Chimps trek

Up at 5:30, breakfast at 6, off on foot at 6:30 to see chimps. The going is rough, frequently off trail uphill, over slippery roots and mud. The chimps are solitary in the morning, grazing high in the canopy, 150 feet above our heads. Slowly they join others. We spend the morning searching to see where a group will congregate. We are advised during the day, the chimps will descend. They do, but not low enough and camera conditions are poor. We wait.
We lunch and then take off in a different direction. We spot a sole male juvenile on the ground. We follow him hoping he will take us to another group. Eventually he gets tired of us and takes off up a tree. We trek for another 3 hours, up and down hills, on and off trails. No more chimps. At 4, we give up. We hike to a road and wait for our driver to pick us up about 6 km from where we started. All I have to show is 4 lousy pictures, none on my blackberry. Instead of a chimp, you get an olive baboon. Chimps are hard.
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The Lodge

At the Primate forest.
We stayed in the Bush Baby room. It was a tent enclosed by a thatched bungalow. The bath was under the thatch but not in the tent. There were two full beds enclosed by mosquito netting. There was a front porch with two wood and canvas chairs protected from the rain. We sat there and watched the afternoon showers. Very pleasant.
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The obligatory

Picture of the Equator crossing.
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Game run

Yesterday morning (not very early) we went on a game run at QENP. In the British Empire, Uganda was the jewel of Africa. It had the largest game population in Africa. Not so any more. Independence, brutal dictators and civil war did a job on the wildlife. You need a stable, motivated government to protect nature. The numbers are improving.
We saw two lions. Attached is a picture of one.
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Queen Elizabeth National Park

We descended from the volcanic mountains of the Albertine Rift to the Ugandan Great Lakes of George and Edward. We traveled 80 km through QENP on dirt roads. We had a flat tire and had a treacherous bridge crossing where a double semi had jackknifed with the back part in the river and the front portion blocking the bridge. We made it through but there was a long line of trucks backed up since the dirt road thru the national park is the main truck route into the Congo at this part of Uganda.
Our hotel was lovely,overlooking Lake Edward. There was a pool and a wonderful lunch buffet. No time for swimming tho, because after lunch we had a boat trip on the lake and channel. Lots of kingfishers, Sara. And hippos and crocodiles and water buffalo. Jim counted 43 species of bird.
Wildlife photography is difficult with a 300 mm lens, much more with a blackberry. Please accept my hippo picture.
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Uganda gorillas

Today to the Impenetrable Forest, Bwindi National Park, to trek after Uganda gorillas. We did not penetrate the forest very far. We were in the wusses' group. They took us out of our tour group and put us with 2 singles, a German and a Dutch guy. And are we glad. They marched us around for about 10 minutes and we came upon about 8 gorillas, including the silverback and a mother with her baby on her back. It turns out we were right below the park office. We got our hour of viewing, which is all you get, and were back to our hotel by 10:30, before the rain started. It is now 1:30, the rain continues and the rest of our group has not returned. We are hoping the rain will stop by 3. We have hired a guide to go birding.
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CMC and JOL

In the Impenetrable Forest.
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