three members of our team decided to call it a day, complaining of breathing difficulties, and began their descent. At certain points, we had to crawl like leopards, reminding me of drills from National Service (JKT) many years ago.
“Chimpanzees are mostly found in rainforests and wet savannahs across Africa. In Tanzania, they are found in Mahale Mountains National Park and Gombe Stream National Park, which stretches from the shores of Lake Tanganyika into the thick forest and the mountains of the Rift Valley escarpment.”
Even after two hours in the forest, we had not caught a glimpse of a single chimp. I began to wonder if we were the unlucky ones — travelling all this way only to miss out on seeing them. We pressed on to reach the top of the hill, only to be rewarded with a view of the marvellous forest canopy.
Our guide continued hooting from time to time, and occasionally used his radio to check in with other rangers about recent chimp sightings. We kept climbing, deeper into the misty forest. By this point, I had already consumed more than half of the water I had carried from the base.
We passed through a network of streams and paused to watch bush pigs and birds. Gombe is home to over 200 bird species, and my favourites that day were the fish eagle and the speckled mousebird. Birding is one of my favourite hobbies — but today, it was not the main goal. I wanted to see the chimps.
By noon, the rain began to pour — and it became clear our search would need more time.
