Chimps!

As we'd hoped, we were able to arrange a chimp trek in the Vyonda National Forest Reserve over the weekend. Again, the chief responsible for the parks in the region accompanied us to arrange a guide for the following day. And when he found out that we hadn't yet tried Ugali, (the Burundian staple food made from cassava flour), he even took us out for beer, brochettes, with a little Ugali on the side! So, many thanks to Mercule, the best example of Burudian hospitality that we've met!

Anyway, we set out for the park at 630 the next morning, eager and excited to see these chimps that had already eluded me in Uganda thus far. After more than four hours of hard trekking(/bushwacking) and almost turning back in defeat at one point, we finally heard their cries. Around an hour later, we spotted one of the chimps across the valley from us. And another thirty minutes later, we were a stone's throw from them. These chimps, unlike ones in parks in other countries, are not at all habituated to humans. And as we approached, they almost suddenly appeared in a semi circle around us, making some pretty intense cries (probably equavalent to war cries, I imagine) to try and scare us off. But, as our guide assured us, they were a lot fearful of us than we were of them. And then, after a few minutes, and a few attempts to try and scare us off, they disappeared. We saw a few trees rustle as they ran off, but other than that, these human sized animals disappeared even more suddenly than they appeared. Overall, it took over seven hours from the time we entered the park to when we made it back, but it was an awesome day, and totally worth the pain of trying to walk the next day! =D

In other news, we're (finally) on our way out of Burundi today. It's been a really great time and in my opinion, as beautiful as Rwanda may be, Burundi is even better! We'll be boarding a cargo ship this afternoon destined for Kigoma, Tanzania. After we arrive tomorrow, we'll have a few hours to explore the town before boarding a ferry for Mpulungu, Zambia, at the very end of Lake Tanganyika. So, hopefully the next post will be two countries from now, and after we've travelled down the longest lake in the world!